“Of course people know us all over Germany*!” But do they really? Raffael Weber, primarily responsible for digital trade marketing and geo intelligence at Crossmedia, and Matthias Schneider, Group Leader and Data Researcher at Crossmedia RedBox, have discovered in a study that the recognition of many major brands is not quite that evenly distributed throughout the country. The two experts not only examined brand awareness, but also the media spend of numerous brands. In this interview, they provide in-depth insights into their work.

With its transparency report, Crossmedia pioneered the field of planning neutrality 15 years ago. No other agency has an equally strict, pro-active and verifiable standard. However, what does transparency mean in today’s age of trading (and media agencies’ general acceptance as traders)? Matthias Bade, managing director at Crossmedia Germany, on the future of the agency’s transparency promise and why being a trader and an independent consultant are still mutually exclusive concepts.

Are Facebook, YouTube and the like about to drive their users away? Jay Krihak, Executive Director New York, believes that the big players among the platforms need to clean up their act if they want to retain users and at the same time asks brands to take responsibility.