ID Comms

Mediasense, Consultancies Brace for Busy Second Half

Digiday's Media Buying Briefing reports that consultancies that run agency review processes are preparing for increased activity in the second half of 2026 after a wave of account moves in H1. The article names consultancies — including Abintus, ID Comms, Mediasense, Flock Associates, Mercer Island Group and Ebiquity — as firms often hired to orchestrate prolonged media and creative partner reviews. It also notes that large advertiser activity (with Coca-Cola mentioned as potentially in play) could drive more review work. The briefing is part of Digiday+’s weekly Media Buying Briefing for industry subscribers and highlights the importance for agencies of knowing the main consultancy players if they want to be considered for pitches.

Bet365 Names VML U.S. Creative Agency of Record

Bet365 has appointed VML, part of the WPP network, as its first creative agency of record in the United States and Canada on a three-year contract after an eight-week review run by consultancy ID Comms. VML beat four other agencies and launched the pair’s first North American brand campaign, “Winning Is Everything,” which debuted live during UFC Fight Night on March 14 and was directed by Jody Hill. Bet365’s CMO Stephanie De Flora said the brand is positioning itself as a challenger to incumbents like FanDuel and DraftKings while expanding into more U.S. states and leveraging a multi-year UFC partnership. Industry context cited includes U.S. sports betting revenue near $17 billion in 2025 (per the American Gaming Association) and an estimated $70 million U.S. media spend for Bet365 in 2025 (COMvergence).

Ad Tech Is Inherently Opaque. But You Down With Translucency? (Yeah, You Know Me.)

Marc Goldberg, CRO of Method Media Intelligence, argues that ad tech remains inherently opaque and proposes moving toward translucence as a practical middle ground. He cites the ID Comms Global Transparency Report 2021, noting that about 76% of advertisers are not confident or satisfied with current transparency in the digital supply chain. The piece also references ID Comms findings that 35% of advertisers see lack of access to platforms, data visibility and granular reports as a major roadblock to better transparency. To improve visibility, the author advises demanding access to logs and data, and verifying numbers across verification, DSP, agency billing, and ad servers, then comparing domain and volume reports. He points to ad serving domains such as ib.adnxs.com, googlesyndication.net, and googleadservices.com as illustrations of opacity in the supply chain. The overall message is that transparency can be achieved through diligence and targeted scrutiny, not perfection.