Observed Signal · Jul 10, 2026 · Product Launch · Source: Meedia · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Christian Bachem: End the 'Cheap-Price' Pitch Principle
Christian Bachem, managing director of Markendienst Berlin, criticizes that media agencies are still chosen primarily on buying conditions and lowest price, which he argues drives ad budgets into opaque environments and increases ad fraud. Together with experienced media managers he launched a new consulting approach called "Pitchfork" to reorient media pitches around demonstrable advertising effectiveness instead of discounts. The article appears on MEEDIA and was published on 2026-07-10.
A new consulting approach (Pitchfork) aims to change media-pitch selection from lowest price to demonstrable effectiveness; relevant to agencies and advertisers but not a platform-level or regulatory change.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Christian Bachem is the managing director (Geschäftsführer) of Markendienst Berlin.
- Bachem argues media agencies are often selected mainly on purchasing conditions (lowest price), which he says encourages ad budgets to flow into opaque environments and fosters ad fraud.
- Bachem and experienced media managers created a new consulting approach named "Pitchfork" to align media pitches with measurable advertising effectiveness.
- The article was published on MEEDIA on 2026-07-10 and authored by Frank Puscher.
Connected Companies & Entities
10 Entities mapped“Cookie entry: _webcare_consentid | DataReporter GmbH | 12 months | meedia.de (stores information about the user's cookie consent)....”
“Cookie entry: __cf_bm | CloudFlare | 30 minutes | linkedin.com (ensures site functionality and tracks errors)....”
“Cookie entry: _ga | Google | 1 year | meedia.de (contains information to distinguish site users)....”
“Cookie entry: bcookie | LinkedIn | 12 months | linkedin.com (registers an ID used for targeted advertising)....”
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Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
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Media Pitches' Risky Hunt for Lowest Price
An ADZINE interview with Thilo Swoboda and Christian Bachem criticizes modern media-pitch processes that prioritise lowest price over advertising effectiveness. They argue price-led selection undermines campaign impact, is ill-suited to diverse formats (especially video, social and CTV), and poorly reflects programmatic auction dynamics. The interview introduces Pitchfork, described as an effects-based pitch model that awards agencies based on guaranteed impact rather than lowest cost. Pitchfork requires agencies to document media-strategy derivations in a provided media-mix-modeling framework, agree contractual KPI targets and measurement methods with advertisers, and uses a validated AI system to produce a Creative Impact Score for creative contribution. Regular progress checks are included and agencies must remediate if agreed targets are missed. The OWM survey is cited, noting 92% of advertisers see traceability of ad effectiveness as a major challenge.
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Max Kelvin, Director of Media at independent agency Guerillascope, argues that agencies, brands and broadcasters must be brave in responding to shifts in media and advertising. He warns that procurement-driven pitches and agency reliance on incentivised or proprietary inventory can flatten quality and create unsustainable commercial models. Kelvin says modern agencies must offer judgement, strategy and market-wide independent views rather than only access to inventory, and that video/CTV’s primary strength remains brand-building even where it can drive short-term sales. Guerillascope rebuilt its TellyAds database as an AI platform and produced what it says was the first Clearcast-approved AI-generated ad on linear TV in 2024. Kelvin urges clients to prioritise idea quality over lowest price and recommends impartial econometric measurement where feasible.
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