A new approach challenges the dominance of low-cost media buying. Christian Bachem’s Pitchfork aims to shift focus from price to proven advertising effectiveness. The move could reshape agency selection and digital ad spending.
Media agencies have long been chosen mainly for their ability to secure the lowest ad rates. Christian Bachem, managing director at Markendienst Berlin, argues this price-first mindset is a key reason why advertising budgets often end up in opaque environments and why ad fraud remains a persistent problem for publishers and brands.
Bachem believes that common industry solutions like ad verification only address the symptoms, not the root causes, of digital advertising’s transparency and effectiveness issues. To tackle this, he and a group of experienced media managers have launched Pitchfork, a new consulting approach designed to fundamentally change how media pitches are conducted.
With Pitchfork, the selection process for media agencies is reoriented around measurable advertising impact rather than the lowest possible price. Bachem says this method encourages a more honest relationship between brands and agencies, ensuring that marketing budgets are directed toward placements that actually deliver results.
This shift comes as publishers and advertisers continue to seek better ways to measure and optimize campaign performance. Similar efforts to improve transparency and effectiveness in digital advertising have been seen elsewhere, such as when DoubleVerify introduced an AI-powered engine to automate media buying and campaign optimization, as reported in coverage of DoubleVerify's DV Neura launch.
