How is managed-spend advertising different from a traditional agency retainer?

The key difference is disclosure. Managed-spend advertising makes working media and management fees explicit, whereas some traditional arrangements embed undisclosed margin in the media cost.

Which channels does managed-spend advertising cover?

It applies across display, video, connected TV, and audio, because it describes the service model and pricing, not a single format.

Guide

What Is Managed-Spend Advertising?

Managed-spend advertising is a service model in which a specialist team plans, executes, and reports on an advertiser's media investment on the advertiser's behalf, operating on transparent, disclosed pricing.

What does managed-spend advertising include?

In a managed-spend engagement, the advertiser hands over a media budget and objectives, and the managing team handles planning, buying, optimization, and reporting. The defining feature is disclosure: the advertiser retains visibility into where working media is spent and what the managing party is paid, so fees are known rather than embedded in the media cost.

Aurum Networks provides managed-spend advertising across its curated ad network, buying through private marketplace and programmatic guaranteed deals and reporting results with full measurement.

How is managed-spend advertising priced?

Pricing is transparent and disclosed. The advertiser sees the CPMs paid to publishers alongside a stated management fee, which makes the split between working media and service cost explicit. This stands in direct contrast to arrangements where the buyer's compensation is hidden inside the media price.

How is managed-spend advertising different from an undisclosed media buy?

Managed-spend advertising is an ad-buying service with transparent, disclosed pricing. It describes the commercial and operational relationship between an advertiser and its media partner — planning, buying, and reporting on media — with working media and the management fee shown separately, rather than bundled into a single opaque rate the way an undisclosed or arbitrage buy would be.

Frequently asked questions

How is managed-spend advertising different from a traditional agency retainer?: The key difference is disclosure. Managed-spend advertising makes working media and management fees explicit, whereas some traditional arrangements embed undisclosed margin in the media cost.
Which channels does managed-spend advertising cover?: It applies across display, video, connected TV, and audio, because it describes the service model and pricing, not a single format.