CMI Media Group and Compas: 2024

CMI Media Group and Compas: 2024

2000 Market Street, 29th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103

215-568-5944 • [email protected] • cmimediagroup.com

 

Quick facts

Accounts

• Active business clients: 36
  

Services mix

• Full-service, non-personal planning and buying and investment management: 95%
• Data and customer insights: 5%

This year, CMI Media Group, a WPP company, and Compas showed an ability to predict and stay ahead of industry trends, according to agency leaders. As the company expanded globally, executives say it also doubled down on AI innovation and omnichannel (which they dubbed “omnidynamic”) strategy.    

Additionally, CMI Media Group and Compas evolved its “media” practice to “engagement strategy.” “The Engagement Strategy team is the go-to team on media strategy and performance,” executives say. “Engagement strategists lead the development of strategic media direction and planning across all audience touchpoints, inclusive of all channels and through an omnichannel lens.”

Recent Accomplishments

In 2023, according to leaders, the agency expanded its use of custom AI services and support for clients as part of an ongoing focus on “meaningful and impactful” innovation. For example, CMI Media Group and Compas developed and implemented AI-driven task automation bots to deliver more effective ad trafficking for clients. The trained bots follow an extensive set of rules built around diverse types of campaigns and their complexities. “This shifted the investment from comprehensive human data entry and communication process to one that includes automation,” executives say. “The result is faster launches and more accurate campaign setup.”

Inclusive media also continued to be a priority, with the company’s Inclusive Media Center of Excellence providing guidance to clients on ensuring they are reaching diverse audiences. “Inclusive advertising isn’t just ethical – it’s good business strategy,” executives say.   

According to the leadership team, over the last decade, CMI Media Group and Compas have had 472 percent staff growth. In 2023, the agency hired 205 new employees. This includes Matt Durham, director of global media, who is also the lead of the CMI Media Group London office. He brings over a decade of international pharmaceutical and healthcare media planning and strategy experience.

Another notable hire was Danielle Koffer as executive VP, group client director. “With a distinguished career spanning over 20 years, she has held various leadership positions at prominent companies and has consistently demonstrated exceptional vision, strategic acumen, and a passion for driving innovation,” executives say.

This past year, 273 people earned promotions. Managers also claim more than half of staff have surpassed the two-year mark at the organization with many celebrating 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25-year anniversaries. The agency saw a lower than industry average turnover rate while continuing to have a higher than average boomerang rate.

Award recognition for the company’s work and culture included wins as a top and most innovative agency in various categories by Med Ad News, Digiday, MM+M, PM360, The Drum, Newsweek, and Ad Age.

Structure and Services

CMI Media Group and Compas is structured to address the challenges and core needs of its customers, prospects, and supplier partners. Services include strategic engagement/promotional planning and buying; co-marketing opportunities; promotional execution and investment management/buying services; addressable and connected TV; customer insights and analytics; supplier alliance management; primary market research; programmatic display, audio, and video; search engine marketing and search engine optimization; social listening, community management, paid, content strategy and guidance, and influencer; content planning; global reprints; SaaS; and proprietary technology and solutions including Media Vitals, Own the Audience, and more.

Executives cite  CMI Media Group’s Empower solutions as one example of the agency’s proprietary technology. “It offers clients modular, agile, and innovative tools to implement cutting edge, data-driven media strategy and seamless execution. CMI Media Group has developed a scalable solution to meet the omnichannel needs of life sciences companies. Automated media orchestration (AMO) and SaaS solutions drive omnichannel marketing technology stacks, enabling the orchestration of paid media at scale.”

Future plans

After a successful launch of CMI Media Group’s global omnidynamic capability, the agency kicked off a new thought leadership series called Global Health Beat, where they interview international partners and clients to understand regional differences across HCP behavior, nuances that impact healthcare marketing, and channel adoption. 

The newly established Engagement Strategy team allows the agency to fully realize the power it holds for clients in an ever-changing media environment, executives say. “The responsibilities of media now expand beyond historically traditional direct channels, with Engagement Strategy experts responsible for strategy on all touchpoints with the customer.”    

The agency continues to invest in a number of centers of excellence, such as social media, audio, OOH, video, point-of-care, and inclusive media. “The focus of the Inclusive Media Center of Excellence is on personalized engagement at scale, and understanding the whole person, not just their consumer proxy,” executives say.

Philanthropy/citizenship

CMI Media Group and Compas’ culture starts with living the employee value proposition, “Brilliant Minds. Big Hearts. Bold Opportunities.” The agency creates an inclusive culture where integrity and service are paramount, while providing opportunities for development and career growth that employees can own. CMI Media Group and Compas hold leadership accountable to provide caring and open environments for all employees through regular communication and providing peers the opportunity to recognize each other.

Inclusion and diversity remains a major focus, and the agency supports the continued growth and evolution of its eight employee resource groups (ERGs). These are AZAP for Asian American Pacific Islanders; BRAAVE (Bringing Relevance to the African American Vision & Experience); GEMS (Growth, Empowerment, Motivate, and Succeed) for employees new to agency life; (HER)story representing women and gender equality; Mi Gente Unidos for Hispanic/Latinx employees; PLUS+ (Promoting LGBTQ+ Understanding and Solidarity); Shalom for Jewish employees; and  Thrive, for health and wellness.

“The organization continued to work with its ERGs to align volunteer days to coincide with important national days of recognition that represent an opportunity to help their community, to get educated, or to lend support to a cause that is important to the ERG. Each volunteer day is structured the same, with portions of the day that will involve philanthropy, and also a focus of education, advocating, and allyship for underrepresented groups. Employees’ volunteer hours and monetary donations were made to a wide range of nonprofits spanning healthcare and social issues, as well as providing resources to families in need.”