Agencies must close the Internet divide between buyer and seller.

The middleman has always played a ubiquitous role in business. The go-between, dividing buyer and seller, has been viewed with some suspicion. For a long time the middleman has had to justify both his role and profit making.

Then, along came the Internet with its absolute ability to seamlessly connect buyers and sellers. The Internet has forever altered purchasing behavior by becoming a preferred source of information and by offering instant gratification. Find the information, read about what you like, and then click to buy.

For consumers, the Internet delivers better choices, better prices, quicker transactions and a global trading window that is available 24/7. The convenience is unparalleled. The Internet has in fact become the new salesperson on steroids.

For business, going direct means bigger profits, greater access to valuable customer information and the opportunity to build more intimate customer relationships. The Internet promises better marketing ROI (return on investment), or at least an unmatched ability to measure marketing and multi-channel ROI.

So are we saying "goodbye" to the middleman? If not, what will his new role be?

The traditional middleman looks to be on the out and out, particularly in industries like the travel industry, where the Internet is driving high transaction volumes and increased efficiencies. Here, the bottom line expense of sales resources and commissions are moving to online marketing budgets. It just makes sense for companies to invest where their best profits are coming from.

So where’s the middleman? Digital or direct marketing agencies are stepping into the void left by the middleman, but to play a different role -- not to be the fat between buyer and seller but to be a trusted partner who helps set strategies and tactics, while managing marketing technology to unlock online sales ROI.

The role of this new "middleman" is to connect the buyer and seller with greater precision and offer better returns, at a rate stipulated by the seller. So disintermediation disappears, and a new transparency sees the seller getting a better deal. When it comes to emedia deals, emedia pricing and remuneration models, the digital agency’s role is to justify the overall cost efficiency to the media schedule. The client’s “allowable” is the new media currency, and “pay per performance” is the new “media deal” architecture.

What are the new media buyer weapons to negotiate in this environment? Gone are the days of volume buys to decrease CPM rates only. Historical conversion rates, attractive campaign incentives, streamlined lead mechanism, tracking technology and flexible pricing structures are key to partnering with publishers. Cost-per-click, cost-per-download, cost-per-real-player, cost-per-new-subscriber, cost-per-reservation, cost-per-sale and the like have obliged media owners to be flexible and offer alternatives to the CPM rate-card.

The role of the agency is expanding. They have to find the right media placement to deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time but have to facilitate the transaction to maximize the number of sales. Moreover, consumer purchasing behavior is extremely complex and constantly evolving. This is where constant media optimization becomes essential. It is harder to secure a sale at first contact and like a salesperson the agency should not give up finding new ways to remarket to consumers.
 
The old middleman is history. While companies know how to make the best products, they are not always experts in marketing. Disintermediation by the Internet has heralded a landscape where online publishers have become sales distribution channels -- one where media deal structures are complex and tracking technology becomes crucial to unlocking ROI.

Julie Jeancolas, media director at Acceleration eMarketing, has a marketing and finance degree from leading French business school ESC Reims. Formerly Group Account Director at Outrider, Jeancolas has worked around the world at leading traditional and online advertising and media agencies as a media specialist. Jeancolas heads up the media unit at Acceleration, the dynamic, results-orientated eMarketing services company that works with leading global marketers and advertising agencies to deliver a return on investment through the online platform.