Independent agency AFFINITY is taking an unusually selfless swing at one of advertising’s most deep-rooted problems: media waste.
With its new solution Media+™, the agency isn’t just diagnosing inefficiencies, it’s nudging the entire industry to acknowledge the scale of the problem and stop pretending the leaks aren’t there.
Waste, after all, sits at the heart of the trillion-dollar global media economy.
As CEO Angela Smith told Mediaweek, “to a lesser or greater extent, we’re all aware there are issues around both the efficiency and effectiveness of media budgets – and yet the spectre of waste continues to loom over us.”
In an industry where ego and defensiveness often outweigh introspection, AFFINITY’s move feels almost altruistic. There’s no attempt to shame; instead, the agency is offering tools, evidence and a provocation to do better.
A quiet challenge to a loud industry
Media+™ revolves around two components: a free Media Waste Calculator, built on more than 50 research sources, and a deeper managed diagnostic service. The intent is clear – to give brands a low-risk way to understand what isn’t working, fast.
Smith says the agency simply “decided not to sit on the sidelines” anymore, especially given AFFINITY’s multidisciplinary capabilities across data, tech, media and creative.
The team realised that if waste is structural, then solving it requires both granular tools and a cultural shift.
She frames the issue as systemic: “there are really four structural aspects to that waste: media waste, measurement waste, signal waste and organisational waste.” And the emotional response from CMOs, she says, is often “a kind of resignation,” as the pace of technology accelerates and the number of channels expands.
Trust, blind spots and the uncomfortable truths between them
According to AFFINITY Group Media Lead Billy Luu, waste often hides in the grey areas of trust.
“In terms of blind spots, it often comes down to the trust clients have in the agency or the personnel running their media,” he said.
That reliance, while convenient, creates gaps: “you’re not educating yourself,” and you end up assuming performance where none exists.
Luu points out that wastage crops up everywhere – from over-extended reach and bloated frequency to simple channel inefficiencies. And he’s blunt about the broader ecosystem: “there are more impressions being served than are humanly consumable.”
The fact that such a stat barely surprises the industry anymore, he suggests, is the problem.
He sees the calculator as a reset button: not a perfect measure, but a spark. “It helps brands understand that waste is occurring – that’s the crucial first step.”
When creative falls into the cracks
AFFINITY Creative Director Matt Batten, however, approaches waste from a different angle – the cost to creativity.
“If the media is being wasted, then the assets that go with that media are being wasted as well,” he said, noting that it doesn’t matter how extraordinary a piece of creative work is if it’s dumped into the wrong placements.
“You’ve effectively burnt through your creative and production budgets too.”
For Batten, the Media+™ initiative is a natural extension of AFFINITY’s decades-long effectiveness reputation. He sees it as a way to restore integrity to the craft: fix the media placement first, and even average creative performs better; fix both, and brands unlock genuine impact.
“Let’s fix the media waste first, because even an average creative will perform better in effective media,” he said before adding “then we can apply great creative to great media.”
His perspective reinforces something the industry rarely admits: creative isn’t underperforming – it’s often undermined.
Turning evidence into action
The algorithm underpinning the Media Waste Calculator draws on years of global research, which Batten notes has long signalled the same warning: waste is significant, persistent and oddly tolerated.
He explained: “What the team has done is find all these reports, identify the strongest ones, and build the algorithm from them. The calculator is the first place that actually consolidates all of those data points into a single algorithmic lens.”
The results are sobering. Reports cite anywhere between 41% and 48% waste in digital alone.
Others highlight waste in TV, social and out-of-home. Smith adds that the tool is deliberately simple , asking only three questions, but powerful when brands input real numbers across channels.
Within seconds, they get a directional view of their exposure to waste.
Not perfection. But illumination.
An industry that shrugs
If Media+™ feels unusually mission-driven, that’s because it is. Smith describes the agency’s ethos as both “resourceful” and “a bit rogue,” fuelled by a cultural value of courage. She says: “we’re not the type to sit back and be part of” a problem.
And she doesn’t mince words about the scale of that problem.
“It’s almost become undeniable. It’s an industry plagued with waste. If you went to Woolies, bought a dozen eggs, and got home to find only eight or nine in the carton, no one would say that’s okay. Yet we’re the only industry that seems to shrug and say, ‘Yeah, that’s fine – we’re good with eight or nine eggs.’”
For AFFINITY, that shrug is no longer acceptable.
Luu echoes the sentiment, noting that the goal isn’t more brand safety measures or additional layers of validation, it’s simply to “eliminate waste across channels, and not just within the world of digital.”
And while the initiative will undoubtedly attract attention, Batten hopes it ultimately leads to a broader industry shift. A recalibration grounded in evidence, accountability and craft.
The future: less ego, more impact
Media+™ lands at a time when advertisers face tightening budgets, fragmenting channels and a rising pressure to prove ROI. The era of “good enough” media buying is ending; the age of audited, accountable investment is here.
AFFINITY’s move introduces a new layer of transparency into a sector that has long relied on opacity – and challenges the rest of the industry to step up.
Smith sums it up with characteristic candour: “we’ve never been ones to sit by and say, let’s just go by and be part of the problem.”
With Media+™, they’re daring the industry to stop looking away, and start looking harder.
Main image: Angela Smith, Billy Luu, Matt Batten