Mi3 is creating its first global media event, capitalising on the soaring interest in principal-based trading media models with marketers and procurement.

Principal Media 2025 is a free-to-attend event for procurement chiefs, legal departments, auditors and compliance leads, thanks to generous sponsorship from platinum sponsors Google and Meta – which will both be showcasing how their new value-adds are also completely free for advertisers signing off non-disclosed models and allowing them to place ads for best returns.

Agencies will also be able to discover first-hand how Meta plans to deliver huge value through its forthcoming principal-based model.

The five major comms global holding companies are currently jostling for gold sponsorship partnerships, with two global principal powerhouses currently outpacing rivals. Mi3 is now considering whether to also extend bidding to large independents.

Triple win

Under principal-based trading models, marketers get all the non-working media services they need – but which procurement doesn’t allow them to pay for – absolutely free. It’s a model that enables media agencies to become owners and sellers of media, data and tech – just like the three big platforms capturing 49 per cent of all ad dollars – while delivering unlimited shareholder value due to the incredible results that it drives.

The win-win-win model is also welcomed by traditional media owners, who can advise their bankers and investors they’ve taken up-front payments or promissory notes on vast licks of their advertising inventory, letting the supply chain handle trivialities like pricing and margin control and leaving them to focus on working out how to fund professional content, regulatory compliance and tax affairs.

Nine-day bonanza

Retail media and CTV, the two fastest growing media channels in terms of spend – will also be heavily represented at the nine-day event, taking place simultaneously across all six Australian states and territories, as well as WA, and live-streamed globally.

Mi3 has created a thought leadership program that represents a literal who’s who of industry – genuinely stretching attendees’ powers of recognition and credulity – across a nine-day, 436-session event, with personalised master classes for all attendees via agentic AI optimisation, and instant evaluation thanks to our deep commercial partnerships with all reputable CX firms. 

Attribution and econometric indicators will be provided by our platinum sponsors, again completely free of charge and audited by them to be entirely unbiased.

The event was first proposed by industry consultant and lateral thinker, Ben Shepherd – who has worked with the likes of OMD, PwC, CHEP, Bain, Thinkerbell, Dentsu and Schwartz – who we hope will agree to MC all 436 sessions in return for Mi3 taking his IP to market.

Registration for the event will go live tomorrow (2 April), Mi3 readers will be automatically opted-in and there will be a free lunch for all.

UPDATE: It's 1 April – and this story is not actually true. (But it would be no surprise if someone did launch it.) Apologies to everyone and huge thanks to Ben Shepherd at Signal+ who took it in good humour at late notice: “I reckon a few people will fall for this one.”