The Media Execution Partner for Agencies

Pathlabs offers premier white-label media activation, optimization, and analytics services for agencies and in-house teams. If you want to grow your clients' business, we want to be your media execution partner.

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The Problem

Today’s independent ad agencies must navigate a complex and expensive digital media maze that requires many platforms, analytics tools, and measurement systems just to compete. 

They also need people to execute everything from account management to analytics, ad operations, and more.

Building a team of execution experts is expensive and increasingly difficult to manage with the pace of change in the industry.

Diagram showing various digital marketing services and tools connected to a central circle labeled 'Your Agency', including categories like planning, paid search, digital audio, connected television, analytics, online video, execution, paid social, optimization, display, native, programmatic, audience identification, affiliate marketing, and Dooh.
Diagram illustrating the components of the MEP model, with sections for Technology, People, and Workflows, connected to a central Pathlabs MEP system, showing various roles and functions within each area.

The Current Situation

Right now, there are two ways for mid-sized ad agencies to execute digital media campaigns.

Green button with white text reading '1. VENDORS'.
A line connecting different text bubbles.

Working with vendors can be cost-effective, but it often creates more work for the agency.

Green checkmark icon followed by the word PROS in green text.

  • Potentially lower cost 

Pink circle with a white X inside it, followed by the word 'CON' in pink text

  • Less control

  • Not cross-platform

  • Time-consuming to vet and manage

  • Adds more coordination, not less

Blue button with rounded edges, containing the text '2. IN-HOUSE' in white capital letters.

Running campaigns in-house gives agencies more control, but it requires deep expertise, time, and overhead.

A label with a green circle and white check mark, followed by the words "PROS" in green

  • More control

  • Potentially higher quality

Pink circle with white X inside, next to the word 'CON'S' in pink text.

  • Expensive to hire, train, and retain talent

  • Creates cash flow risk from media spend

  • Pulls teams away from higher-value agency growth

  • Hard to scale without the right infrastructure

A person holding a red and black hunting rifle outdoors during daytime, with a backdrop of snow-covered ground and overcast sky.

Introducing
Media Execution Partnerships

What Is an MEP?

An MEP gives you access to all the best-in-class tools and technologies. MEPs combine the best of both worlds between in-house teams and vendors. With MEPs, you get a full digital media team to plan, launch, optimize, and report on your campaigns. You gain access to the best-of-class tools and technologies to execute successful digital media campaigns. All the while, maintaining the amount of control that works best for your team. This is a partnership, after all.

A Venn diagram showing how Managed Equipment Provider (MEP) integrates with vendors and in-house resources. The left circle labeled 'VENDORS', the right circle labeled 'IN-HOUSE', and the overlapping center labeled 'MEP'.

How Are MEPs Priced?

How you pay for a media execution partner is similar to paying a media vendor as a pass-through cost. As a result, MEPs allow agencies to focus on the more strategic components of media execution while reducing staffing costs, limiting financial risks, and ultimately delivering more successful digital media campaigns for your clients. Best of all, the time saved by using an MEP gives you more time to focus on scaling your agency.

Flowchart illustrating the benefits of pass-through cost for an agency. Starts with 'Your Agency', then arrows to a box labeled 'Pass-Through Cost' with benefits listed: reduces staffing costs, reduces technology costs, limits financial risks, allows time to focus on successful campaigns. An arrow then points to 'Your Client'.

Hear It From Our Customers

  • Andy Brunn

    "Pathlabs is the best digital media partner I've worked with. They consistently deliver results for our agency -- and give our clients better performance for the same dollars."

    — Andy Brunn, Media Director, CCF

  • Black and white portrait of a man with glasses, beard, and short hair, wearing a leather jacket and smiling.

    “Life without Pathlabs is hard to imagine. They’re incredibly passionate, caring, empathetic, and supportive human beings who see the bigger picture and are committed to our growth. And that’s partnership.”

    — Sam Burn, Principal, Strategy, Cayenne Creative

  • Katie Glaisyer

    "We're spending more time with clients than ever before. With Pathlabs, my team spends 50% less time managing media."

    — Katie Glaisyer, VP, Media Director, Merlino Media Group

  • A smiling middle-aged man with a bald head and gray beard, wearing a green hoodie and a black vest, in a casual indoor setting.

    “If you’re looking for a digital media expert who works hard for you, but also knows how to respectfully work in tandem with you and your clients, Pathlabs is the ideal partner.

    — David Heimlich, Partner, The Blossom Project

  • Chelsea Kauss

    "Pathlabs is more than a vendor. They're part of our team! Providing new ideas & insights - we're thrilled to have them on board."

    — Chelsea Kauss, Director of Account Services, The Partnership

  • A man with a beard and mustache smiling, wearing a zip-up jacket, in front of a wood-paneled background with framed artwork on the wall.

    "With Pathlabs, you get a team of people that function as another arm of your own team. They have proven expertise and hit the ground running — without needing weeks of training to get up to speed."

    — Clay Deal, Media Director, Simantel

  • Nicole Kirsch

    “Their dynamic reporting provides real-time, omni-channel dashboards in a clean, simple design – making Pathlabs incredibly easy to work with.”

    — Nicole Kirsch, Media Director & Principal, Firehouse

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