I left one of the lighter sessions of the week with a winning plan for the new TV launch, London Live – on whose branded carpets we had been sitting.
Give the company’s rising commercial star, Jon O’Donnell, a half hour slot on the station – he’s actually quite funny. In fact, given the hours they need to fill, give the man a whole hour.
Here’s just one O’Donnellism from a session that looked at challenged businesses, successes and failures:
“When I joined [the industry] it was filled with failed drama students and blokes who came from the Yellow Pages.”
And more seriously (maybe?):
“We are bonkers if we think we can make money out of purely advertising in ten years’ time.
“Native advertising is what branded content and advertorial has been for years. It is being sold to me as way of getting paid-for content cheaply.”
His equally eloquent fellow panellists didn’t seem to be pitching for a TV slot quite as fervently, but added some market thoughts too.
Simon Rees, CEO of DCM, admitted that cinema needed to catch up very quickly in the last few years, but was able to learn from every other medium. Now it’s “an agile digital business”.
“The plumbing and back room are done, now we need to sort out the front office,” Rees said. “In five years time spot advertising won’t be the main way we make money.”
Chris Forrester, commercial director of Primesight, said that the skill base has changed completely in his OOH business.
“It is more tech based and more agency people now,” he said. “OOH is bringing traditional and digital together.”
Neil Robinson, digital director of IPC Media said that “smart investments will drive the business forward,” but ended the session with perhaps the most realistic note of all: “We really don’t know what will happen in our industry in the next five to ten years.”
