The size and importance of media investment has led to an increased focus on the role of media, with advertisers demanding more effective and cost efficient solutions, hence the reasoning behind yesterday’s conference “Media is too important to be left to Media specialists” hosted by the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA).
Speakers at the conference included David McNair, group marketing director of The Hiram Walker Group, who reasoned that advertisers are still using television as their main source but they now expect more from TV in return.
David McNair -IS THERE LIFE OUTSIDE TV?
Giving details about the company he works for – Allied Lyons (Castlemaine XXXX, Carlsberg, Tetleys, Lyons) – McNair points out how multi media usage and fragmented audiences are an everyday reality. Allied advertises over 40 brands a year with promotional spends from £10,000 to £10 million, a spend which is aimed at 17 target audiences, hence his experience of media specialists is invaluable.
McNair points out that the UK’s media market is obsessed with negotiating on the basis of discount from rate cards, concentrating on cost per thousand audience. The problem here is that there is little emphasis on adding value to a medium, instead the emphasis is on discounting its base. Media in this country gives little thought to joint promotions, which make both the advertiser and the media owner winners in the value added game.
McNair believes that it is deals outside of strict and traditional media guidelines that are the future of advertising, involving brand managers to a greater extent. He points out, however, that problems do exist which can hinder the progress and growth of new forms of advertising, taking programme sponsorship as an example.
He questions why programme sponsors rarely carry sponsorship long term, reasoning that the problem rarely lies with either the sponsor or the TV company, with ITV being hindered by strict rules layed down by the ITC.But he also believes that a proportion of the blame should fall on ITV, who do not exert enough authority on the individual TV companies regarding sponsorship guidelines.
The whole programme sponsorship market for TV is probably worth less than £20m, McNair estimates, and it is unlikely to achieve its predicted £100m by the end of the decade while current rules and practices pertain. McNair points specifically to programme sponsorship (a topic which crops up on numerous occasions throughout the conference) because he believes it is a prime example of where simple applied marketing principles could cut through the web of traditional media practices that hold back the development of other TV opportunities. Without the application of these principles substantial potential revenue is lost to the ITV companies.
