MRG conference: ‘When has anyone ever broken into a car to steal a Magazine?’
The MRG conference got off to a lively start last night with Kantar Media’s Richard Asquith chairing The Balloon Debate – “Which media will survive the digital age?”
The six ‘Balloonists’ and the media they were there to defend included:
- Anna Cremin for Cinema
- Katherine King for Newspapers
- Amanda Wigginton for Magazines
- Chris Hall for Out of Home
- John Fryers for Radio
- Stephen Murfet for TV
A balloon debate, as described by Wikipedia, “is a debate in which a number of speakers attempt to win the approval of an audience. The audience is invited to imagine that the speakers are flying in a hot-air balloon, which is sinking and that someone must be thrown out if everyone is not to die. Each speaker has to make the case why they should not be thrown out of the balloon to save the remainder.”
Just an hour and a half after landing in Malta, each panellist had just two minutes to convince us why their media should stay in the balloon.
Interesting points were made – Out of Home argued that it will survive the digital age because “new technology won’t fragment our audience”. Magazines are “on demand and mobile” and have the 3 C’s – Content, Consumer understanding and are Competitive.
Meanwhile, “Cinema has survived the digital age so far” with more consumers enjoying the diversity on offer and benefiting from alternative content. The face of Newspapers may be changing, “but they will be around for decades”, and Radio is effortlessly everywhere, and above all, “is free for the listener”.
Delegates were asked to place loyalties aside and vote for the argument that they felt presented the strongest case. The top three were announced as: Magazines, Out of Home and Radio.
As the top three, Amanda Wigginton, Chris Hall and John Fryers were in the spotlight once more, but this time, with no time to prepare, they had to report why their media was better than the other two. Delegates then voted for the best of the three “friendly” attacks.
Radio was announced as the winner. Perhaps it was John Fryer’s closing line that won the delegates over? “When has anyone ever broken into a car to steal a magazine? When during a military coop has anyone ever taken over a poster site?”