2011: The year of media systems technology?

Well it can’t be the year of mobile yet again and it won’t yet be the year of connected TV, so what if the media industry, and most particularly the agency market, focused rather more internally? This could take in a number of areas:

Data systems (many agencies will tell you that data is now at the heart of the business); or process systems; or even trading systems – which should be process systems too – such as J-ET in radio or CARIA for TV.

With data, it is not just about gathering it and acting on it more efficiently. It is increasingly about data fusion, pulling data from many sources and devices – and there is room for agency, media owner, and research company partnerships in this area.

Media agencies have fretted over systems and technology for as long as I can recall. Sometimes hamstrung by a lack of expertise, sometimes by desire for an arguably mythical USP, sometimes as a result of their dependence on DDS. But internal process systems and data management systems are long overdue serious attention leading to new implementation, and 2011 might just see the start of this.

Why? P&L avid readers! Better systems require investment, but success = greater efficiency = savings… and maybe = new revenue opportunities too. It is quite hard to see where else agency margins can be notably improved right now.

Not the most exciting epithet for 2011 maybe, but it will make more difference to the agency world than the year of mobile has done so far.