More Opinion articles

Despite the average household disposable income declining over the past few years, people are shopping more often now than they were ten years ago. Tesco, Marks and Spencer and Waitrose have all made changes to adapt to this shift in consumerism, so how are these brands driving and maintaining brand equity in a time as financially uncertain as this? Innovation, says SMG’s Steve Smith.

Jim Marshall argues that newspapers still retain their potency for reporting and commenting on major news stories, despite those who suggest that newspapers are doomed. But this brings with it a responsibility which has greater significance and accountability in today’s ‘multi layered’ world of media – if newspapers are going to continue to be a gateway medium what they say has to be true.

Yahoo has made a millionaire out of 17 year-old app developer Nick D’Aloisio with the purchase of his news summary app, Summly – and although Raymond Snoddy says it’s great that news is being made more accessible via mobile devices – it’s a little less good that quality, journalistic content is being turned into convenient bullet points.

Richard Marks of Research the Media has a confession to make: after years of extolling the benefits of Big Data in audience measurement he must now admit that he was wrong to use those two little words. Here is his apology – as well as a call to action.

Following Advertising Week Europe, which included Wednesday’s MediaTel Media Playground event, Digital Cinema Media’s CEO Simon Rees shares his highlights from an inspirational week.

With one third of the US population watching digital video each week, it’s safe to say that online viewing is becoming increasingly mainstream. However, the latest US Touchpoints data look very similar to our own and shows that linear TV still rules the roost. So in a world with more content and content platforms than ever before, what – if anything – will replace television? ‘More telly!’ says The Media Native.

By focusing purely on the ‘bid’ or the ‘buy’ in RTB we are failing to correctly articulate the benefits for everyone in the system that programmatic can enable says Videology’s Rhys McLachlan.

Trevor Beattie, advertising’s self-licensed controversialist, has proclaimed the death of the 30-second ad – and asserted that in future ads should be no longer than five seconds. Aside from the fact that short-form ‘blipverts’ already exist, he is right that the long-form ad is an anachronism and a bore says Dominic Mills.

For the live Mobile Fix at Media Playground on Wednesday Simon Andrews, founder of Addictive! took a look at mobile advertising. Looking at the Guardian mobile site the night before, every campaign he saw failed for one reason or another. What’s going on?

The newspaper industry had already swallowed many tough proposals, but the balance has now been tipped so unacceptably against them that the future course is clear: The Government insists this is a self-regulatory body – if that is so then membership is by definition voluntary and all the leading newspaper groups have to do is…nothing. By Raymond Snoddy.