More Opinion articles

From publishing to advertising, a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers shows there is cause to be optimistic about the UK’s media sector – and even the decline of magazines and newspapers is expected to ease off between now and 2017. Raymond Snoddy takes a look at the figures and notes that confidence begets confidence – and in the end becomes self-fulfilling…

While Netflix’s recent foray into original programming has generated at lot of positive PR, the business case for them to effectively become a studio has yet to be made, argues Shaun Austin, Director at YouGov Media. Netflix – and others – would be better off spending money investing in getting TV series into their catalogues sooner and providing customers with the current content they want to see. Until then, that remains with TV.

Harnessing the spirit of Victorian adventure, Route’s James Whitmore recently set off to Romania for the annual conference of the European Media Research Organisation. So what did he discover from our European neighbours? Ground is, thankfully, still being broken but audience measurement continues to face some serious challenges…

Despite past concerns, Freesheets today have a lot going for them argues Tim Carr, director and head of international at adconnection. They travel far and wide, attract new – and multiple – readers, and with the right online offering can lead people towards workable ‘freemium’ content…

If advertisers find the hard work of getting the right celebrity and the right script for an ad too much, then the result will be a lazy, counter-productive mess, says Dominic Mills. So which two high profile actors have been lured into the latest car-crash ads?

This week Simon Andrews takes a look at how social is maturing as a strategic discipline, the impact of product placement in the entertainment industry and the unavoidable problem that comes with taking a multi-screen and multi-channel approach when targeting audiences.

Online display advertising has failed and in its wake comes Native Advertising – a term we’ll all be using by 2014, we’re assured. But there is much confusion outside of the US about what it even means, never mind having the know-how to pitch its use to a client. Never fear, because Greg Grimmer has a simpler explanation for what he says is the Next Big Thing.

This year’s festival was about far more than the films – it was about the stars, the parties, the fashion and some real-life drama through an audacious jewellery heist. And while this helped Chopard take the headlines, the ubiquitous presence of brands at the festival reflects the increasingly close relationship between advertising and film, says DCM’s Simon Rees.

As Twitter announces a new TV advertising platform and Facebook comes under fire for driving users away with ‘irritating’ marketing strategies, what does the future hold for the social media giants? Raymond Snoddy investigates, and warns that social media networks have to be very smart and careful if they are not to put at risk what has been achieved…

Aside from a few notable exceptions, too many ads these days fail to capture, exploit or celebrate our unique sense of Britishness argues Dominic Mills. Where are all the witty, self-deprecating, self-doubting, cynical or just plain surreal advertisements? Marketers are really missing a trick here, especially post-Olympics when we’re still – just about – celebrating our nationhood…