First Issue Review: Campaign Media Business
There’s a new magazine for all of us launched this week as Haymarket yesterday unveiled Campaign Media Business. To be accurate, as the tag line is “the magazine for the media sales industry”, it is not quite for all of us.
“A mag for media sales pros is years overdue,” according to editor Jonah Bloom. The more cynical might suggest this is simply a chance to nab some of the media recruitment market before ultimately changing direction enough to oust Media Week altogether – but then who’s cynical in the media industry?
We gather that the launch issue has been sent to about 20,000 across the media spectrum, but that a settle down figure of about 10,000 within the media sales industry is the anticipated norm. The look and size sensibly match Campaign. The Monday issue date gives a chance to follow up the late news from Wednesday and Thursday trade press and break a little new stuff as well – but it will be interesting to see whether those big exclusives are still passed to Campaign and Media Week instead.
Issue one is very people-driven. Three front page stories and three more on page two feature recruitment in some form – judging by this issue, everyone is hiring, everyone is finding it difficult to hire (unless you are in new media and offer share options) and everyone is paying more. Shame then that on page three MediaTel is quoted as predicting a city-style big bang and all that this would entail. Fine juxtaposition, mind you.
There are a couple of “panels” – including one rather weak quiz, exposing a disturbing lack of general media knowledge among the participants – news analysis, accounts on the move and two data columns (Media Track by MediaTel looks particularly astute).
Launch advertisers include Carlton, RBI, FT and Telegraph, but once the circulation is trimmed to sales folk, these will surely be advertising to their competitors. The lifeblood in the short term will undoubtedly be recruitment, and issue one gives a chunky seventeen pages of this – just under half the total pagination.
Campaign Media Business is set to be the magazine that brightens up Monday for the media sales industry. Grab it early, read optimistic surveys indicating inflated salaries, temporary setback when you compare these with your own, recover quickly to catch up on your competitors recruitment requirements and then take your pick from the second half of the mag – new job by Friday!