ISBA Media Issues Conference
The ISBA Media Issues conference was held yesterday at the Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square.
John Hooper, Conference Chairman began proceedings by welcoming delegates and gave a brief outline to the days speakers. Mr Hooper expressed how important creative media planning and buying was in a market that is increasingly fragmenting. He said that todays media was’mind bogglingly complex’ and with new interactive media emerging, media will only increase in complexity. Mr Hooper said the conference aimed to assist and help through the complexities.
The following presentation was entitled 21st Century Street which was given by Mick Desmond, Chief Executive of Laser. Mr Desmond confronted the issue of the role of primetime TV in a fragmenting market.
Mr Desmond believes that there is a role for primetime TV in the future which will be critical. He admitted that ITV has had problems in 1995 and he has not been happy with its performance.
Mr Desmond said the competition was doing better and gave reasons for ITV’s poor performance. There has been an increase in satellite penetration, Channel 4 have improved from their low 1994 base and the BBC have launched strong new programmes.
Commercial radio took center stage for the next presentation given by Gordon Rankin, Marketing Director, Barclaycall, and Justin Sampson, Strategic Planner Radio Advertising Bureau.
Gordon Rankin began by asking why commercial radio, had in the past, remained an untapped advertising source. “Revenue from the national advertising marketplace has doubled over the last three years. The medium formerly known as the 2% medium now accounts for over 4% of display advertising revenue and 5% doesn’t seem unattainable”
Mr Rankin asked Justin Sampson why radio had not forfilled its potential. Mr Sampson said that research had shown:
* Perception lagged behind reality
* Ignorance and prejudice
* Radio strengths had not been sold
Mr Sampson said that there were no fundamental negatives, “Just inactivity”.
Mr Hooper introduced the first presentation, The Future of Media Buying with speakers, John Blakemore, Advertising Director, SmithKline Beecham Consumer Healthcare, Mike Elms Chief Executive CIA (UK) Holdings, Mandy Pooler, Managing Director O&M Media and George Michaelidies, Managing Partner, Michaelidies & Bednash.
After a brief imaginary look at the year 2010,Mr Blakemore said that he did not know in which direction media buying will go in. He said that his was a superficial look at some of the things that could conceivably happen.
Mr Blakemore emphasised the continually changing landscape of the media environment with an example from 1980. He asked whether” anybody would really have predicted that fifteen years later station price would be the main trading currency in TV, that satellite and cable would be a growing business, that ITV airtime would be sold by only three sales houses, that Rupert Murdoch would be the force he is around the world, that an Italian media mogul would, albeit for a short period of time, be prime minister of Italy, that full service agencies would be a relative thing of the past and media would become a high profile field dominated by specialist media dependents and independents that commercial radio would take off and have 50% of the radio audience, and that Channel 4 would come into being and be so successful.
Mr Blakemore told delegates the direction he saw media going in. He believes that there will be fewer players. This is happening now, he added. “Control and power in all aspects of business is being concentrated into fewer hands.”
The power of television will continue to dominate because it offers the most important elements of passive entertainment.
Subscription pay per view will outstrip ad revenue by some considerable margin There will be simpler administration. Mr Blakemore said that at present the amount of time currently spent administering schedules is a waste.He said that 50% of the media buyer’s (and seller’s ) time is spent checking and double checking that what has already been contractually agreed does in fact happen.
The viewer will have more choice and control but will have to pay for this via pay per view.
There will be more emphasis on partnerships. Mr Blakemore hopes that there will be more partnerships and alliances between advertisers and media owners rather than frustration and confrontation. There will be more emphasis placed on accountability. Advertisers will look for more evidence of advertising’s role in the marketing mix.
And finally, creativity which Mr Blakemore believes will continue to be king and the key element of any campaign.
Next to take the stand was Mike Elms. Mr Elms agreed with Mr Blakemore that the future of media is unpredictable.”But”, Mr Elms continued, “I do believe that a lot of the seeds that will go to shape the future have already been sown and that some are starting to sprout. Such as the British Telecom
Interactive television project which is currently undergoing technical trials The new service will offer the customer:
* Movies on demand
* Shopping on demand
* Television on demand
* Banking on demand
* 300 hours music video
* Magazines on demand
* 200 hours childrens video
* Education on demand
* Community information
* Advertising on demand
In October a joint venture between the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society and Bell Cablemedia in the Peterborough area will pilot a home banking service including the enactment of transactions.
The prolific increase predicted in multi media PC ownership by 1998 is reason for media companies to take full advantage of electronic media while still in the early stages. NBC in the US have set up NBC Digital Publishing. Content
for its digital disks will be drawn from the resources of sport, news and entertainment.
The Internet will provide a huge opportunity and this was echoed by Mr Elms. He named companies new to the Internet. They include Leeds Building Society, J Sainsbury for Wine Direct, Royal Bank of Scotland for HOBS and Coca Cola. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and MCI plan to launch a global on-line newspaper on the Internet.
Mr Elms said he wanted to talk about what,rather than how, buyers will be buying. He said consumers are seeking out media to create their own portfolios “The marginal media opportunities for reaching and communicating with them will therefore grow.”
Good media buying in the future will depend on continuing to construct the most appropriate schedules and obtaining the most competitive prices in mainstream media whilst at the same time creating new media opportunities in ‘marginal media’.
Ms Pooler said ” Media buyers will be trained to work ever more closely with the marketing, advertising and creative process”.
Ms Pooler said that there is a new breed of client “There are an increasing number of advertisers who recognise the dawn of a new, consumer-driven era in the media. These are the advertisers who want to invest in programme making, test interactive services, experiment with sponsorships, DRTV, Infomercials and any number of more futuristic techniques which may bring their brands closer to the consumer.” This does not just include the smaller advertisers but also large advertisers such as Procter and Gamble and Unilever.
“The future of buying is not about ‘clout’, it’s about ‘collaboration’ We are currently in a period of painful transition. It has to be admitted that whilst an exiteing future beckons, currently sales operations, particularly in television and specifically in ITV, are painfully reactionary.”
Ms Pooler admitted “No two ways about it, the kind of media I’m talking about is high spec, high cost – particularly in man hours, training and research, and it requires high calibre people at both the media buying and the client end. But it’s also high impact, high return and high value, and it’s the future because the consumer says so”.
George Michaelidies gave a media strategist view on the future of media buying He said competitive media strategies are now vital, they cannot and should not be driven by the media buyer’s deal.
The overiding imperative is to develop ideas and this would fall to the media strategists . Media strategists are all about ideas and innovation that creates the most competitive ideas.
Mr Michaelidies summarised: “Move media strategy into companies that are totally focused on developing effective and competitive media strategies which are then negotiated cost efficiently by media buying operations.”
The following presentation was entitled 21st Century Street which was given by Mick Desmond, Chief Executive of Laser. Mr Desmond confronted the issue of the role of primetime TV in a fragmenting market.
Mr Desmond believes that there is a role for primetime TV in the future which will be critical. He admitted that ITV has had problems in 1995 and he has not been happy with its performance.
Mr Desmond said the competition was doing better and gave reasons for ITV’s poor performance. There has been an increase in satellite penetration, Channel 4 have improved from their low 1994 base and the BBC have launched strong new programmes.
The ITV’s response came at a major strategy conference in Belfast where both short term and long term plans were laid. The short term will see the Autumn schedule strengthened which will include the much publicised acquisition of the Beatles story. In the long term the meeting outlined the main weaknesses in the ITV schedule which were highlighted as daytime afternoon and nightime.
Research is to be carried out on all major programmes and audience which will lead to more aggressive scheduling. Mr Desmond highlighted areas which he believed would win audiences: ITV has to build on strengths it has to take risks in programming and strengthen already existing genres.
Mr Desmond emphasised loyalty to the brand and factors that influenced it: Programme length, Daypart, Programme Genre and Size of Rating.
Research has shown that loyalty ratios are highest for ITV. Mr Desmond’s target audience are the Elusive Light Viewers who have watch ITV least.
Commercial radio took center stage for the next presentation given by Gordon Rankin, Marketing Director, Barclaycall, and Justin Sampson, Strategic Planner Radio Advertising Bureau.
Gordon Rankin began by asking why commercial radio, had in the past, remained an untapped advertising source. “Revenue from the national advertising marketplace has doubled over the last three years. The medium formerly known as the 2% medium now accounts for over 4% of display advertising revenue and 5% doesn’t seem unattainable”
Mr Rankin asked Justin Sampson why radio had not forfilled its potential. Mr Sampson said that research had shown:
* Perception lagged behind reality
* Ignorance and prejudice
* Radio strengths had not been sold
Mr Sampson said that there were no fundamental negatives, “Just inactivity”.
Mr Sampson said Commercial Radio had fragmented which means cost effectiveness for advertisers. It is now easier to target a specific audience.
To measure the effectiveness of targeting the audience 1995 studies have been compared to earlier research to see whether attitudes have changed. Since 1992 planning and buying of radio has changed. The validity of audience research is now reliable thanks to RAJAR.
Mr Rankin asked what the future of radio held. Mr Sampson said that 1995 has already seen increased marketing activity, £4m marketing and a forecast for long term growth.
1993 saw radio as the largest expanding medium. This growth has been steady and is now being sustained. Mr Sampson said that in the future he hoped that commercial radio would recognise that the BBC is the competition.