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November 24, 2009
Mammals and Dinosaurs
I was on a panel at the Paley Center for Media on Friday on the State of Advertising in a Global Digital Economy. Other panelists were Maria Francoli of MPG, Dennis Woodside of Google, Bob Greenberg of RGA and Chris Vollmer of Booz & Co.
The world is changing quickly for PR pros. The answer is not simply digital, which is to say delegating responsibility to your digitally minded colleagues. Here are some key findings from the panel:
1) Total advertising spending will not return to 2007 levels until 2013: The precipitous declines of the past two years (global ad spend down 12% in 2009 alone) will gradually be restored. Magazine and newspaper ads will continue to decline through 2010 with magazine down 20% and newspaper down 24%. Only China and India escape the global malaise (up 7% in 2009). But the mix of advertising will change forever, away from newspaper and magazine toward digital (Korea already has 57% of its ad spend in digital). PWC predicts that the total digital spend in 2013 will be 31% of total ad spend versus 21% in 2008.
2) Where will the ad spend go? According to the Booz study, Marketing & Media Ecosystem 2010, the “channels that will garner the most new ad dollars from marketers by 2010 will be digital media, with 88% planning to increase their spend; mobile media (52% will increase spend); public relations (41% will increase spend); and events (35% will increase spend). Meanwhile, half of marketers will cut print and 40% will cut TV spending.
3) Current digital advertising is not drawing mass: According to Starcom, eight percent of those on-line generate 85% of the click through volume.
4) Paying for content online: There are several experiments underway on charging for content but according to BCG, only half of people in the US are willing to pay for on-line content (a bit higher in Europe).
5) The future of mobile: Present mobile devices offer a trade-off between rich experience and mobility. There will be a new category of devices called slates, launching in mid 2010, which will be somewhere between seven to nine inches and weigh under two pounds. They will be more than e-readers, in carrying a browser that will allow text, video, podcasts, e-mail. There will be the opportunity to offer advertising that takes the viewer/reader on the whole spectrum from awareness to preference to purchase.
6) Story-telling in a digital world is quite different. There is less interest in long articles. People are more interested in headlines, an abstract of the story, linked to the full story, and deep dives into the data and sources for the piece. Journalists are learning to offer a dynamic—constantly updating-- presentation of story including stories from other media companies as an aggregator on specific topics. This approach enables media to cover a story from a 360 degree view—the core editorial values remain the same, even if readers are coming to media from different directions (Google, peer recommendation, facebook, blog)
This means that we need to tell stories differently, incorporating video clips with employees or consumers relating their own experiences. We need to create content that credible, compelling and (when relevant) entertaining to the end audience. Ensure clients’ web sites are repositories of credible—journalist quality-- information, with links to independent third party white papers. Surround a story with Twitter comments to provide readers with opportunity to contribute. We also need to make certain that our clients’ content also is available where the users are – on their social media communities—and we don’t rely on them to come to mainstream media or to the company itself.
Happy Thanksgiving to all…and remember to call the Butterball Turkey Talk line (a long-standing client) to assure that your dinner is perfect.
Posted by Edelman at November 24, 2009 2:15 PM |
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