Welcome to MediaCom's Quarterly Digest. Every three months, our industry thought leaders look at key
changes in the media landscape and offer insights and investment advice to advertisers.
If you would like to talk to any of our speakers, please contact joanne.brenner@mediacom.com for
more information.
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Investment: The recession is over for marketers
The media industry has spent the last two years focused on price, efficiency, pitches or audit
results. With the end of the squeeze, marketers are resetting the agenda.
In 2011 they want to deliver more unique executions and personalised messages. Budgets for nonstandard media slots have effectively doubled in all sectors and markets across the globe.
Analysis of the automotive sector spending by MediaCom Germany shows that while in 2009 and the
first half of 2010 car brands spent just 6.5% of their budget on more experimental media. In the six
months to the end of March 2011, that figure has risen to an average of 14%.
In Australia, the financial sector has increased its investment in digital screens, giant posters,
illuminated sites and ambient media by 50% more than it has boosted spend on traditional outdoor
sites.
In the US, while the bulk of the hype around the Superbowl advertising bonanza was focused on
traditional TV spots, advertising brands also doubled spend on digital video platforms.
Globally, the number of brands communicating more personal messages to their followers in the last six
months has increased by more than 40%.
Marketers are expanding their more experimental spend for two clear reasons:
Firstly, after two years of spending as little as possible to maintain sales during the recession they need
to boost their brand equity. In order to grow their top lines brands need to show what's different about
them and the use of stunning, innovative and individual media placement can be part of the story.
A perfect example would be upmarket Israeli food retailer Tiv Taam, which promoted its Italian food
month by advertising in Rome, the No 1 Italian destination for Israeli tourists. By relying on social media
to spread the message back home, the brand clearly positioned itself as knowing more about Italian
Food than its retail rivals.
Secondly, post-recession consumers have stopped simply buying what they know and are willing to
make a statement by spending extra to differentiate themselves.
Communicating opportunities to purchase products such as personalised iPods and Nike trainers
requires a message that is also more personalised and fits in with a more one-to-one sales experience.
Alongside efficient communication in traditional channels brands need to communicate in a more
individual way to reinforce the differentiating qualities of their products.
Dell.com in the US has used behavioural targeting technology to ensure that potential computer
purchasers who don't follow through to checkout receive an offer that's directly related to their browsing
activity, for example.
The drive for more unique media messages comes at a time when media owners are able to offer extra
individual solutions to advertisers. Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat, for example, has recently integrated
a new software solution that creates a list of personal news stories based on their previous reading on
the site.
The application delivers recommendations in the form of links to individual articles which appear at the
top of the front page. Any ad appearing within such an environment will automatically be perceived as
more bespoke because the context is so personalised.
Success in this new advertising environment will require advertisers and agencies to take three key
steps:
Constantly monitor the latest opportunities in both digital and traditional media to ensure you
have access to every opportunity to individualise your communications.
Keep an eye on the competition: losing ground in the innovation stakes or use of personalised
and impactful media could harm your brand equity.
Don't carry on buying cheap media: Media strategies based solely on price are the wrong
solution for 9 out of 10 brands. Explore new ways to measure the additional impact of
unique/personalised advertising through tools such as social media tracking and measuring
social buzz is just one element.
By Christian Schmalzl, Chief Operations & Investment Director, MediaCom Worldwide
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