Media survival advice in 2009

From information gathered over the last year, there are few key messages I believe are vital for media survival in 2009.

Vital to understand

It may seem obvious to some, but it is vital for us as media practitioners to understand not only what the client wants to achieve, but how they want to achieve it. To do so, industry members must first realise that budget allocations are becoming increasingly short-term and it is seldom that long-term contractual commitments are being signed.

In line with this is the fact that clients are increasingly experiencing a drive towards a return on investment (ROI), with the general feeling that while brand advertising is nice to have, it's ideal to push sales instead. This change in mindset towards advertising avenues means enormous pressure is being placed on agencies and media owners to discount, add value, be continuously innovative and generally try and help clients stand out in the vast array of media opportunities.

In 2009 it would seem that interface activations are the avenue of choice for clients wishing to stand out from advertising clutter, with clients feeling more comfortable with one-on-one interaction with consumers. Along with this interactive trend, I have established that budgetary pressures are forcing the exclusion of secondary media types from media schedules, as well as the reduction of creative executions - for example, many clients are opting to make 15” radio and TV commercials as opposed to 30”.

Counteract

There is no doubt that client's budget pressures are taking a toll on media owners, and I would like to offer some advice you can use to counteract this issue.

1. Make sure the time of every sales person's time is optimised - return to the fail safe methods of call reports, sales pipelines and relationships.
   
2. Ensure sales people are selling ‘solution'-based options as opposed to dropping off rate cards and delivering muffins.
   
3. Maximise the use of unsold inventory to help loyal clients build smaller budget brands; this will ensure long-term client relationships are solidified.
   
4. Push your editors and programme managers for new innovative ideas to give advertisers the edge.
   
5. Do not discount excessively; it may be a short-term gain, but it will become a long-term nightmare.
   
6. Use all the relationships built up by your senior management teams with clients and agencies over the years, and get these managers back into the field.
   
7. Watch your rate increases - before taking any excessive rate increases to the market, make sure your media type is performing proportionally.
   
8. Monitor all available newspapers, magazines and journals for trends and market movements, and be prepared to react accordingly.
   
9. As leaders it is important to stay positive. Sales people like nothing better than to latch onto negative sentiment from managers as an excuse for not making targets.
   
10. As managers, it is important to ensure that market-related targets are set for your sales people.