The difficulties experienced by the press and the old media in general are only the tip of the iceberg. These medias are declining in terms of audience because of the sudden intrusion of the digital era, they are inevitably going to carry other actors in the value chain with them, including tradional advertising/communication agencies.
But the scenario is always the same ; before reacting, the press groups didn’t see that their audiences were migrating to the Internet, then they realized, but too late. It’s the same attitude that prevails in big advertising agencies, but here, the managers have a real strategic vision (LOL !). They pick up, without really knowing why, the UGC and WEB 2.0 trends to give the impression that the agency is plugged into the moving world. An unreasonable wish but lacking managerial substance.
And yet, the reality goes beyond fiction :
So far this year (in US):
105 newspapers have been shuttered
10,000 newspaper jobs have been lost.
Print ad sales fell 30% in Q1 ‘09.
23 of the top 25 newspapers reported circulation declines between 7% and 20%
Source Business Alley InsiderAnd the analysis by Victoria Marchand on CannesLions2009
Despite a galaxy of VIPs (Eric Schmidt from Google, Steve Balmer from Microsoft, Spike Lee, David Plouffe the guru of the Obama campaign) this 56th edition was the image of a dying industry that can’t seem to revitalize itself. The digital revolution really did bring the advertising agencies to their knees and it’s not viral campaigns that will save them. Sir Martin Sorrell, WPP, asked corporate marketing managers “what’s next” ; no one was able to articulate a coherent idea. The only certainty, the Cannes Festival is a masterpiece in peril.
Too many Lions given out, too many categories, less recorded work (how can you pay 800$ for a campaign that didn’t produce much more ?), an outdated Palais des Festivals without wifi, a prohibitive hosting cost controlled by the organisers. Same report for the participants, of the 10 000 expected, only 4 000 made the trip.
And in the press room, the few journalists from media who still agreed to the trip doubted that they would be able to come back next year. A total crisis !
Why is this management worn down?
Mainly due to wanting to saving their careers; in the press like in the advertising agencies, it’s preferable to secure one’s career as opposed to imagining new strategies or bringing added value to the agency’s clients. This weighs down innovation, business culture and blocks creativity.
This is why they have missed out on the Internet generation !
"Twitter and Internet absolutely changes the media landscape”. The managers of media agencies must be aware, like those of the press, that the digital era is here. Today information is a free commodity and advertising will be also, sooner or later.
