MediaSense recently started an online community on LinkedIn. Called Media Minds, our Group is a forum for expressing, exchanging and commenting on current and emerging issues touching the global media industry. We already have nearly 500 members from around the world.

Each month we publish a digest of the 3 key topics that got our group talking. Each month we publish a digest of the 3 key topics that got our group talking, plus the 5 most read stories by the group.

We hope you enjoy what the group had to say….

How the #?@!! should we manage social media?

Social media is the dominant conversation topic in digital and the platform that’s threatening to turn media consumption charts upside down. It was also the hottest issue on Media Minds this month.
Multiple discussions saw group members discuss: where corporate responsibility for social media lies; how to measure success; Facebook’s latest moves to wow the ad industry, and Google’s attempt to get everyone Buzz-ing.
The Group agreed that serious social media efforts should be an issue for top management, however there was less unanimity on the subject of metrics. Responding to the suggestion that offline dinosaurs were attempting to foist old-school online metrics onto social media, most agreed that the aims of a campaign would determine the appropriate measures. The problem is that many companies don’t have clarity around what they were trying to achieve.
The power of social media might cause marketers to allocate more of their brand budgets to digital, but real progress will come when social media activity can be correlated strongly with total sales data. Some argued that simply using online sales information risked underplaying the role of social media.
The arrival of Google Buzz was distinctly underwhelming, while the power of Facebook for “well optimised DR display” was praised.
However, the initiative that attracted the warmest response was Facebook’s tie up with Nielsen, providing the research giant with first access to data from 400m profile pages.

MediaSense thinks: At a very basic “push” level, social represents an amazingly efficient display medium, as many products have already discovered. At a more sophisticated “pull” level, it presents brands with an opportunity to develop and nourish influential communities, using engagement and referral metrics. Ultimately, the success of both levels can be measured by conversion metrics, and will increasingly need to be managed together.

Pitch invasion

The outcome of the UK’s biggest-ever media pitch started a global debate about the future of standalone digital agencies. In winning the COI (the UK Government’s central marketing services management and procurement agency) account, WPP’s successful M4C collective cast doubt on the more conventional separation of offline and digital specialists.
Media Minds members agreed that the appointment confirmed the need to tie digital thinking into a “total communications” approach, but a range of voices said this was a challenge,whether the expertise lay within different organisations or within different departments. The integration of Media Contacts within Havas’s MPG was singled out for praise.
Protests by agencies in the US and Belgium at client behaviour in pitch processes also caused comment. Attempts by the 4As in the US to protect the “ideas” offered by pitching agencies were largely disparaged. The ideas presented at pitches were rarely used: one member argued that since “the best campaigns are collaborative, as a sense of joint ownership is required to turn a good idea into a great idea – [this is] partly why they are also so rare”.
Members also noted the “virtual strike” by Belgian agencies to protest at aggressive behaviour by clients – specifically, extra-long pitch lists that cost agencies a fortune with little chance of success.
Perhaps fortuitously given these gripes, the ANA in the US also reported that the number of media pitches is likely to fall in 2010. Clients are no longer looking for the same level of savings as they were in 2009, putting incumbents in the box seat.

MediaSense thinks: 2009 was an unusual year- we estimate pitch activity globally rose by 40% over 2008. In 2010, activity will recede, and smart clients will invest more time in managing existing rosters professionally and productively. As processes and data analysis become more embedded, we also expect more international pitches to result in greater retention in the future.

Too many platforms, not enough revenue

The impact of technology on our media habits was a hot topic as media thinkers weigh up the likely impact of new Web TV services such as SeeSaw in the UK, HBO GO in the US and the possible arrival of Project Canvas in the UK.
For some it is a case of too much choice and not enough content – and a failure to confront the biggest issue, the simplification of TV broadcast rights which currently means a channel can broadcast a show but cannot make it available for on-demand viewing.
The demise of Joost Mk 1, bankruptcy claims for Veoh and the continued unprofitability of five year old YouTube were all a cited by group members as evidence that revenues will be difficult to secure in the long tail.
Apple once again made waves this month with the first sight of what the iPad might mean for magazines. Videos of how Wired Magazine and Penguin Books are visualising the new platform wowed those who clicked through.
Apple’s plans to reinvent mobile ads were less well received. One commentator noted that it’s “very dangerous when the ‘medium’ starts vetting the message – after all advertising doesn’t need necessarily to be as funky as the device in order to be effective. Some of the most tedious advertising of all time has proven to be great for sales – ask Unilever and Procter”.

MediaSense thinks: Web TV and Digital Publishing are great opportunities for media owners to extend the monetisation of their content, but will be most successful as collaborative marketplaces as opposed to standalone models. Apple is ahead of the curve, but won’t succeed if it takes an isolationist approach to advertising.

This month’s most read articles were:

1. Kognitio signs with Group M
2. ZO goes Global with branded entertainment
3. Sky buying Virgin TV
4. Mediacom Australia’s strategy shift
5. Unilever retains Mindshare

Posted Friday 5th March 2010