FOCUS: 2000 REVIEW: Media specialists need to be at the heart of all 360-degree communications planning - The fallout (from making attitudinal changes) may not be pretty, but neither is inertia

After 1999's success of winning the global Oracle account alongside the brand agency, Grey Worldwide, 2000 has been a year of consolidation for MediaCom in Asia-Pacific, as we "bedded in" this important new client. Important for several reasons. Important for its revenue of course. Important as a signal that MediaCom is becoming less reliant on its traditional strengths within the fast moving consumer goods sector. (Indeed, this "broadening" of our client base, into the technology and new economy sector, has already attracted another big technology client during 2000, Unysis.) Important also because, our traditional base of existing clients are spending less, wanting more, squeezing our margins, and also expecting things at "Internet speed"! Call it what you will, but when clients are "seeking innovative remuneration solutions" or "compensation based on greater accountability", this is generally a client cost-cutting exercise that directly affects our bottom-line. However, media specialists should share some of this responsibility, for, in seeking independence from the brand agencies, have created a monster of their own. One whose business model relies on wafer-thin margins, alongside escalating people and research costs. If this were a dotcom start-up, it wouldn't get past the concept stage. The only way that media specialists can shake loose from this depressing straitjacket is to rid itself of its commodity/supplier image. The way forward, I believe, is to elevate the media specialist from its previous low level within the traditional agency's food chain, so that it evolves from a media department to the communication specialist - the hub within the spokes of 360-degree communications planning. This will require both a shift in attitude within media specialist's personnel, but also with the management of the agency brand. The fallout may not be pretty, but neither is inertia. The opportunity cost of not doing so, will be higher in the long term, especially in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Of course, this will only become a pure exercise when clients are educated to remunerate on a media neutral basis, or a monthly fee, rather than the increasingly outdated commission on billing. Now, this is where I would like to add some items to my "seasonal media wish list" from Santa Claus. - Training: I know that it's been said in these pages before, but it's no good moaning about the lack of "quality people" in the industry. Yes, a certain amount of raw talent is needed, but if agencies in general spent a bit more time and resources on training their own staff, the effort would be more than justified. Not just in an improvement in standards, but in staff morale and (and maybe I'm being naive here) greater loyalty and, hopefully, lower staff turnover. - On-line: A lot was predicted at the beginning of last year about the evangelical benefits of the Internet and new media. I'm still excited about the promise, but feel that specialists and agencies alike, too often, when trying to impress clients, fall over themselves to create specialist divisions without fully thinking it through. So the jargon takes a while to get used to, but embrace it. My own view is that, within the 360-degree planning model, this should be treated as just another medium that happens to be more measurable than the rest. Certainly the back-office stuff can reduce labour costs by streamlining mundane tasks. But we're probably all guilty of spending too long trying to convince a prospective client of the merits of our latest "Gizmo version 8.3", when as long as we have one, the client can tick the box and we can all get on with our lives. Basically, less "mumbo jumbo" please. - Media vendors: Print titles that don't regularly update their circulation audit. Newspapers with their rapidly fractionalised sections that don't subscribe to syndicated readership research. Web sites that don't have audited traffic. Local TV stations that stifle multi-channel viewership measurement. Regional television stations that still don't have regional trading currency based upon people meter data. Come on guys, you want our clients' money. Help yourselves by becoming more accountable. - Finally, clients: They too have a responsibility. They should not pay lip service to wanting accountable results. They also need to invest in research, to accurately measure their sales and fully understand their customer. Too often, this just doesn't happen. Also, I know that we live in an increasingly fast paced world, but with a little more organisation, does that request for a full years regional media plan really need to be turned round in a couple of weeks? More realistic deadlines please. Then we can give the client the quality of service they expect, we'll be more appreciated, our value will increase, we'll be paid what we deserve. We'll re-invest in people, training and resources to serve the client even better. I do live in my own happy, "Santa is alive and so is Elvis" world, don't I? While I keep on taking the medication, have a safe and prosperous new year, everyone!

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