Jonathan Ellis Senior VP ad sales Star Group |
Andrew Meaden Leader, North Asia Mindshare |
Alvin Ch'ng Director, Asia-Pacific NYT Syndicate |
Connie Chan MD MEC, Singapore |
YES |
NO |
YES |
NO |
"This is a great time for industry-wide co-operation. I am sure that commercial directors all over Asia are willing to look beyond their own business needs in order to start collaborative ways in promoting their markets. From a pan-regional Asian TV market perspective this was a hot topic of discussion at the Casbaa (Cable and Satellite Broadcasters Association of Asia) convention last year and right now there are several broadcasters in active discussion on agreeing a collaborative approach to attract client investment into our marketplace. ” |
“I would expect to see a lot more 'consolidation' rather than 'collaboration' as strong, cash-rich media owners look to boost their portfolios, both within their own domains and also via expansion into new areas to allow cross selling (the Focus Media-Sina tie up is a clear example of this). And weaker players will also have to follow suit to protect themselves. However, this kind of activity will typically be limited to privately owned or publicly listed companies rather than state-owned companies (or state-owned-style companies) which dominate much of the media scene is Asia. These media companies, in markets such as China or even Japan, are not run primarily for profit, nor are hostages to the recession in the same short-term way others are. Many are still raising their rate-card prices and although their sales growth will surely decline, they will feel much less pressure to take any drastic action and certainly won't worry about takeovers. ” |
"As newspapers and magazines move to optimise their efficiency and generate new revenue in this challenging time, consolidating resources has become a strategy that makes sense in operations ranging from printing to finance. This has been taking place over the years but with the global financial crisis we will see more accelerated collaboration between players on processes that are deemed to be more of a 'commodity'. Media owners will also seek to reduce content generation costs through cross-border exchanges, buying syndicated materials or exploring long-tail revenue for their content. However, they will still keep editorial materials that differentiate themselves and are likely to maintain independent sales efforts as they try to get more share of the shrinking ad revenue pie. ” |
"During the Sars outbreak a few years ago, many regional airlines put aside competitive differences and worked together to create a campaign encouraging consumers to take to the skies. As the quick rebound showed, this did much to boost consumer confidence. It would be nice to think that media owners, faced with the worst crisis in recent history, would do the same ‚- uniting in a common goal of reassuring clients and agencies that now more than ever is a great time to invest in brand-building and consumer engagement. On the contrary, there seems to be a bunker mentality prevailing, with each channel continuing to exhort its own values. As media owners have the most direct access to consumers, it would be great if, across countries and even regions, all channels could combine, for example, to produce real-time and ongoing insight into consumer behaviour during the downturn, their attitude towards brands, media and advertising. Such an initiative would help the entire industry to understand and adapt strategy for an unprecedented situation.” |
Feb 12, 2009
Off the Fence... Will recession spur media owners to collaborate?
As media owners face a slowdown, will they start to join forces in industry-wide initiatives to boost the market?
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