Despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that MediaCorp is almost uncontested on many traditional fronts — owning all terrestrial TV channels, nearly the entire FM airwave spectrum and a slew of popular glossies such as 8 Days and i-Weekly — the state-owned group has found itself in a dilemma: hustling to address the reality of a fragmented market.
"It's very good that MediaCorp is (overhauling its sales force); I just wish it had done it 10 years earlier," says Manpreet Singh, outgoing CEO of MindShare Singapore. "But better late than never."
While the consolidation process began last year, two weeks ago, MediaCorp officially unveiled a new umbrella group, MediaCorp Enterprise. MediaCorp Radio MD James Yip will concurrently manage this umbrella department. Meanwhile, sales teams for all its TV stations will merge and bundle production chores.
Although MediaCorp declined to comment for this article, CEO Lucas Chow made it clear in a press statement that the company's vision was to be "Asia's top media company", and that the restructuring could only benefit clients. "By constantly refining the way we organise to conduct business, we'll be able to yield efficiencies and synergies that will ultimately benefit our audiences and partners," he says.
Meanwhile, there is plenty of speculation as to the motivation behind the restructuring. Singh views the initiative as a reaction towards upward multi-tasking and fragmented media. Other sources surmise that the move was driven to enhance media properties that might not have been doing as well. It might also be convenient to suggest that this was a reaction to declining adspend, as ACNielsen figures confirm a TV adspend decline of US$71 million for 2005 over 2004. However, this drop has been attributed to a pullback in bonus airtime and special packages, rather than any underlying weakness in TV advertising time demand (Media, 2 December 2005).
Agencies, nonetheless, are still awaiting fulfillment of Chow's statement. Sharon Soh, GM of MEC Singapore, feels that while the idea demonstrates that MediaCorp is "getting its act together", she has yet to detect any real change. "As I understand it, their sales people are still struggling. After all, they're pulling people who might usually sell print to now sell radio as well."
Another source observes: "I suppose there would be some synergy, but the confusion might spoil whatever good it brings."
Meanwhile, another media planner describes the integrated packages as inflexible — while the bundles offered tempting savings, they also force clients to commit to options that may only loosely fit their media needs. Singh, however, disagrees. "It's the right move. By encouraging clients to advertise across multiple platforms, it ultimately gives them more ways to engage with consumers."
