Outdoor reps try hardest to visit media agencies while magazines do least, survey suggests
Sales staff from outdoor companies visit media agencies more often, are happier in their jobs and more service orientated than any other medium, a survey of agency staff has suggested.
And according to the survey by Media i, sales efforts by magazine companies have seen the biggest decline over the last four years, with staff least likely to be seen as making an effort to visit agencies and being seen as the least service orientated.
Meanwhile, newspapers are least likely to be seen as either an innovative or creative advertising channel, and least likely to provide relevant insights. And 38% of those working in newspapers plan to look for a new job before Christmas.
The data comes from Media i’s survey of 2,127 media agency staff across Australia’s five capital cities.
According to the survey, the last four years has seen outdoor advertising reps rise to be seen as the most frequent visitors to media agencies by 39% of those surveyed.
And in just four years, magazines have declined from being seen as the most frequent visitors, to one of the least. Now only 10% of respondents say magazines visit most often, compared to nearly 40% four years ago. Only newspapers fared worse, with just 7% saying they visited most often.
A total of 39% of media agency staff say outdoor reps visit most frequently | Source: Media i
Meanwhile, 43% said outdoor was the most service orientated. Magazines declined to just 6%, from one of the best performers four years ago. Newspapers did little better at 10%.
A total of 43% of agency staff said outdoor reps were the most service orientated | Source: Media i
The outdoor industry also fared well for being seen as proactive, with 32% saying they were most proactive. Just 6% nominated newspapers as most proactive, with cinema on 7%.
Outdoor seen as most proactive | Source: Media i
On the criteria of innovation, newspapers fared worst, with just 2% saying they offered the most innovative solutions. Mobile digital came top as the choice of 45% of media agency staff.
Chris Winterburn, managing director of Media i, said: “I think outdoor have been able to tell their digital story better than any other channel.
“What outdoor’s been able to do is spend all of its time talking about how digitisation has enabled their channel to do much more than it was previously capable of doing. You’ll note that both outdoor and radio are channels that have never traded on raw audience numbers.
“As a consequence they are not having to tell a story around declining numbers and how digital has impacted the numbers of people consuming it. They have been able to focus entirely on the fact that ‘digital has enabled us to provide mobile connectivity, to provide geo targeting possibilities, to provide better day-parting opportunities’.”
The survey also asked media reps across the country how happy they are. Perth saw the highest level of positivity with 85% saying they were either happy or very happy. Meanwhile, Sydney was the most negative city to work in, with 31% saying they were unhappy.
Perth is the happiest place to work in the media | Source: Media i
The medium that staff are happiest to work in is outdoor and cinema with a total of 86% either happy or very happy. Newspapers had the highest level of miserable sales staff, with 34% saying they were unhappy. Magazines were just behind on 32%.
One in three newspaper staff say they are unhappy | Source: Media i
For media agencies, the happiest market is also Perth, with 83% either very happy or happy. At 29%, Brisbane had the highest proportion of unhappy agency staffers.
In one warning sign for employers, the highest number of sales staff since the survey began said they planned to look for a new job over the next six months – rising from 24% six months ago to 29% now. And 28% of media agency staff say they will be job hunting, down slightly from 29% six months ago.
Outdoor – at 20% of staff – is the least likely to see staff warning to move on. But 38% of newspaper staff said they will look for a new job, while the number was 33% for magazines.
In terms of Net Promoter Score, only outdoor and radio were in positive territory, although television, newspapers and digital all improved slightly.
The survey also offered snapshots of the demographic makeup of the industry. On the media sales side, the industry is 63% female, while for media agencies the number is 62%. In both cases, 25-29 the most common age. And 75% of media sales people are aged under 34.
Source: Media i
More than half of all media sales people were based in Sydney, with just over a quarter in Melbourne.
More than half of Australia’s sales reps are in Sydney | Source: Media i
A summary of the survey can be viewed on the Media i website.
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‘Desktop Digital lolza
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I’ve been saying for years that a fair proportion of the magazine / newspaper malaise is that sales reps have literally given up on trying to actually sell anything.
They have convinced themselves that they cannot compete. Well if your foot ain’t jammin’ the door open, you are perfectly correct.
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I’ve been saying for years that a fair proportion of the magazine / newspaper malaise is that sales reps have literally given up on trying to actually sell anything.
They have convinced themselves that they cannot compete. Well if your foot ain’t jammin’ the door open, you are perfectly correct.
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Simon and Tim
This story is beneath you. A survey of media agency staff advising on which media companies have the most active and ‘happiest’ reps … puhlease.
Do you think there might be a correlation between the sectors that ‘reportedly’ reach out the least and those who have started asking hard questions about media agency kickbacks (sorry rebates)?
This is like asking Malcolm Turnbull whether voters think he is doing a good job.
This site is a lot prettier than it use to be but with a lot less credibility.
Unbelievable.
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I have only seen that covered is AdNews and international trade media.
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As a publisher of 4 very successful local newspapers I feel qualified to say that we don’t waste our time with agencies ( with the exception of two who are excellent) .
Agency staff gave up on print before we gave up on them, with many having no geographical knowledge whatsoever or will to even consider local and regional print.
Local and regional print is a trusted source of news and does not compete for impressions in an overpopulated space, it is a highly targeted opportunity and delivers advertisers high ROI.
Why would we chase agencies with a total disregard for print and then wait up to 120 days to get paid?
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Dear Unbelievable,
It seems you don’t understand the survey / didn’t read the article / follow any links. The happiness of reps is self-reported.
But good work dragging the rebate/transparency story in, although you didn’t need to… had you bothered to read the article in full and follow the links therein, you’d know transparency was covered and the results are as anyone would expect.
Wouldn’t the world, not to mention Mumbrella, be a much better place if the keyboard warriors took the time to read articles fully, take the time to think things over from various points of view and present a considered point of view of their own rather than knee-jerking their latest, sarcasm-soaked outrage from the half-light of ignorance?
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Spot on Believable.
Mind you, I think it is some other part of the body than the knee that they are jerking.
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Oh snap!
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Having done mag drops to numerous bigger agencies over a number of years I find this laughable. Unless they were incentivised to get off their butts with donuts, prizes etc then often, no one came out to speak to us or showed any interest in our publications. Might be interesting to see what some media think of the agencies.
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If you aren’t Major Media,just try getting a return phone call or even an e-mail response from a media agency. An appointment your’e kidding!!
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Gobsmacked. Mag drops are part of the problem for magazines. Worked 15 years ago, not now.
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Pretty obvious really when newspapers and magazines have less technology or innovation within their main products so it’s harder to get in the door with something fresh to say. As media spend heads towards digital and the new digital outdoor environments then this becomes even harder to chase that smaller share of spend.
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Totally agree with Gobsmacked and Robbie the Robot. Media agencies are totally useless for magazine ad reps unless you are one of the two majors. When you do get to speak to someone, they have usually been in the job for a matter of months and are not a decision maker. And no – they cannot give you the direct number or email of the decision maker (as the fact is they aren’t interested). For a media owner or seasoned sales manager it is better in 99% of cases to avoid the agency entirely and strike up a relationship with the business owner or marketing manager of the advertiser directly. If it is a major company or govt. department that has to go through an agency then don’t waste your time as the agency has already worked out who they will be spending with based on the size of the media company and the kickbacks available.
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You want a meeting with a media agency? You want them to consider your proposition? Start with selling the size of your kickback. No kickback incentive …. you probably don’t have anything of real value then (they will say).
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This survey should be titled ‘which reps buy the agency the most gifts, invites to social gatherings and total smooshing.’
Agency life is driven by social interactions, whether the solution is suitable or not, the more ‘freebies’ they get, the more they’ll sway towards using their preferred medium.
Desktop Digital could be anything, what about news media desktop websites? duh…..
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