MediaScope’s 2017 Predictions

This now ongoing industry series asks senior people from a selected range of media sectors to share their forecasts and reviews for the year ahead.

Thank you to everyone for their continued involvement in this comprehensive advertising and media industry resource – created specifically for the Australian market.

Click on the names below to go to their 2017 predictions or scroll down the page…

Please note: More women were asked to be involved but sadly declined

Jodie Sangster – CEO of ADMA

  • See Jodie’s Predictions from 2014 – 2015 – 2016

2016 certainly hasn’t disappointed with plenty of industry shake-ups both on local shores and from a global perspective. Borders have continued to dissolve and people are more connected than ever thanks to technological advances such as AI and VR.  As marketers we  need to go into the new year with eyes wide open, making sure we maintain strong business and usual marketing strategies whilst taking advantage of new available channels, technologies and techniques where it gives us a competitive advance or delivers a superior customer experience.

Here are the four issues I believe will dominate 2017’s news headlines and push marketers to be more innovative than ever with their marketing and business strategies.

Media consolidation: Since Minister Mitch Fifield announced the change in Australia’s media ownership laws early in 2016, the topic of media consolidation has been on the tip of the industry’s tongue. Going into 2017, the debate on the pros and cons of lesser media owners in the country will continue to be rife. As the government axes the “75% reach” and “two out of three” rules, it’s vital that a new set of diversity rules fit for the ever-changing media landscape is put in place.

Content: More and more brands are jumping onto the content bandwagon, proving that content is indeed king. In order for businesses to continue to thrive in the digital landscape and compete effectively with each other for consumers’ attention and loyalty, content will remain at the heart of marketing strategies. However, businesses need to be wary of not falling into the trap of creating content for the sake of doing it, and must always ensure that engaging content that consumers want to consume is top of mind. Great content is customer-centric and genuinely useful. 2017 will see more of a sway away from volume content and towards a ‘less is more’ value-driven approach.

Cross-channel attribution: For marketers to truly know what aspects of their campaigns are successful and where they should be investing their marketing dollars, they need to have a clear understanding of how and when customers reach buying decisions and what has driven the behaviour. However, attribution remains a key challenge for most marketers with many continuing to rely on last- or first-click. This is going to get every more complex with the proliferation of online channels and devices. More so than ever, the emphasis on cross-channel attribution will repeatedly be brought up in data-driven marketing strategies. It’s safe to say that in the near future, “data stitching” will become an integral part of cross-channel attribution.

Measurement: Marketers continue to face challenges in measuring marketing that proves ROI.  As an industry, we need to achieve a common standard and language for evaluating marketing performance while ensuring we have accurate and robust models for all marketing activities to guide future initiatives.  Simply reporting on flat stats like viewer numbers or clicks will not ensure the viability of marketing activities as we move further along into the 21st century. That’s why ADMA will be making a content marketing measurement tool that is versatile, cost-effective and widely accepted available to all marketers in early 2017. Watch this space.

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David Angell – General Manager, Head of Media at TrinityP3

  • See TrinityP3’s Predictions from 2014 – 2015 – 2016

From the perspective of the media agency industry – lots to say in not many words. I’ll be brief.

Transparency –

In 2017, thanks to the work of the ANA, the AANA and ISBA, advertisers will possess better understanding about agency transparency. Contractual diligence will tighten, with greater scrutiny on the responsibility of holding companies. Agencies will evolve contractual options on offer to clients. At least one more serious transparency issue will emerge from a main agency network.

The Creative-Media Infusion –

A number of advertising agencies now offer in-house media strategy, planning or buying in some form. In 2017, more toothpaste be pushed back into the tube, as others attempt to join in.

The Media-Advertiser Infusion –

2016 saw a number of organisations create CMO (Chief Media Officer) roles. Although it won’t become a must for everyone, the CMO will become more common.

Media Verification and Measurement –

Ad-blockers, ad-fraud, bad ads, multiple definitions of viewability, dubious results…the pressure continues to build in digital media verification and measurement. Fragmented measurement across different media channels is also a problem. Industry bodies, agencies, media networks and advertisers all want greater integration. The only way to achieve this is to rationalise the various systems and reshape around a common measurement framework. It’s hugely complex and it won’t happen overnight but 2017 will be a year of movement towards consolidation and co-operation.

Female Leadership –

It is encouraging to witness the number of women now occupying senior leadership positions in media agencies. The female talent pool in the industry has never been stronger. Female leadership will keep growing.

Automation and New Models –

Automation represents both opportunity and threat. The drive towards real-time, geo-targeted, predictive marketing depends on data and automation; longer-term implications for agencies are enormous. 2017 won’t be ‘Automation Armageddon’, but there will be a shift. Agency networks will make further investments into automated technology; trading automation across traditional channel inventory, particularly TV, will grow, and there will be more partnerships between agency groups and technology suppliers. Additionally, new AI-based SaaS trading models, pioneered by companies such as Blackwood Seven, will gain further traction.

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Vijay Solanki – CEO of IAB Australia

2017 will see the so called delightful ‘D’ word go from strength to strength, as we grow our understanding of the digital medium and how it will continue to transform advertising and marketing.

MEASUREMENT HEADS TOWARDS DAILY RATINGS

Measurement will become even more important.  We all want to feel confident in the data and analytics.  It’s now five years since we launched digital measurement in the marketplace.  The system developed by IAB and Nielsen is one of the most sophisticated and independent in the world and we are dedicated to building upon and expanding these strengths to improve the quality of Australian audience measurement.  2017 see the launch of Daily Ratings which will have a significant impact on the marketplace.

VIEWABILITY IS IMPORTANT; MARKETING OUTCOME IS MORE IMPORTANT

We will continue to build a trustworthy digital value chain.  Marketers and their agencies want to see increases in viewability standards and metrics, but the latest thinking and research shows the importance of content and context too.  We will see a growth of brand engagement models that will show variables like brand safety, target audience, reach &frequency, viewability and creative all as drivers of brand uplift (which is to say, viewability is important but the marketing outcomes are even more important).

VIDEO WILL CONTINUE TO GROW AS A DRIVER OF BRAND VALUE

Digital has been always been strong in driving engagement and sales.  In recent years, its ability to grow brand value has gone from strength to strength.  The growth of digital video is just one example of how digital can deliver brand uplift.  Video will continue to grow both on mobile devices but also on connected TVs, gaming consoles and in VR.

THE INEVITABLE TREND OF PROGRAMMATIC

Use of data in programmatic will increase as we strive to get the right ad to the right consumer at the right time and place – all at the right value.  There will be two camps: those already in programmatic and those looking to step into it.  Education will improve and the industry will move along the digital value chain.

MOBILE GROWTH

As an industry, we will see mobile continue to increase in terms of consumer usage, but more importantly, the technology and capability enabling mobile ad experiences will continue to get better.  So the value from mobile will increase.

In short, digital will evolve as a data driven, immersive and measureable medium; and the IAB will continue to help the industry make sense of this magical medium.

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Lee Tonitto – CEO at Australian Marketing Institute

  • See Lee’s Predictions from 2016

Own the customer experience and life-cycle across all channels. A good CMO is chronically obsessed with customer.

Ramp up marketing technology. Going half way won’t cut it. This includes in-depth knowledge of digital experience platforms such as Adobe Marketing Cloud and its VoC partner Qualtrics, as well as the transactional commerce component that drives revenue for the business.

Customer Experience collaboration. Organisations must undergo radical shifts in their structures to align themselves with how customers act in a new world obsessed with digital experiences. This starts with the CMO closely collaborating with the CIO, and building from there.

The beautiful world of data and analytics. Pragmatic marketers have a saying for those who refuse to glean insights through data: “Your opinion, although interesting, is irrelevant.” Opinions are great, but real-world data is greater. Smart CMOs rely on data and analytics to understand what’s really going on with the business.

Mobile, Mobile, Mobile. The battleground for customers is the Mobile. CMOs must put mobile experiences at the forefront of everything they do. Check out the Blrt messaging platform.

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Nico Neumann – Senior Research Analyst for Programmatic Strategy and Analytics

Many economic trends of 2016 are likely to continue to affect the media business. Two critical developments to watch:

Ad-Tech Consolidation – 

We have already seen significant deals in 2016, with Salesforce buying Krux, Adobe buying TubeMogul and Verizon buying Yahoo. Moreover, Mode Media, once valued a billion dollars, went bust, while several ad-tech companies have started laying off people, including big players, such as AppNexus and AOL. More acquisitions and bankruptcies can be expected for 2017, in particular if economic conditions should worsen (see below).

I also believe that two of the big six holding companies will merge in the near future – perhaps not in 2017, but probably at some point over the next five years. Competitive pressure and a challenged business model will force agencies to find new ways to become or stay profitable. Merging two large groups could be one attempt to cut costs and improve operational efficiency (an attempt that still may fail to achieve this goal).

Market Uncertainty – 

We face tough times in terms of geo-political issues and challenges. There is an unprecedented degree of uncertainty looming over global markets: a Trump presidency, Brexit negotiations, the Italian banking crisis (with an Italian referendum this weekend) and elections in France and Germany, Europe’s biggest economies. This is relevant for international advertising and media business – let’s not forget that marketing spending is among the first costs to cut in case of economic turmoil or a recession.

On the bright side, this may be less of a threat to Australia. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has stated that Australia was likely to surpass the Netherlands’ 25-year record of consecutive growth in a developed economy. Hence, Australia has proven many pessimistic economists wrong before and has been doing well even in previous global crises.

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Mark Hollands – CEO at NewsMediaWorks

Who do you trust? – that’s the question for 2017.

Digital metrics, fake news and this year’s newest word, “post-truth”, have set a stage on which we will question what we are told by our myriad of information sources, and especially what is shared with us by our friends.

The key will be to know where to place your faith, not go through life untrusting of everything and everyone.

This will never be more true than in the media we consume.

Fake news and it’s yet unproven but likely impact on the outcome of Brexit and then the US election may result in many reconsidering their screen time, and whether to share certain content. Or it may not.

This is one of the most interesting aspects of the next 12 months. Social media is changing the way we communicate and how societies behave.

We are starting to better understand how it is being manipulated; through the algorithms these platforms swap in and out with no oversight, and through the deviously smart practices of purveyors of fake news. Marketers also must consider the impact of their own brands being found on fake news sites, or within media that undermines brand values.

Will we care enough to temper our behaviour – we should get some sense of an answer in the coming year. In the short-term, I doubt it.

Ultimately we will all embrace filtering of our information feeds. As Kevin Kelly calls it in his new book, The Inevitable: “We are still at the early stages in how and what we filter. These powerful computational technologies will be applied to the internet of everything. In the next 30 years, the entire cloud will be filtered, elevating the degree of personalisation”.

Fake news is not the only issue. The Oxford Dictionary’s word of 2016 – Post-Truth – provides the journalism challenge of 2017. That is, how to report without favour, yet make a judgement on whether what is being said is true. Just because a politician says something, doesn’t mean it is true. If it is a known falsehood, or a manipulation of fact, why report it faithfully or give it airtime?

The responsibility of a journalist is to their reader/viewer and society by elevating and uncovering truth – not repeating falsehoods spewing from governments, business or any individual.

The problem is similar to fake news because the symptoms are common to both: the audience is being lied to. What a politician said wasn’t fake, it was just bullshit. On this issue, I think the public is way ahead of media and has been for a long time. This coming year, debate on how organisations conduct news gathering and analysis, and how audiences engage with them, will become an increasingly hot topic. Noel Pearson’s lashing of the ABC, the constant critical commentary of the so-called right- and left-wing press will have an even greater profile in our social discourse.

This sounds chaotic but will be healthy and, ultimately, enhance the vitality, importance and engagement of quality journalism across the entire media sector.

For some marketers, they’ll see these debates as reason to become their own publisher, believing they might survive without mainstream media.

Bad idea. They won’t have the scale.

Yes, Red Bull has done it. And PepsiCo. But they buy media, too.

If that parallel doesn’t work, consider how much TV promotes itself in every ad break. You won’t maximise your business without mainstream media.

On the buy-side of the media business, manipulative algorithms, pressure on viewability of digital ads and the true impact of any single media to move the commercial dial will face relentless scrutiny.

Increasingly, marketers and business leaders will not see all data as equal – not that it ever was. Greater emphasis is going to be put on behavioural and sales data, say from the cash register, than self-reporting surveys that might ask, “Trump or Clinton?” or “Remain or Exit?”

Small data projects, such as turning some media dark in a specific geography to discover which ones drive revenue, will increase.

The coming year will be entertaining on many other fronts. There’ll be a fight to the death on live broadcasting via social media platforms.

Facebook Live and Twitter’s Periscope have barely touched our lives compared with the potential these technologies hold. Climbing in the ring will be Instagram, Snapchat, Google and maybe even WhatsApp and Slack.

Social media will also become more pervasive in business, too. Social tools will accelerate their entry into the work place. If you are not familiar with Slack, for example, it is worth checking out. The obvious space to occupy is in worker collaboration.

The walled gardens of messaging apps, like Snapchat, have a good digital story in terms of avoiding ad blocking and audience targeting. How much the market buys in to this narrative will become evident in the next 12 months.

Gathering speed will be chatbots. I found myself talking to my phone – abusing it mostly – this year. The amount of Google searches on my profile for “not that, you f***wit” would be world-leading. The technology is constantly improving of course (I am an impatient sod).

Bottom line: expect to talk more to your phone. Worse, it will talk back more.

While on this topic, digital assistants such as Siri and Cortana will soon be the ancestors of chatbots designed to help with bookings and customer service. Again, it is the search and social media companies, along with tech giants like IBM, which are doing most of the work on this form of artificial intelligence.

There’ll be more automation around simple customer enquiries, leaving humans to deal with difficult questions and clients.

While this is designed to make life simpler, not much else will be.

In publishing and broadcasting, companies will continue to disrupt themselves. News publishers have been doing this for a while, to be honest. This word “disruptive”, I think, is a bit misleading and mischievous. Basically, media companies are finding new business models and services that may cut across old ones. The tech industry has been doing this for years. When you see this happening, understand that it is a sign of strength and necessity in a world of fragmented media.

The AT&T / Time-Warner deal is a good example of this globally. On a smaller scale, News DNA, a unit within News Corp Australia, is all about winning the attention and engagement of new audiences.

Disruption will be a constant in the agency world, too. Transparency and pressure will be watch-words. Marketers’ demand for a zero-waste targeting strategy will increase but make as much sense as demanding, “make me a viral video”. Creative agencies appear set to push harder, and successfully, into the planning and buying space. They’ll be assisted in part by alignment within the ad-tech stack. Once disparate slices of software are starting to talk to each other – and make sense. This will make it logistically easier to pull everything under one roof. So, value will increasingly shift from execution to expertise and relationship.

There’s an enormous amount to anticipate and be excited about in 2017. A few other predictions:

The obvious: Mobile / targeting / engagement / brand / trust

Pendulum swing: Back to trust

Hottest acronyms: AI, VR, AR

Hottest release: Star Wars 8. (and I mean HOT!)

Hottest hardware: 10th anniversary release of the iPhone (curved screen, wireless charging, OLED screen… maybe all, maybe none. We’ll have to wait)

Hottest software: Google’s Deep Mind

Hottest Trend: Live video on social platforms

Hottest pizza: Drone-delivered.

Can’t wait: To see what Uber does with self-drive trucking company Otto (bought this year for $US680m).

Can’t wait 2: What SpaceX does next.

Can’t look away: The Donald.

Can’t predict: Putin.

Can’t help but think: Marine Le Pen will win the French election, and all Euro hell breaks loose over there.

Will ignore: Daily Mail Australia.

Will embrace: Life. Writing my next crime thriller.

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This 2017 Predictions article is presented by MediaScope’s Partners…

See their Predictions for 2017 – in the digital and programmatic sectors

  • See MediaScope’s – 2014 – 2015 – 2016 – Predictions Articles

 

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Chris Walton – Managing Director, Sydney at Nunn Media

  • See Chris’s Predictions from 2014 – 2015 – 2016

As I write this on November 16th I am sorry to say that my outlook for 2017 is not as positive as it was for 2016.  Customer confidence has been given a few whacks in the proverbials this year which have combined to make people more anxious about (and day I say more fearful of) the future than they were a year ago.  Anxiety and fear are not ingredients that produce confidence.

Domestically, Australia has an economy that is not doing too badly but we have a government that has been largely neutered by an election that was won with no mandate and a leadership that does not even seem to have the full backing of its own party.  Globally I do not need to name the two big votes that came out of the UK and the US this year that most people did not see coming and many commentators feel will have a negative economic impact, at least in the short to mid-term.

These issues combine to create a sense of the unknown and this is never a good foundation upon which to build growth.  Strong growth in media investment in the next 12 months?  I very much doubt it.  We should also not forget that 2016 was meant to have been a dream year for the media (think Olympics, Election, Census, cocked-up-Census-follow-up, Euros) yet here we are after 11 months of the year and growth levels are little more than CPI levels.  This makes real growth about 1%.

Is there a silver lining?  Of course there is – if the success of the Western Bulldogs, Cronulla Sharks, Leicester City and Chicago Cubs is anything to go by, it is that form counts for nothing.  The abject failure of pollsters around the world suggests ‘expert’ opinion is anything but.  Therefore even if many of us on this site predict a subdued year there is a good chance we will all be spectacularly wrong!  I hope so.

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Dominic Pearman – Managing Director & Founder at Pearman Media

The media industry lives in a fragmented, digital, world where content is all important and I can’t see any of that changing much in 2017.  However some media owners may change if the proposed media ownership laws eventually get passed in 2017.

Next year will be interesting due to the economic uncertainty of Trumponomics and Brexit. In Australia, expert opinion varies from “the economy looks to be slowing down” (NAB) to “we’re moving into 2017 on a positive note” (Dun & Bradstreet).  I’m optimistic the Australian economy will continue to perform well in 2017 and if so will have a positive effect on clients and the advertising industry.

On the Media front, I expect to see less ups and downs in the share of advertising spend in 2017 as each media is finding its place in the Digital world. Most of the ‘traditional’ media are now benefiting from Digital. Outdoor has increased its share for 8 consecutive years and is up around 14% in 2016 with a lot of credit due to their digital inventory.  Radio has also increased its share for the past 4 consecutive years.  Outdoor & Radio should continue to do well in 2017 but perhaps by not as much. TV will probably lose at least 1% ($80million) and Digital’s percentage increase will possibly be down a little as it is now off such a large base ($1.8billion).  Despite Print’s woes there is some light at the end of the tunnel as the Daily Tele and Herald Sun actually increased readers in 2016 and generally all Print are increasing their Digital readers.

Ad spend in 2016 will probably be around 3% up on 2015 which is a reasonable result (helped by an Olympics & Election) given 2015 was the first time since 2010 that Ad spend had increased in any meaningful way.

I expect 2017 to be a flat year for Ad spend.

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Jon Holloway – VP Managing Director R/GA

2017 is going to be an interesting year, we have seen the same old predictions happening across the industry, more new shiny stuff, more new channels, fragmentation and the old traditional v digital debate. It’s always funny in Australia most brands haven’t even got the basics right and are already planning their next snapchat post. True marketing knowledge is on the decline, marketing seems to equal media and advertising, not true product marketing. Unfortunately the skills needed to understand and buy brilliant advertising are also missing in most brands and agencies are pandering to nervous and lacklustre clients.

I think we will see the continuing decline of effectiveness in creativity and media, more clients and agencies getting fired, more declining budgets and timescales leading to the continuing struggle for brilliant talent on both sides of the equations as people leave the industry in droves.

But..

What i would love to see if a return to true marketing strategy, for clients and agencies to focus on product, real game-changing product evolution. We should stop talking about digital v traditional and accept the fact that what the industry does in ALL aspects is becoming less valued and effective, we need to start thinking about the future of creativity in Australia.  I would love to see a task force put together of the smartest agency and client side thinkers to work out the big issues, what creativity means, how we all make better products, how to communicate with customers in a non-media world, how we pay and get paid and finally, how do we attract, cultivate and inspire great people.

Then, lets fix the basics. Build your digital presence to be mobile first before thinking about your IOT strategy, train all staff both agency and client side in true marketing strategy. Employ product people, true product people, and lets put magic back in to the products so that marketing isn’t just making up for a shit product.

Finally, be brave, it’s the only thing that will build a stronger future.

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Matt James – CEO Publicis Media ANZ

As we race to the end of 2016, the Australian advertising market is set to close positively, growing just over 3%, despite a lacklustre Australian economy. The growth trend persists, although with less intensity than 2015 (+9.3%), due to the continual structural shift of spend from traditional mediums like print and TV into digital, which is set to break the $7bn mark in 2017 ($7.542bn)*.

Looking ahead, we are forecasting that advertising spend will continue to be moderate, at 2.5%, and we do not anticipate any significant changes to the economic landscape into 2017 that could fundamentally fuel a significant change in growth.

However, still waters run deep and despite the financial expectations, we can expect to see a very disruptive year for marketers and consumers, particularly in retail and grocery, as the likes of Amazon enter the Australian market. Coupled with the weight of new and expanding European entrants, there will be a much-needed shift in retail that will help transform and accelerate consumer choice. Not to mention the intrigue attached to how new technologies, such as Amazon’s Echo, will impact the way consumers shop.

A continuing trend in 2017 will be the rise of sophisticated mass marketing. Growth through acquisition will be paramount to success in a challenging economic environment. The increased pressure for a brand’s marketing investment to deliver a credible and conclusive ROI has never been more apparent. With digital misreporting fuelling skepticism in the boardroom, don’t be surprised if we see a renaissance in some of the more traditional broadcast platforms to help drive this growth.

* Source: Zenith Global Advertising Forecasts Report  

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This 2017 Predictions article is presented by MediaScope’s Partners…

See their Predictions for 2017 – in the digital and programmatic sectors

  • See MediaScope’s – 2014 – 2015 – 2016 – Predictions Articles

 

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Nicole Sheffield – Managing Director at NewsDNA

  • See Nicole’s Predictions from 2014 – 2015 – 2016

For me, 2017 will be about the evolution of content marketing, the proliferation of online only short-form premium video and the adaptation of mobile.

Content marketing has only just begun. Right now it is growing businesses and growing connections with customers in new and innovative ways that advertising alone cannot achieve. In 2017 we are going to see publishers and clients build meaningful always on connections to service consumers with content as that “service”.

Video continues to expand rapidly and the importance of short form video and editorial in video will be at its most powerful next year. It is no longer enough to simply cut up what existed in a broadcast format and think that will suffice. We must create video that consumers want to watch for the entire 45 seconds! User generated content is leaping ahead in this space and we in traditional media have not stepped up to the challenge. The attention span in digital video is short, so the winners in 2017 will be those who create meaningful, informative and inspirational storytelling in short form video. Digital publishers are incredibly well placed to reframe the digital video opportunity in premium environments because we have the framework and importantly we have the data.

Mobile is a mature product now. However, how we monetise it properly still hasn’t been worked out. The introduction of daily digital content ratings slated for launch in 2017 will be a game changer for the digital industry. In the way that we not only trade but in the way we start creating content for different time parts and days.

Clutter media equals the need to drive genuine engagement. This is one of the reasons we are launching our women’s content platform in 2017. Those publishers who do best here will be those who seek to understand their consumers and engage with them on an hourly or daily basis, using data and analysis to understand how they’re engaging. With the release of daily digital ratings we will have the opportunity to share this engagement success with advertisers.

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Rob Atkinson – Chief Executive Officer at Adshel

Blurred lines, shifting goalposts, and an explosion of media choice – it’s never been a more interesting time to be working in the media industry. No doubt 2017 will arrive with a bang and these factors will heighten the effects even more. Another undercurrent that is having a seismic shift, from marketing to business outcomes, is the rise and rise of mobile, which we’ll continue to see. There will be more changes in media ownership and alliances. Plus a move to the mantra of content is king, and context is queen.

From a consumer perspective, the proliferation of media choice means Australians are becoming more selective about the media sources they spend time with. As consumers devour more content they are likely to become more adept at screening-out intrusive advertising. Consumers will increasingly value personalised media services, tailored to their tastes, interests, their demographic group and location. In our case, it’s called personalisation at scale.

Leading out-of-home operators are increasingly becoming part of the Smart Cities movement and this will accelerate in 2017. Early stage partnerships in design and technology will enable cities and transport authorities to access data and services from out-of-home business.

Out-of-home can expect a sustained period of growth, however, the strongest growth will be directed to categories with strong underlying audiences that can leverage digital and mobile. Brands will look to use contextual relevance, location and BYO data to deliver more precise messaging to the right audiences. With more cross channel partnerships, where data will sit at the heart of everything, it’ll be the smart media players who will use that data to inform and drive their own businesses and that of their clients.

There is strength in numbers, and Adshel is excited to be 100% part of the APN News & Media group. Maybe a name change is due in 2017.

My predictions for out-of-home in 2017 are:

  • 1. Out-of-home will become the new virtual shop window.
  • 2. Augmented reality is fast becoming more prevalent in out-of-home as consumers want to be engaged differently.
  • 3. The integration of the connected consumer, home and outdoors is almost here. Watch this space.
  • 4. Location will become the new cookie.
  • 5. The gradual shift to automated trading platforms in out-of-home will further transform the medium from mass production to mass customisation, resulting in an even greater migration of revenue from more traditional broadcast channels.

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Daniel Hill – Managing Director at Val Morgan Cinema Network

2016 has been another record year for cinema, on both a local and global level, with the medium enjoying a period of unprecedented growth and relevance for advertisers.

We are looking forward to 2017 with confidence. Whilst the battle for media budgets will no doubt be as fierce and contested as ever, cinema enters the year in great shape.

The release slate for 2017 has never looked stronger with blockbusters scheduled throughout the year, including sequels to some of the biggest recent releases. The line-up includes amongst others Fifty Shades Darker, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, Fast and Furious 8, Despicable Me 3 and Star Wars: Episode 8 alongside a wealth of new and original content. The strength and depth of the content schedule means that cinema will continue to deliver access to valuable hard to reach audiences and, importantly, deliver positive brand building experiences for advertisers.

Australian cinema exhibitors, at all levels, are investing into the cinema infrastructure with improvements into the customer experience and new locations opening in population growth corridors across the country, galvanizing the position of cinema in the entertainment landscape.

As audiences continue to fragment, with scrutiny on media spend, channels need to prove their value. Recent conversations around the long term value of brand building, channel effectiveness, the over reliance on digital and the efficacy of measurement metrics, all serve to remind advertisers of the unique role that different media channels play. Channels that deliver engagement and scale prove to be those that work best for clients.

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Russel Howcroft – Executive GM of Channel Ten & ThinkTV

Free-to-air and subscription broadcasters in Australia spend well over $2 billion per annum producing broadcast-quality TV that is consumed by 16 million Australians every single day. That’s day in, day out. 2017 will be no different. The Australian public’s love affair with Australian-produced shows (40 of the top 40 shows in Australia, are Australian made) will continue, with broadcasters providing more and more opportunities to see via the various platforms to ensure that TV is available any time anywhere. Because of course, the public doesn’t define television as perhaps the industry does. For the consumer, watching TV is an every screen activity. The more screens we use, the more opportunities there are for broadcasters.

Additionally, marketers in 2017 will increasingly re-assess their media mix and recognise the incredible return on advertising investment that broadcast quality TV provides. As the recent Ebiquity study has revealed, no other media that carries advertising is as powerful for the advertiser as TV. And during 2017 the marketer will recognise the commercial power of a TV/search mix. TV advertising provides the shop front and the second screen, with which we all watch TV these days, is both the shop and the till.  TV is an important driver of demand, sales, and the health of the economy; business people in growing numbers will recognise this in 2017.

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Tony Kendall – CEO of Australian Radio Network (ARN)

As an industry, radio will be united in its approach to marketing the power, energy and effectiveness of the medium across multiple platforms, with a number of broader CRA led market-leading initiatives that demonstrate radio’s strengths rolling out in 2017. This will include ease of buying with the further development of industry systems including programmatic buying, making  it easier than ever for agencies, advertisers and radio networks to work together.

As a medium, radio will continue to maintain its dynamic connection with audiences with innovative entertainment content delivered across multiple platforms. The industry needs to keep leveraging creativity in content to drive even more targeted integrated solutions whilst also further leveraging the data opportunities that will evolve across on-air, digital and social platforms.

Investment in digital is going to continue to be a key focus for all media companies, along with using research and audience insight to inform the creation and delivery of compelling content. I think radio and media companies will also have an increased focus on their audio focused strategies including podcasting, tapping into audience demand in what is a growth area across the industry.

At ARN we will further build our entertainment offering across the KIIS, Pure Gold and Edge networks with audience insight at the core. We will continue our strategy of creating of great content and delivering unrivalled entertainment experiences for our broad audience across on-air, online and social media for all our brands while further investing in iHeartRadio to extend its reach and customer experience to include more events and money can’t buy moments.

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 This 2017 Predictions article is presented by MediaScope’s Partners…

See their Predictions for 2017 – in the digital and programmatic sectors

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Further Resources…

  • MediaScapes – well-known guides mapping the entire Australian commercial media landscape – including digital media, television, outdoor and mobile billboard media, media agencies & more.  MediaScapes appear on office walls throughout the industry!
  • Q&A Profiles – tap directly into opinions and market views from over 300 of the most experienced and successful professionals in Australia’s advertising and media market.
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  • What’s On – we keep track of the most worthwhile media industry events, surveys, training courses and awards

https://www.mediascope.com.au/marketing-advertising-media-2017-predictions

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