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| Summary: A changing Business World |
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Continuing the focus on New Media, Andy Chen of global media management company, Carat, made a presentation entitled The Changing Communication Paradigm, in a session chaired by Bob Latham of the Robert Horne Group. Chen demonstrated the rapid growth in the use of digital devices and internet penetration, but pointed out that so far, advertising expenditure is heavily biased towards television and newspapers - much more so than the amount of time people actually spend watching/reading them. The expansion of digital media, he explained, not only offers more opportunities to engage consumers, but also makes it more interactive, so while the consumer can make personal preferences, marketing can also be more personalised and accountable. He examined the challenges to print media from the rise of digital media, pointing out that printed classified advertising is moving online and newspaper readership is falling as consumers access news online, while magazine circulation is under threat, too. However, while he painted a challenging picture for paper-based media, he did not exactly predict a disastrous collapse, concluding that individual media channels never disappear, they just face more competition as new media are added to the mix.
The next speaker, Ewald Wessling, a media strategies consultant, covered a very wide range of ground. He examined young people´s use of digital media, the changes taking place within digital media themselves, the growth of niche selling, consumer participation in internet sites/communities, the interactivity of digital advertising and how publishers are struggling, faced with the challenge from the internet. Referring to the last of those points, he listed a range of challenges to publishers from online competitors, which have several advantages over paper-based publishers in terms of content, technology and culture. He concluded that the economic rules of the internet - which are followed by free newspapers, he argued - will conquer analogue markets.
The Monday morning session was completed by Anders Berglund, who as Head of Sales for Sweden´s Aftonbladet New Media, is directly familiar with both paper and on-line publishing. He highlighted the company´s extremely high growth targets for its online business, and the rapidly-broadening reach and scope of internet activities, as well as the on-line habits of the younger generation. One of the aspects of the changing media landscape is that media channels are proliferating rapidly, with audience reach falling, making it increasingly difficult for advertisers to reach their target audience. As an employee of a group that publishes newspapers, Berglund admitted that newspapers are nervous, but said the signs are that television will make the biggest loses in revenue.
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Session Chairman Bob Latham
Andy Chen
Ewald Wessling
Anders Berglund
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