Last week the great and good of Adland gathered for the second instalment of AdWeek Europe. The knowledge hungry media types descended upon BAFTA for a week of illuminating thought and discussion from some of the biggest influencers in media. Digital Cinema Media's (DCM) CEO, Simon Rees was invited by WIRED to join its “WIRED Presents Evolution or Revolution” panel together with luminaries from the worlds of Outdoor, Print and TV to discuss how disruption has changed those sectors.
Outdoor was represented by Chris Forrester, commercial director for Primesight, magazines headed up by Neil Robinson media digital director for IPC and with both his newspaper and television hat on was Jon O’Donnell, commercial director at ESI.
L-R: Panel Chair, Rupert Turnbull, Executive Editor, WIRED UK, Neil Robinson, Media Digital Director, IPC, Simon Rees, CEO, Digital Cinema Media, Chris Forrester, Commercial Director, Primesite and Jon O'Donnell, Commercial Director at ESI.
All of the companies speaking on the panel were invited to talk about the challenges and changes they have faced. Jon O’Donnell was frank. His advice was to have a strong strategy within leadership, garner loyalty in your vision and do your best to stay lucky. When asked about failures, Jon explained how the initial campaign for the ‘i’ newspaper was created, referring back to the very first launch campaign for the Independent with the strapline – “It is. Are you?” However it turns out they had a different product to the one they thought they had and so decided to change the campaign, which worked very well for them. London Live, the capital’s newly launched television station, is a new iteration and addition to the ESI family that his recently formed creative, commercial and editorial teams will need to work closely and collaboratively on to succeed.
Neil Robinson talked about the need to be more agile, saying that IPC had improved by adopting new business models. With 65 different titles under one roof one of Neil’s challenges has been which titles to prioritise.
Simon Rees also spoke of going through a transition with DCM turning digital in the last couple of years. This has caused the whole process of sending an ad to cinemas to reduce from three weeks down to one week, allowing for a more agile approach from advertisers. Simon spoke of the need to recognise consumer appetite for mobile in the traditionally mobile free cinema environment. He explained how the cinema companion app cinime has been developed to add real value to the customer journey to enhance and compliment rather than interrupt the cinema experience.
Simon Rees, CEO, Digital Cinema Media (DCM)
Chris Forrester also spoke of change, but admitted that his industry of outdoor is at the basecamp as it seeks to switch and become customer-centric. For years outdoor ads had provided a one-way dialogue with the consumer, but interactive six-sheets and geo-fenced targeting has allowed him and retailers to track the customer journey. Drawing on Primesight’s experience in interactive 6-sheets in cinema foyers, Chris explained how consumers are in a different state of mind when they visit the cinema, which has enabled clients to deliver creative possibilities that wouldn’t be possible anywhere else, delivering a more engaging proposition for those entering the foyers of cinema up and down the country every week.
Simon Rees advised business leaders to get a great team that’s energised about and love what they do. Then have an honest relationship with that team. The whole panel concurred that one of their keys to success is building a collaborative team around you that supports your vision. Jon spoke of the need to try new things, agencies he works with are helping push him do things he would normally have done. New teams have to work collaboratively; Jon added that sales and editorial teams not only sit together but homogenously incorporate elements from their creative directors and ‘creative solutions’ teams. Collaboration with new media and platforms which previously have been thought to be separate will be now more important than ever before.
Jon O’Donnell did not seem convinced by the phrase of the week – Native Advertising. “Native advertising, it’s a bit of a con really”. He believed that it’s basically the opposite of using data to target an audience and was the wrong way for his team to be going.
The exciting news for all of the industries that have been disrupted by technology is that there is still so much room for improvement to capitalise on the new opportunities now afforded.
Rupert Turnbull