“It’s a real mess.” Mark Cranmer, who runs international for the big ad buying firm Starcom MediaVest, is describing where the advertising supported industries are in trying to determine how you value the consumer’s audio-visual exposure and how he engages with it.
This is my key takeaway from the first day of the 33rd Annual UBS Media Conference. I spent most of the day listening to panel discussions rather than company presentations hoping to get a big picture view. Mark’s comment captures not just the sluggish state of advertising but the confusion that exists in all media. According to Steve King CEO, of Zenith Optimedia, the confusion emanates from the fact that “technology is changing the way consumers interact with media and blurring the distinction between media types.” Listening to George Bodenheimer talk about ESPN’s investment in broadband and mobile or Rich Boehne of E.W. Scripps chat about the company’s growing internet presence, one can