2010 Predictions: Will this year signal the demise of traditional media?

Does this mean that 2010 will signal the demise for traditional media or will old school platforms compete with, or even complement, technological advancements?


1. This will be the year of experimentation. The abundance of media platforms now available to consumers means more ways for brands to reach a target market.

“The common term everyone is using is integration, but no one is really sure how consumers truly use media in their lives,” says Jeffery Seah, CEO of Starcom Mediavest Asia. “Consumers’ lives are now taking place in many more places, so brands must support this newly found convenience and advertising must be placed in this context.”


2. Social media will continue to grow this year, fuelled by the rise in popularity of micro-blogging sites. While social networking has enjoyed longstanding popularity with the youth market, we can expect older demographics, utilising increased leisure time and the ability to connect on-the-go, to spearhead growth.

2010 could well be the year Twitter truly expands into Asia. Already the number one site of its kind in Taiwan, its usage will grow in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia and Malaysia, because of its local language facilities.
With such growth, Seah believes this platform will become increasingly important to brands’ marketing activities in 2010.

“Social media is always discussed in client briefs. Now it is only executed by around 10 per cent of brands but it will become a much more widely used marketing tool.”


3. There will be more consumer control. There’s little doubt that enhanced technology is going to have a profound effect on media in 2010 and, according to Steve Garton, global executive director of media at Synovate, this will give the consumer greater power. “We’ve seen it coming for some time, but 2010 will be the year that marketers understand the consumer really is in control.”

Torie Henderson, CEO of Omnicom Media Group Singapore, adds that consumers have already responded to technology changes. “It’s the marketing and media industry that needs to adapt,” she says.


4. TV is still a viable medium, but it is evolving. Studies tend to suggest that TV is still a highly effective advertising platform, especially as it is still the preferred platform of many to optimise viewing experience. The falling price of HD-enabled sets will continue to stimulate growth.

But brands must understand how viewing habits have changed, with differing platforms and the idea of ‘multi-media tasking’ while watching shows.

“The model of having a TV show and running commercials around it is retreating because people are re-inventing what video is all about. The way they watch TV, sometimes via different platforms, is becoming complicated so advertisers must adapt and integrate marketing into their changing lifestyles,” says Seah.

Henderson believes the mobile screen will become increasingly relevant. “Mobile will continue to rise as a result of converged social tools that allow multiple apps to be used in one operating platform,” she says. “The industry should be looking quickly at measurement and industry standards as they relate to mobile.”


5. Brands must re-invent themselves, but the basics remain the same. The concept of brands communicating their services and products in more meaningful ways, rather than simply being an advertiser’, is likely to evolve in 2010. Brands will strive to find content which resonates with their personalities and which will add impact to the marketing communication.

Garton says: “The best campaigns will continue to run across many platforms, because target audiences use different media through the day to meet their needs. Understanding what these touch points are and what they mean to consumers must influence where budgets are placed.”

What it means for...
Consumers		Marketers
> >	They are firmly in control. It’s less about advertisers just promoting products and wanting to be heard, and more about actually communicating something in a genuinely engaging manner. Convergence devices mean that watching TV while emailing, texting or social networking is relatively normal behaviour. Multimedia tasking is becoming much more widespread.	> >	They must work harder to understand target markets and be prepared to experiment with the latest technologies. They must be proactive and reactive to stay in touch with the ever-evolving consumer. Integrated, multi-platform campaigns are no longer the future. They are now the norm and must be adopted immediately.

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This article was originally published in the 14 January 2010 issue of Media.