Media was a tumultuous place to be in 2020, but the key is focusing forwards writes Focus on Media’s Chris Liffen.
Let’s just forget about 2020 shall we, and look forward to a more positive future. As a result of COVID-19, media has been shaken to say the least, with traditional media channels such as Press and Outdoor really feeling the brunt of marketing budget cuts. Quite often media suppliers make a loss on their own channels and formats to accommodate a changing marketplace.
Ensuring that media plans were altered to ‘in-home media’ we had to adapt and re-plan client activity quickly and efficiently. Now we are starting to come out the other end of the tunnel. Everything that had been either pushed back or re-planned is starting to show signs of hope.
"In 2021 it will be interesting if advertisers continue to focus on the hyper-local consumer"
During the peak of lockdown, media activity had to change to fit with the change in consumer habits. This meant running local roadside and supermarket outdoor activity, and a massive push for direct mail and digital activity. In 2021 it will be interesting if advertisers continue to focus on the hyper-local consumer, or if they will go back to a blanket approach and really just look at the top-line footfall and reach numbers.
Certainly, we are expecting consumers to want to get out of their own lockdowns and branch out, not only in the UK but to start booking those much-desired trips away. The outdoor market is going to need to adapt again to be where people are.
One of QPR’s many former managers, Iain Dowie, once coined the term ‘bouncebackability’ when talking about coming back from a loss (or a string of losses when he was QPR boss) to fight for the next point. This is something that clients need to embrace – don’t look back at what was, but focus on the next win!
"One of QPR’s many former managers, Iain Dowie, once coined the term ‘bouncebackability’"
We predict that the advertising industry will bounce back as a whole, as it always does, but ensuring that you are not left behind is the key to success here.
