 "Barry Cupples")
Digital is so dynamic that measurement is not keeping pace, Barry Cupples tells Vanita Kohli-Khandekar
The relevance of a media agency in an ecosystem which is disintermediating fast…
It is not a question of the media agency of the future, as much as it is of the future of a media agency. More has happened in the last four years than in the last 50 years. We are drowning in data that nobody is able to decipher. And, therefore, the future of the media agency is very safe because we have all the data needed to make decisions. A media agency can't be an expert in everything, so you always operate in a niche and so one may lose business.
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Our industry is a whiz at creating buzzwords. Digital is so dynamic that measurement is not keeping pace. In the US market one per cent of the inventory traded currently is programmatic TV (buying and selling of television ad space based on actual viewership data rather than ratings which are based on a sample). By 2016-17 it is estimated to become 30 per cent. Therefore, CASBAA (Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia) has to champion measurement.
If digital is a such a big thing why do advertising rates remain abysmal for online media?
Rates are low, yes, but if the research was better and could support the quality being purchased, prices could go up. The measurement lags behind view ability. The whole issue of fraud (rigging server statistics to show better results) hasn't been addressed.
Can we talk about a choice of media for marketers in a world where the internet is dominated by a few large global firms, such as Google and Apple?
Search is difficult because there is only one player. But otherwise marketers have a lot of choice in social, mobile etc. The agency world has to help the content guys and artists to make money. We keep talking to studios and producers all the time to figure out how much to integrate. Both technology and software are increasing exponentially and we are trying to keep up. It is very difficult.
In the countries you oversee, what are the patterns you find emerging on the marketer front and consumer front?
Marketers want more answers about their relationship with consumers. So it is not that different from what it was fifty years ago. Therefore, both programming reality and terrestrial TV, in parts, has to change.
Do media audits work in checking corruption in media buying and selling? This is a challenge in India...
The corruption problem is not just about India. Once in a while you will get a bad apple in the basket.
