RDV Media – A busy day and some heated debates

Yesterday was the first Infopresse media day. I reached about 750 people from all types of media (TV, radio, print, internet) and all types of businesses (broadcasters, agencies, advertisers, etc.). Many of the conferences were in the “Round Table” format and, with the help of the actors present, there were fiery debates and dubious quotes. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend all the conferences, but here are my notes and impressions on four of the conferences that particularly interested me.

INSPIRATION: THE BEST OF INTERNATIONAL MEDIA CREATIVITY

The objective of this conference was to present international use cases of integrated (cross-platform) advertising. The beginning was difficult and the speaker read his notes most of the time, but the important thing is the content conveyed and the guideline of the conference was interesting. When I started, I liked the comparison of certain quotes from Confucius, the ancestor of slogans according to him. The best is without a doubt: “Speed ​​is not important until you stop”. A slogan that could have been used for the "I'm a PC" campaign. Kevin Flatt then goes to the heart of his presentation and takes up the seven types of plots to demonstrate examples of successful advertising: comedy, tragedy, quest, rebirth, journey,

A few examples particularly appealed to me. Among others, the Comparethemarket.com campaign, an English insurance company. She decided to create a campaign around a character (a breed of monkey called meerkat) who launched a site Comparethemeerkat.com. The site in question does not stop having traffic, people are on the wrong site, they want to compare insurance rather than meerkat. The video is here:

The “Share our billboard” and “Love distance” campaigns are also examples of campaigns that have inspired me. The videos below are presumably the same recaps we saw at the conference.

Several other examples were also very eloquent. In short, an inspiring conference that demonstrates how information spreads quickly and how an engaged community can completely transform a campaign.

WHAT FUTURE FOR THE MEDIA

From the start of the conference, we feel a certain tension and we suspect that there will be settling of accounts. All the players in the round table are broadcasters except for the moderator who is from an agency. Quickly, Mario Cecchini of Corus Québec launched a bombshell by saying that agencies invest little in radio because they make less money there. Many were shocked, including Pierre Delagrave, who went to the microphone during the question period to offer a vibrant plea in favor of the agencies and their artisans.

All the major broadcasters present are currently adapting to the major changes brought about by the Internet and more generally by digital technology. The majority have set up so-called “360” teams to guide advertisers and agencies in the choice of platform rather than offering a “buffet” of potential advertising formats. Many also see themselves much more as creators of brands and content rather than broadcasters. If some are wondering how these teams come to compete with the agencies, the quote of the day is without a doubt from Pierre Dion of Groupe TVA: “We want to work with the agencies. On the other hand, if we have a good idea and the agency does not like it, we will go to the advertiser directly”. The word “with” takes on new meaning for me!

Following this conference, it is very difficult to predict the business models that will survive, but everyone agrees that the content produced will have to be paid for by someone. Currently, the figures mentioned said that for every dollar of income on television, we only fetch $0.30 to $0.50 on the Internet. There will therefore have to be major changes in the coming years so that the Internet is not just a cost center.

IS THE WEB TV BUSINESS MODEL VIABLE?

The players in this round table all come from different backgrounds and have fairly clear opinions on the issue. Charles Lafortune even came by to say that as long as Web TV was not on his 42-inch TV, it wouldn't work. Infopresse had the good idea to bring Maxime Fleurant from Bombe.tv to the table, a Web TV site which generates approximately 100,000 visitors per month and which has been profitable since they replaced their classic advertising network with a much more open and which offers completely different formats that are better adapted to the site.

Dominique-Sébastien Forest of Quebecor went through shock sentence after shock sentence, but some were far-fetched. One thing is certain, people who buy advertising from Quebecor in web TV format now know that they are generally being sold a product that does not work unless it is a "pre roll of 5 sec." with … (I don't remember the name). I had a good laugh too when he said, "I have bad news for you, the stats on the web are as bad as the stats on TV." Seriously, I understand that there are some issues with measurability on the web, but to say that it's not possible to get more information and metrics from the web than other media is to have never opened Google Analytics or another tool in your life! At least, the analogy with the "porn" industry to use his words, is interesting since it is true that it is the most advanced model on the Internet. Finally, according to him, web TV cannot be profitable. On the other hand, it can be used to promote other programs or products and therefore generate collateral income.

Martin Ouellet of Provokat had the most refreshing ideas. "Why not take the Web to generate statistics on the listening of emissions and to be able to sell the advertisement more expensive at certain times". He also made a plea for better advertising. In the age of customer engagement and relationship, “does advertising have to be bad and piss off the user just enough to stay, but not so much that they leave? ". I really liked his approach, but there is a world between the majority of advertising that we see on television and the notion of commitment and the creation of a relationship. For the next five years at least, I don't know if we can really think that the majority of advertising could become useful...