Here in October 2009 we are at the heart of the 2010 media trading season for advertising space and time.
It's clear that recession remains a dominant world wide factor.
But the numbers are taking shape and we can see a clear picture.

Every media owner is on the look out for new money
Every advertiser is demanding cheaper prices and a "better deal"
Every media agency is doing everything possible to attract new business and improve margins.

2010 is the year when the dominant forces in media trading emerge from the shadowy background into the full light of day

2010 is the year when the 5 largest media owners will dominate the communication scene. It is they who will determine what money goes where.

This is not the domination of NBC, CBS, Disney, Fox, News Corp, Google.These are yesterdays big media owners

In 2010 the 5 Largest Media Owners are Aegis, Interpublic, Omnicom, Publicis & WPP.

So dominant have they become that they swamp the trading inventory of the traditional media owner and create deals for their portfolio of advertisers receiving additional income from the traditional media that allow the new media owner to discriminate who gets what inventory and at what price

Advertisers looking for deals have to inquire now where they sit within the portfolio of the new 5 largest media owners. If advertisers want a better value deal they have to talk longer and deeper with the media agencies - the new media owners

I have found a bundle of nonsense where the media agencies have wrapped up deals that exploit the inexperience of advertisers for their considerable advantage. << MORE >>

Why bother with a media agency especially when the guts of the client revenue has to be passed on to an outside party. Integrated seamless client service is a pipe dream, and it's happening everywhere. << MORE >>

Next time your media buyer tells you it’s all about scale tell him you have the evidence he’s in the Media Madness house. Scale benefits the buyer’s cost base and hinders his ability to deliver for the advertiser << MORE >>

Several major advertisers want media agencies to advance them 120 days credit. General Motors are in effect passing their "bankruptcy" onto the agency.<< MORE >>

Among the few certainties in life is that “50% are worse than average” One major media agency group is trying to bust this self-evident truth. It’s created either a ground breaking concept or a short self-inflicted suicide note. << MORE >>

You may imagine that trading newspaper ad. space, does, in some meaningful way, relate the price of the goods to the audience delivered. You would be wrong. << MORE >>

If you thought the media owner commission system ensured the advertiser got the best, impartial advice, look at this horror story. << MORE >>

The objective of delivering a higher, longer, faster media & marketing effectiveness service has got fouled up in inadequate processes, misguided operations, confused logistics, faulty metrics and inappropriate structures<< MORE >>

Monday August 4th 2008 Marketers want to improve the effectiveness & ROI of their marketing investment. It's a strong working hypothesis and a good starting assumption. But the market place evidence from near & far proves that for a disturbingly large number, their preference is for the status quo of uncertainty, ignorance and "we like it the way it is"<< MORE >>