It is always dangerous to attempt to make predictions about the future, so we held back from putting our experts on the spot. Overall, there was a cautious optimism that, whilst achieving audience reach is becoming ever more complex, the challenge can be met.
Those challenges include the rise of the ‘subscription culture’ which poses a real threat, particularly when combined with evident consumer frustration with poor execution and excessive levels of advertising. However, there is a clear financial limit to consumer’s willingness to pay directly for content. Audience reach can be found in news, current affairs, sports and must-see event programming and this kind of content, at least for now, is predominantly available on ad-funded platforms.
There are opportunities that players across the media ecosystem can maximize as we’ve discussed, from one-to-one marketing, to the rise of new channels to digital TV. Online targeted approaches are more complex and are harder to track so there will be a need for greater expertise from both agency and research agency side as we head down this path.
Our annual expert debates are arranged to bring advertisers, agencies, and industry bodies together with us to discuss the challenges and opportunities in an ever-evolving sector. By doing so, we remain at the leading edge of the industry, more able to adapt our media measurement to a changing industry landscape. We’re committed to doing that now and into the future – whatever that may look like.