The time of denial

The media world at the moment is going through several phases and in different parts of the world it is at several stages. The general view is that the world is in recession and depending on where you sit depends how bad it is. Interestingly media owners work in a slightly different world and we have to be aware of when the fall over the edge is going to happen. Whilst most of you in Europe are staring into the abyss now, in the developing markets things are slightly slower. The key point is that during the run up to the new year media owners viewed 2009 as potentially the same as 2008 with a hope that the rumours of the on coming disater was not true. We have watched this period of denial and have seen media rates tumble in certain regions quite dramatically as reality has hit. It has varied by medium with "nice to have" media the hardest hit. Having had a bit of a ring round the major client friends on two Client Associations both in the UK and the M.E. it is fairly clear in the Multi Nationals that it is review after denial time. Q1 is not looking to clever all round with finance, travel, real estate automotive ect falling apart and the general view is that after the Q1 business review budgets are going to get cut again. there is a real opportunity to look into short term deals and take advantage of distressed media. I suggest if you have one trying subtly to get a clear market picture from your local association as media opportunities may well abound in the short term especcially in areas such as out door and radio. a contingency budget is certainly worth thinking about. PS dont tell the OPCO they may cut it! Good luck Mark