Magazines, Accenture, Twitter and Dubai – The week that was in global media | M&M Global

Magazines, Accenture, Twitter and Dubai – The week that was in global media

Last week’s blog piece has awakened the former journalist in me and inspired me to attempt to write a weekly piece on what I am hearing and seeing from the global advertising industry each week.

So here goes…

It would be remiss of me – particularly after last week’s blog – not to mention an interesting conversation I had with the global team at a media agency this week who asked me ‘what do you mean by inclusivity in media?’ I think it scared more than shocked me, but it made me realise that as an industry we still have a lot of work to do when it comes to education, attitude and inclusivity.

But then I am someone who finds it hard to understand how an organisation pays men and women different wages for the same job based on gender. It has never even crossed my mind to pay someone less for a role based on their gender. It’s quite unbelievable this was happening previously and even crazier it is still taking place in 2018, particularly given the situation at somewhere like Tesco.

However, this disappointment was tempered by the efforts and action happening elsewhere in our industry when a visit to a one of the world’s key social media platforms revealed some interesting insight into how it connects its employees internally and how it ensures unconscious bias is not employed when hiring. It is no coincidence this coupled with its new strategic vision, leadership and hard work to transform its offering is starting to deliver tangible results and financial rewards.

On another positive note I was involved in and attended Spark North, which was curated by magazine agency Magnetic and featured a number of key speakers including Immediate Media CEO Tom Bureau, Enders Analysis’ CEO Douglas McCabe and Cath Ryan head of brand and advertising, JD Williams.

Interestingly it looks like the consumer magazine industry is starting to take advantage of the strong consumer trust in its content as opposed to that which is originated in the social sphere. The sector is also now savvy enough to realise that digital, live events and collaboration with social media platforms and rivals can yield impressive results. It was clear from this event there is some positivity to be taken from the print market and that clients are still keen to employ their services to reach the right audiences in the right places.

Talking of being in the right place at the right time our head of awards provided a workshop in Dubai for the MENA media hub on how to curate award winning entries that will inspire debate and favourable comments from juries. Interestingly all of the key agency groups and a few media owners turned up at the event in the Facebook offices and were inspired by what they saw and all revealed a passion and importance for entering for both themselves and their clients.

On the subject of engagement it is great to see so many industry folk from around the world inspired by our inclusivity and brand journey and it was refreshing to hear the thoughts of Accenture and its plans for the ad industry, which will certainly contribute to a year of change and transform the buying and selling eco-system in media as we have known an become accustomed to. With the rise of the disruptor brand like Deutsche Telekom media is in for an exciting and fascinating journey in the next 12 months that will change the sector forever.

See you all next week.

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