What happened to Emap?
Future-gazers are floundering. The only thing we know for sure; today’s media world is not for the faint-hearted. The speed with which the landscape is shifting is well-documented, yet still largely misunderstood. Read More
Facebook UK's fifth floor area, referred to as the Doctor Who floor, for meetings, shoots and thinking space
Something stirs in the heart of Covent Garden. An unassuming office façade a stone’s throw from the Seven Dials is now home to the ever-expanding UK arm of one of the world’s most talked about companies.
It’s been two weeks since Facebook UK moved into its new home, having outgrown the previous space in Carnaby Street following a year in which Stephen Haines’ team is believed to have generated around £180 million in ad revenues. Stacked boxes and busy delivery men reflect the transition that’s in the air. Read More
MPs propose new powers to ensure self regulation of the press
Does Richard Desmond value his circulation audits for the Daily Express and OK! enough to rejoin a “bunch of fucking phone hackers”, his own inimitable term for those involved with the Press Complaints Commission?
Perhaps, but ask the same question in relation to his advertising revenue, and the answer from the media mogul, and any of his counterparts, is likely to be more certain.
Ad spend remains the essential lifeblood of the UK press industry, still representing the lions share of total revenues for most of its players. Lose the trust and support of your advertisers, and you might as well pack-up shop, or at least that was the overriding message in the aftermath of the scandal that engulfed News of the World. Read More
We should celebrate agency success
Belated congratulations to WPP agencies MEC, MediaCom and Mindshare, and Publicis Groupe’s Starcom MediaVest Group, all named among the best companies to work for in the UK. Read More
The Artist scooped 7 Baftas
If you think the landslide success of the silent French movie, The Artist, at the Bafta’s on Sunday is something of an anomaly in an age of shrinking attention spans and dumbed-down media, then you haven’t been paying attention. Read More
Channel 4’s chief executive David Abraham is curiously upbeat about the broadcaster’s prospects for 2012, thanks in no small part to what he considers to be “very successful deals with all the major agencies” secured this trading period. Read More
Culture minister Ed Vaizey addresses more than 350 media and advertising execs at Absolute Radio's 'Redefining Radio' event
We’re off, 2012 is up and running, and among the fastest out the blocks has been culture minister Ed Vaizey, or as IPA’s president Nicola Mendelsohn prefers to think of him, ‘My Minister’ (batting eyelashes optional). Read More
Rupert Murdoch began 2012 by joining Twitter
This time last year I made the prediction that the media in 2011 would be dominated by the 80 year old media mogul at the helm of News International, things have moved on a bit since then.
If the first week of 2012 has confirmed anything, it is how the hold of traditional media outlets like Rupert Murdoch’s on setting the news agenda is increasingly being superseded by Twitter. Read More
In a media year dominated by phone hacking and the rise of social media, it’s all too easy to overlook the unlikely success of one of our oldest contingents: radio. Read More
Sells: 'I’m pretty boring, very unremarkable, and so are almost all of my friends”
ITV’s commercial managing director Fru Hazlitt was right when she called most people “boring” from the AOP stage last month, and the social element of TV is being overplayed, says Peter Sells, head of mobile at Bartle Bogle Hegarty.
Speaking at a thought-provoking Thinkbox event last week, Sells warned against over emphasising the value and interest in user generated content.
“Basically I agree with Fru,” [most people are boring] he said. “I’m pretty boring, very unremarkable, and so are almost all of my friends.” Read More
Haymarket © 1957 – 2012
