Letters - 25 April-2 May 200

As trainers, we believe that media sales is a brilliant career but
sadly, especially in the UK, the way advertising has been sold over the
last 30 years and the way people have been trained has not moved with
the times. Many newcomers to media sales are left to sink or swim, and
are totally untrained.

In other industries, such as IT, career development has increased
opportunities for sales people to constantly improve their skills and
knowledge, so they remain curious and enthusiastic and can see where
their path in the industry is taking them.

Outdated training methods and hackneyed management techniques in the
media industry do nothing to retain decent sales people who suddenly
realise, after two to three years of mismanagement and old style crack
the whip training, that there is another, infinitely more rewarding
world out there.

Those who are good, competent and keen quickly rise into management and
cease selling, or sell much less.

Media owners need to embrace new management styles and translate that
into a modern career development programme for media sales people.

Training that constantly challenges, improves and inspires them to
remain and grow as sales people will create media companies that leave
the rest standing in the 21st century. That is the only way to guarantee
a more constant quality supply of media sales candidates.

Major brands can benefit from pub environment

Andy Garner, Account director, Hi-Tech Media

I read with great interest your article How media aims to make the most
out of the World Cup (Supplement, 28 March). While I appreciate you are
somewhat limited by space, I am amazed one of the key media channels was
overlooked and only the major channels covered.

The main visual image you use shows a television inside a pub. In a
recent survey of more than 2,000 licensed premises, over 70% said they
would be showing the games live; in addition over 35% were buying a
television especially.

So, with more pubs than ever showing the games, isn't this the
environment to reach these massive audiences?

There are a couple of driving forces for this apparent sea-change in
strategy. After the last Euro Championship, OMD and Sky conducted
research that showed at least 66% of the viewing audience for
international matches watched the matches in the pub/bar/nightclub.

The fact that for every England match some £116m was spent in
these establishments provides further evidence that this is where the
young urban male and funky female football fan will be spending their
World Cup time.

This environment is tailor-made for reaching sought-after audiences and
is where the major brands can achieve that all-important cut-through and
stand out. Maybe this environment is where The Times and The Sunday
Times can influence even more people to buy their paper, using media
formats proven to work for so many clients - formats like bar runners,
branded beer mats and England flags, washroom posters, pint glasses,
bunting, floor stickers, urinal stickers, T-shirts and mirror stickers,
to name a few.

These formats are no longer unique one-offs; they form part of many
brands' regular campaigns. The reason: they work.

Media buyers should rely on trusty customer mags

Emil Mathias, Sales executive, BMW Magazine

With two failed attempts from the consumer magazine sector already, and
all but GQ, which currently attempts to reach upscale older men, posting
circulations that could be found by using any number of specialist
titles, it's a wonder that any media buyers are holding out for another
uncertain lifestyle offering. (Dennis looks at older men's magazine,
page 3, 28 March)

It is certainly true that once men get to 35 they are more likely to be
found reading special interest titles, but there are magazines out there
with a broad mix of editorial that have an overwhelmingly mature male
readership. They just don't sit in the consumer magazines sector.

Media buyers should take a look at the customer publishing market. Far
from dwindling in numbers, titles here are thriving and reach mature men
who have strong brand loyalty and share those profiles so sought after
by consumer publishing houses. Be it magazines from luxury, automotive
or banking brands, all provide a regular, broad rather than specialist,
engagement with this elusive audience.

BMW Magazine, for which the Powers Turner Group recently took over
advertising sales duties, has a huge distribution of more than 280,000.
Of these, 76% are male with an average age of 47 and all the premium
spending habits expected of a BMW owner.

With a sophisticated mix of sport, travel and culture, it offers an
environment that consumer publishers have been crying out to develop
successfully and advertisers crave. It's also proven to be enjoyed by
the readers, in the same way as a consumer lifestyle magazine.

A recent independent APA study found that such magazines are read on
average for 43 minutes. And with these titles delivered directly, the
problem that these consumers don't go to newsagents is not even an
issue. So, rather than wait for another expensive gamble from consumer
publishers, media planners and buyers should reconsider the strong
propositions around already.

Dixons needs to review its e-commerce infrastructure

Simon Orosz, UK general manager, Hybris UK

The latest news from Dixons comes as little surprise to the industry -
online is the direction the consumer electronics market is taking.

However, for the Dixons brand to succeed online, it urgently needs to
review its e-commerce infrastructure to give it the fuel it requires to
take the online consumer electronics market by storm.

Consumers are now demanding the same information at the click of the
mouse as is available in-store. Bridging the gap between the knowledge
and service demonstrated by shopfloor staff and translating it onto the
web is no easy task.

For the electronics giant, investing in backend infrastructure and
consolidating product information into one repository will be a step in
the right direction.

The next will be coping with the dynamism of the industry as new
products come on the market and replace the old.

Given its solid track record in predicting market changes, Dixons is
heading in the right direction.