The highlight of Friday morning’s session, the final of this year’s Media 360 conference, was undoubtedly Dennis Turner, chief economist at HSBC Bank.
Amid a stream of cracking one-liners, Turner expertly spelled out his analysis and predictions for the economy.
And while noting that consumers were tightening their belts, he said he believed a recession was only likely if we talked ourselves into one.
Also speaking this morning was Steve King, chief executive of ZenithOptimedia. King spoke about the need for agencies to review their revenue models, and also to prove their value to clients.
Despite the challenging times, however, King said there was ‘no putting the toothpaste back into the tube’ when it came to creative and media agencies. Having a creative agency within a group of companies was one thing, but there was no going back to a full-service model.
King finally laid out what he saw as the six major threats facing media agencies: the economy, silo working, the speed of change, the digital bubble, the race for talent and commoditisation.
