2014 -- and Breathe -- Brian Jacobs

Itamp8217s the time of year for predictions Every selfrespecting blog magazine and newspaper does them Most are wrong and can easily be proved to be so amp8211 assuming that is you can be bothered to keep hold of them for 12 months Many are selfserving amp8220online ads will increasingly be measured by their viewabilityamp8221 predicts a company selling a viewability metric Maybe there should be a league table with promotions to Ad Age and relegations to Metro a time of reckoning every year which ranks forecasters by the accuracy of their predictionsIt does seem a bit amp8220metooamp8221 to produce a list and a list can be checked far too easily a year hence so here are some thoughts on what the year ahead might bring Feel free you old traditionalist you to put these into a list format if that makes you happyI predict that this will be a year of not much happening Weamp8217ll all get a bit better at using what weamp8217ve got or at making what we make So no doubt Google Glasses will become easier to use and will do more things better for those people who donamp8217t mind walking around in effect carrying a sign saying amp8220Look at me Iamp8217m the futureamp8221 Smart watches will become a useful gadget for those who find removing a smartphone from a pocket too onerous a task IPads and Galaxies will spawn cheaper versionsPublicis and Omnicom will merge and this time next year weamp8217ll still be waiting to learn what benefits the merged business will bring to clients Thereamp8217ll be organizational fun and games as the music stops and everyone scrambles for the few chairs For what itamp8217s worth Iamp8217m backing the Omnicom guys to come out on top in the amp8220whohasthebiggestmediaofficeamp8221 stakesWPP and IPG wonamp8217t merge amp8211 itamp8217s hard to see what exactly WPP would stand to gain Analysts who often have problems thinking beyond big is good and bigger is better will continue to predict WPIPIndependent agencies will flourish as the big supergroups lose some of their lustre and focus more on internal politics and rumoured mergers than on clientsPlanning will should emerge as the key skill defining success for media agencies Thereamp8217s never been a greater need for planning that starts with the consumer as opposed to focusing on channels formats or buys Many claim to do what used to be called consumercentric planning some genuinely do it few are paid for it Of course what planning needs is a cool digital name that ticks all the jargon boxes and confuses everyone amp8220Storytelling supported by programmatic toolsamp8221 has a certain ring to it and uses the amp8220STamp8221 phrase which Iamp8217m pretty sure is a legal requirement in 2014Trading desks will stop being called trading desks and will become data analytic centers More should team up with their sibling marketing science specialists Vivaki with Ninah Xaxis with OHAL but internal wars will stop that happening DACamp8217s hurrah a new acronym will become more independent both operationally and financially from the activities of their media agency parentsThe world will continue to turn most real people will still turn to live TV on that large box in the corner for their entertainment cod researchers will continue to tell us that TV is dead I did enjoy watching the digital evangelists leap up and down when one researcher suggested last week that Facebook was amp8220dead and buriedamp8221 and Mary Meeker will continue to peddle the falsehood that ad spend on a medium should be related to time spent with that medium2014 A year of getting better and smarter rather than getting newer and shinier Andamp8230breatheBrian Jacobs spent over 35 years in advertising media and research agencies including spells at Leo Burnett UK EMEA International Media Director Carat International Managing Director Universal McCann EMEA Director and Millward Brown EVP Global Media He has worked in the UK EMEA and globally out of the USA His experience covers shifts from fullservice ad agencies to media agencies from traditional singlecommercialchannel TV to multifaceted digital channels and from media planning to multidisciplinary communication planning Brian can be reached at brianbjandacom Read all Brian Jacobs39 MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Brian Jacobs amp160Check us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates at MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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