Adding It Up - Michael Kassan - MediaBizBloggers

It's that most wonderful time of the year, when we traditionally celebrate with family, party with friends, give and receive presents and make lists.

Gift lists. Wish lists. Resolution lists. And in the media industry, prediction lists.

As you all know, I am nothing if not traditional. (Okay, not so much…) So in my penultimate blog of 2009, I offer my own predictions. But because I also believe in exceeding expectations, I decided to go beyond 2010 and ponder where the business may take us not just 12 months from now but 10 years hence.

In the 1990s, unbundling was A New Hope, when the media discipline burst out of the back office and soared to the top of the communications hierarchy. In the 2000s, the Street Struck Back, as finance assumed a central role in media industry decision-making. But in the 2010s, we will witness The Return of the Marketers.

Here, then, is my prediction list for media in the new decade:

Data Is Destiny.Information flow will accelerate, it will be increasingly two-way, and it will determine who wins and loses in the marketing ecosystem of the next decade. There will be a consensus between companies and regulators about how to use, share and collect consumers' personal information, and consumers, in turn, will become even more adept at manipulating data through search and other options—so much so that determining how, when and where to ride the data flow will be the critical media agency deliverable in the coming years.

Value Makes a Comeback. A recession starkly illuminates cost inefficiencies and consequently, "Procurement Director" has become a household name (some might say curse) in media circles. We will not return to the old ad industry reality but we will adapt to the new, and the discussion will shift back from "how much cost was cut" to "how much value was added."

More Mash Ups. For those companies that survive the Great Recession, cash will slowly creep back on the balance sheet and there will be a sea of new opportunities for investment, alliance or acquisition, both vertically within the value chain and with competitors and "frenemies."

Good Enough Is Good Enough. In this past decade, and particularly the last few years, consumers have become less concerned with buying bells and whistles and more interested in just making sure that what they buy works. This natural human tendency to seek out and accept "good enough" was highlighted as the recession's grip tightened because people had no other choice. But this way of thinking, or more accurately this way of consuming, will outlast the bad economy and marketers will respond.

Greater Leverage for Marketers. In the 2010s, a more fragmented and diverse media and content vendor base for marketers will give them more bargaining power. This shift is already well underway in branded entertainment and online content, where advertisers are not only allowed, but welcomed into the development process from the outset by both storytellers and platform sellers.

So as we look over the horizon and peer around the corner, one thing is clear. Change is coming, as it always does, and in the next decade, new opportunities and new alliances will emerge.

And then it will be time for a new list.

Michael E. Kassan is Chairman and CEO of Media Link, LLC, a leading Los Angeles and New York City-based advisory and business development firm that provides critical counsel and direction on issues of marketing, advertising, media, entertainment and digital technology. Michael can be reached at michael@medialinkllc.com

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