NEW YORK (Reuters) - Media managers will get their hands dirty in 2006, experimenting with new and untested formats to find a better formula of reaching appropriate audiences.
Executives speaking at the Reuters Media and Advertising Summit in New York this week pointed to dozens of new tactics worth trying, and others worth dropping, as growth in new media outlets disrupts the television-dominated model.
"The media plan of the future will look like the tiles of your bathroom floor ... a number of component pieces fitted together very precisely, but lots of pieces," said David Verklin, chief executive of media buyer Carat Americas.
Carat handles nearly $6 billion in advertising budgets, advising clients where to buy commercial time and space as consumers devote more hours weekly to the Internet, portable music players and video games.
Verklin said he advised clients to earmark 5 percent of their budgets for experimental media formats, in addition to the growing portion of ad spending on the Internet.
Whether those dollars go to sponsoring an Internet blog, hosting an audio podcast or setting up a traveling circus to draw potential customers, executives said it's most important to entertain rather than interrupt.
"Procter & Gamble might create a 'Better Home' or family channel and then you can surf around that, but it's not relying on the disruption model" said David Droga, most recently chief creative at Publicis Worldwide (PUBP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) who is setting up his own creative advertising venture.
The growing popularity of Web advertising should break from television traditions, even if a commercial is useful.
"Commercials on the Web in broadband have to be 10 seconds, not 30 seconds like television," Verklin said.
"I think mobile (advertisements) will be about the same," he said, referring to those that will appear on cellular phones.
WHAT'S A DEMOGRAPHIC
Other executives challenged the definition of marketing demographics, particularly in the benchmark television ratings system that ranks shows according to viewers aged 18 to 49.
"I never met an 'adult 18 to 49,'" said Charlie Rutman, CEO of media buyer MPG North America. "The way I connect to an 18-year-old male and a 49-year-old female couldn't be more diverse."
A qualitative view of consumers could become more important in the future as age classifications fail to inform.
"It's all about behavior and attitude," said Droga. "I'd rather break it down into (personality) categories from timid to racy."
Media companies will need to be more keenly aware of their specific audiences, with acquisition and partnership strategies built around that idea.
"It's going to be drawn around the customer, it's going to be about winning with a customer segment across all media platforms," said David Sanderson, head of the global media practice at consultancy Bain & Co.
He noted News Corp.'s (NWS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) recent purchase of teen- and male-oriented Web assets, or Viacom Inc.'s (VIAb.N: Quote, Profile, Research) planned split into two companies, one surrounding younger-skewing MTV Networks and a second built on broadcaster CBS.
PAY OR PLAY
Media companies will have a hard time maintaining strong subscription models, whether serving music downloads, video-on-demand television shows or magazines.
Consumers won't spend a lot of money for these competing media, so ads will be key to many models in the future.
"Every focus group we have had, people said, 'We don't want commercials on the radio; We will pay not to have commercials,'" said Chuck Porter, chairman of agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky. "But they wouldn't, and they didn't."
Video games, for example, will be a more fertile ground for advertising as its Internet-based playing model grows, said Brian McAndrews, CEO of Internet marking company aQuantive (AQNT.O: Quote, Profile, Research). Advertisers could offer gamers a discount or a free play in return for viewing a commercial.
While advertising may become an invited guest for consumers rather than a nosy neighbor, it would be too much to assume people will ever seek ads out on their own initiative, as TiVo (TIVO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) has done with a new ad searching venture.
"How many people are really going to search for commercials?," said Porter. "It's a dream that any number of people will sit down with their TiVo and say 'Let's watch this Nike ad.'"
