TRENDS<
everybody, sit down, look at your figures, at the data and the reac- tion. And then adapt and review. We are in an open conversation and we can measure it regularly, assess, evaluate, change, adapt, do whatever we have to do. It’s another kind of discipline, job and business we’re entering and everybody has to adapt themselves.”
Impact of recession Heureux sees the exact moment of the shift to digital as happen- ing late 2009 or early 2010, followed by a sudden acceleration. “I think that without the recession, it would probably have been delayed by another two to four years. Because TV was so domi- nant in the decision-making process of any advertising strategy, I think TV and others would probably have been able to protect themselves in the traditional way of doing advertising for up to another five years.”
Because of the enormity of the shift, he says that many of those involved would have favoured a more gradual change. “If we look at WPP, television groups like Bertelsmann and RTL, and then Clear Channel and JC Decaux, those are enormous, nearly empires that bit by bit are losing revenues due to this shift and change. I don’t think they will die because I’m very confident that they’ll be able to adapt themselves. But if they had to choose, they would do a slow adaptation process over four to 10 years rather than just overnight. “With this recession, we were all forced to take
hard decisions with advertising, because CEOs and boardrooms knew they had to review and change the way they were operating. That message came down to marketing, media and other departments and they had to adapt more rapidly than they would have if they’d decided themselves.” After two years of hard crisis, he believes the point has been reached where everybody has got the mes- sage and r eally
started to reorganise their internal group activities, organisation and expertise. “Look at WPP buying data mining companies. Who would have said Sir Martin Sorrell would have been interested in data companies 10 years ago? They’re buying new disciplines, new expertise. All traditional media has really engaged into much more digital content, activities and strategies, because they know that they have to change now more rapidly. “So 2010 is probably the right moment to say we have reached a certain point where we will shift from one story of advertising with a big ‘a’, to the next story.” And Heureux believes it is a hugely exciting moment for the sec- tor and for anyone involved in it. “I would encourage anybody from an older age or a young age to move into communications now,” he says. “We are now building the next big story that probably will last for 50 years or more. We are building the new blocks of this new industry with many new disciplines, expertise and functions that we will need to develop in companies.” One problem is around the area of training and education and
Heureux hopes that business schools and others will rapidly deliv- er programmes that cover the new story and the new practices and disciplines. “Otherwise we will have a gap of talent and experts and that’s something that we can feel already now, com- ing up bit by bit. “What is incredible in this industry is, it is still young, but it is still so much dedicated to R&D. The budgets that the Googles of this world are still investing in research and development of new services and new technologies is still so massive and impressive that I don’t think we have seen yet the last bit of innovation.”
Volume 4 Issue 4 2010 Marketing Age 31
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