An interesting paradox is emerging at the conference: the love me-hate me relationship industry executives have with the trade press. Three â€" the IAB’s Randall Rothenberg,
GroupM’s Irwin Gotlieb and 4As chief Nancy Hill -- publicly took shots at Ad Age and Adweek. And conversations with agency heads often lead to very specific and detailed opinions, comments and
criticism about coverage.
So, they may have problems, but they are reading and very intensely.
It leads to the conclusion â€" all self-serving aside â€" that the industry
just doesn’t need a robust trade press but wants one.
Forget about the pubs serving as a venue to tout new business wins and revenue growth. But the magazines and Web sites such as
MediaPost serve as a forum for ideas. And while people at the top levels clearly are reading, maybe they also appreciate the publications can provide insights and other information useful to their
employees.
So, in this day of fewer ad pages and epic struggles, doesn’t it make sense for agencies and media companies to increase their support of the publications? If even one
prominent one were to go the way of the Rocky Mountain News, it certainly appears they would miss them.
Should they indeed buy more ads? It’s tricky. A full-page ad might go for
$20,000, so for the cost of three, an agency might be able to hire a junior planner.