• by Dave Morgan , Featured Contributor, June 10, 2010

One hundred billion dollars and $150 billion; those are the global numbers that Magna Global's Brian Wieser projected this week will be spent annually on online and TV advertising respectively in five years. That's a lot of money, and represents strong growth for both sectors.

Like most of you, the projections beg a critical question: who will benefit from that increased spend? Will it be ad agencies? Content creators? Media distributors? Internet and search giants? Consultancies? All of them? None of them? While I am not ready to opine on which of those industry categories will win or lose, I am ready to offer my opinion on the kinds of expertise the winning companies will most likely possess. Here they are:

Excellence in media packaging, sales & yield management. Media and marketing are no longer just a game of who controls scarce content and adjacent inventory, where market leadership is determined as much by distribution as it is the quality of the content. No. Leadership in the emerging media market is about creating, selling and optimizing packages of media.

Maniacal customer service. In a world of abundant media, and lots of choices for consumers and marketers alike, winners will be those companies that are relentless about servicing their customers.

Demonstrably better, measurable results. Results will matter most. All of media is becoming digital, and fully measurable. Winners will be those companies that can deliver demonstrably and quantifiably better results to their customers.

Ease-of-use. Complicated and confusing will not cut it much longer, whether in user navigation of an electronic programming guide or an email service, attempting to solve a problem with customer service, or understanding campaign measurement reports or audience ratings services. Simplicity and intuitive design can create enormous advantages -- just look at Google and Apple.

Enlightened leadership. The best employees -- and customers -- will have many more choices of great places to work, and partners to work with. Industry leaders will be guided by management with a vision for the future -- management that can read people as well as spreadsheets, is transparent and authentic (you may disagree with Rupert Murdoch and Steve Jobs, but you and everyone else knows where they each stand), and willing to both take risks and create a culture that truly fosters risk-taking.

Globally tuned. The future won't be controlled by mass scale alone. However, the ability to operate efficiently on a global basis will be critical for serving both consumers and marketers. Consumers buy global products, care about news and sports and entertainment from around the world, and expect to be treated in a culturally appropriate way in their own markets; the same goes for marketers and employees. Pay attention to the successful global packaged goods company. This sector has focused on these issues for decades.

Lightweight, variable cost structures. The days of winning media markets by building heavy, expensive and fixed proprietary cost structures to try to control distribution or content production are over. The future of media and marketing will be about nimbleness, flexibility and speed. Fixed costs are the enemy of all three.

What do you think? Disagree with my picks? Care to offer any of your own? Please tell me in the comments below.