Page 30 - Adnews Magazine Sep-Oct 2020

Investigation
Costs are being shrunk to fit that digital model. CEO Robert Thomson: “We are continuing to focus on acquiring digital subscrib- ers and audience while rightsizing our businesses to be digital-first, which is necessarily resulting in significant cost reductions.”
In Australia, News Corp is shifting emphasis online, includ- ing subscriptions, and is building and releasing more digital-only titles after closing a string of print mastheads.
Analysts at investment bank Jefferies say digital will be more important over the next six months: “Its share will accelerate as businesses focus on making short-term sales rather than brand building.”
But overall ad spend will inevi- tably be smaller, at least for a while. John Broome, CEO, Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA), says two or more years of
ad spend decline is highly likely. “The Treasurer (Josh Frydenberg) is forecasting two years of GDP decline which tech- nically describes a depression and not a recession,” he told
“Fancy offices, great coffee, expensive sushi platters, big flash boardrooms ... it now comes down to the quality
of your thinking and your Zoom storytelling ability.”
Ben Willee Spinach
AdNews. “We need to look at the evidence to understand what may happen. I subscribe to the Tellis research which states that for every 1% move in GDP there is a corresponding 1.4% move in advertising spend in the same direction.”
The wave of the pandemic curve crashing the economy has also changed habits and behaviours.
“Consumers don’t just see ecommerce and shopping online for con- venience any more,” says Broome. “They value the comfort (safety), control and community that can come with buying online. These addi- tional values born out COVID will reinforce and protect the gains in penetration that online has been seeing and will increasingly solidify the longer the pandemic goes on.”
Melina Cruickshank, chief audience and marketing officer, REA Group, says consumers are battening down the hatches for the long haul and are turning to cooking, wellness, and self-care.
“Apart from ecommerce, other digital and contactless services may see higher usage rates and many remote solutions to regular activities will likely be adopted for the long-term,” she says. “Successful businesses will be those supporting and driving the value and importance of home.”
Australian-made goods have gone to the top of the shopping list. “The growth of nationalism or ‘de-globalisation’ could push some companies to localise business operations and favour national and regional supply chains,” says Cruickshank.
In the industry, the lights are on but no-one’s in the office.
In the now physically-disconnected business world, corporate culture has been given a big kick in the pants, according to Mark Green, The Monkeys co-founder, group CEO and Accenture Interactive’s ANZ lead.
“We have removed the delineation between work and home with stunning effect, becoming more human and less robotic,” he says.
“The idea of wearing a suit and tie to do business seems as archaic as men in top hats ... long live doing business in ugg boots.”
DENTSU INTELLIGENCE