egta’s new President calls on the TV and radio industry to communicate with a strong voice its undisputed role for advertisers and its vision for the future.

It has been said many times before – and discussions at egta’s Annual Senior Management Meeting in Budapest last week confirmed it – the pace of change in the media industry is unprecedented and if anything it seems to be gathering speed.

Whilst many questions about the future remain, broadcasters and their ad sales companies are moving ahead with confidence, and there are several certainties that they will act upon in the coming months:

• The European Commission will assess and rethink the Audiovisual Media Services Directive; i.e. the piece of legislation that governs television advertising;

• Whereas professional content will keep its crown as the best and safest environment for brands, context and distribution will continue to gain in importance;

• As screens and devices continue to proliferate, so will the needs of advertisers in terms of innovative and accountable communications solutions. The demand for more addressable and targetable options will further develop while reach and mass audiences will remain crucial for advertisers for meeting their campaign goals.

• The industry needs new measurement, planning and trading currencies that better reflect the evolution in media consumption and that take into account all eyes and ears, regardless of the device, time and place of consumption;

• The trend towards increased automation in sales and marketing practices and the move to programmatic and data-driven strategies will continue;

• Big Data – or rather smart data – will govern most transactions and decisions: improving its quality and keeping ownership of it will become a priority; as will the hiring of talents able not only to master such data but also to turn it into actionable insights;

• Internet giants, social media, online OTT and audio competitors will undoubtedly continue to fight both for audiences and piece of the advertising pie;

• As the borders between television and video as well as between radio and audio continue to blur, the industry needs to redefine what TV and radio stand for with their enhanced offers in a complex digital market place.

Taking stock of these truths, egta – the industry body representing audiovisual sales organizations – will continue to play the fundamental advocacy, benchmarking and networking roles that television and radio sales houses across Europe have grown accustomed to.

However, in view of the above, the most important task that lies ahead for both the association and for each individ¬ual market, company and media professional is the strong and efficient promotion of television and radio as vibrant advertising media that have time and time again proven their capacity to embrace both the challenges and opportunities of the digital era. What are television and radio today if not the media that deliver the keys to an advertiser’s campaign success, as they alone provide the greatest reach and impact?

As egta’s newly elected President, Jan Isenbart, Research Director of IP Germany (RTL Group) offers the following message to TV and radio sales houses: “Both the television and radio industries need to be more vocal when it comes to reinventing themselves, to promoting their strengths, contribution to ROI and ad campaign efficiency. We should also voice our industry’s vision for the future more clearly, building on the story of TV and radio’s proven success as mass-media and as indispensable partners of advertisers and agencies.”

egta’s Secretary General Katty Roberfroid supports this vision and makes a call to the industry: “Let us ensure that we speak with one voice and turn the conversation back to the two media that the consumer actually spends the most time with and that deliver real and provable impact for advertisers. Let us talk with confidence about television and radio and the power of the two media that are free from the uncertainties of dubious and opaque data, that do not suffer from fraud or viewability issues, that can – and will continue to be – relied upon as the cornerstone of effective advertising campaigns for many years to come.”