ADVERTISING AND MARKETING: The advertising year-end is only a few weeks away and already predictions are being made for 2004.
Mr Stuart Fogarty, managing director of AFA O'Meara, one of the few remaining Irish-owned agencies, is predicting more consolidation and tighter margins next year, not just for agencies but for the whole media sector.
He should know; in 2003 his company AFA took over Des O'Meara advertising in what was seen as a major piece of consolidation in the advertising/media sector.
He neatly sums up the problem. "There is just too much media in Ireland. We have five daily newspapers. Six Sunday newspapers. Four terrestrial TV stations. We have 26 provincial newspapers, 30 radio stations. This is just insanity," he says.
"And the advertising cake isn't growing but yet you have new media entrants. But the cake has got smaller. So you have consolidation on the advertising side. So you will have less agencies. You have a smaller ad spend, but yet more media. So those three things do not sit together. Those three things can't stand," he says emphatically.
"So what you're going to have on the media side is consolidation. An example of it is Scottish Radio Holdings and FM 104," he says. He says the consolidation will gallop ahead in 2004 unless media organisations "re-define" their overheads.
He says newspapers will face a range of problems going forward and RTÉ may also struggle. "Their cost base is miles too high," he says. He says RTÉ will have to give viewers "more of what they want" or else it could lose serious market share in 2004 and onwards to Sky's various channels, which now have an Irish opt-out. "Remember, there is now proliferation of the media. I now have 300 channels available to me."
In relation to radio, he says niche is the keyword, with NewsTalk, Country, even Lyric just the first examples of specialist stations.
"Stations are now delivering very specific audiences. And that is good for advertisers because you can talk to the people you want to talk to."
In relation to 2004, he is equally blunt about the overall media sector. "The view is that 2004 is going to be as flat as 2003. If there is an upturn coming, it will not be here until 2005."
He says the big advertising conglomerates that bought up Irish firms a few years ago are now looking to "divest" and the sale of their Irish subsidiaries cannot be ruled out. If this does not happen, mergers of the various subsidiaries will take place instead, he predicts. He even suggests closures of local offices of big multi-nationals could take place.
He also suggests advertising agencies which offer a "full service", both media buying and creative work, will triumph in the future. "Clients are time-poor increasingly and that is the main force driving this move back to full-service offerings," he says.
Mr Fogarty also has strong views on creative advertising. He says work in Ireland is, at best, "mediocre". He says after spending a few hours walking around New York or London, you can see how mediocre it is. "We had wonderfully creative writers over the years in Ireland. But we don't have those kind of creative people in advertising right now. There are some. But too few."
He blames this on plcs that are more interested in their share price than nurturing the creative spirit. Advertising houses are increasingly run by accountants who are not interested in advertising or creative ideas, even though this is the essence of the industry. "It's what we do," he states.
Hotels begin major marketing campaign
The Irish Hotels' Federation has kicked off an international marketing campaign with the publication of a new guide to hotels and guesthouses.
More than 400,000 copies of the 2004 Be Our Guest guide will be distributed worldwide. Sponsored by Guinness, the guide includes over 1,000 detailed listings of properties ranging from small family-run guesthouses to large five star hotels. While the guide has been a staple of the travel industry for years the federation's president, Mr Jim Murphy, says an all-island online booking and information service, irelandhotels.com, has also driven tourists towards Ireland. With over a million visitors to the site last year, it has managed to open up a new market for the federation. Users of the site can select a range of packages and can also book gift vouchers online.
Hospital recruitment deal goes out to tender
The contract to place recruitment advertising for 22 hospitals has gone out to tender.
The contract is being offered by the Hospital Procurement Services Group. The majority of its member hospitals are based in Dublin, with some in Limerick, Cork and elsewhere.
The winner of the contract will be responsible for creating and managing recruitment advertising campaigns for the hospitals.
It will involve working with 22 hospitals for up to one year. The services group may extend the contract for a further two years subject to agreement.
Best of advertising on show at print museum
The Institute of Creative Advertising and Design (ICAD) has launched the ICAD awards exhibition in the National Print Museum, Dublin.
The work on exhibition, the best of the advertising and design industries' output over the past 18 months, has been shortlisted for an ICAD Award from the overall entry of almost 900 pieces. The exhibition has been running from Monday, November 24th and ends on Friday, December 5th, 2003.
Radio and TV commercials, promos, posters, press ads, company brochures, websites, books, photographic and illustrative work feature in the exhibition which is open to the public.
