Try e-mailing media people and you will wait in vain for a reply. Putting things in writing isn't their strong point - until it comes to contract time. Ring them on their mobile and you will get straight through, even if they are in a meeting. If they are busy, they will bell you back soon. The conversations will be short and to the point, but you will usually get a straight answer. It's a relationship business - and it works.
So what are we to make of those who say media is set for a fundamental shake-up, with many transactions conducted over the phone becoming automated and processed silently and methodically by big silicon beasts in the corner of soulless offices, in obscure parts of the UK - or offshore in Bangalore? The futurologists equate media to the stock market 10 years ago. They say it will undergo a wholesale mechanisation that will automate processes and transform ad trading.
This is where online ad trading platforms appear on the horizon. They are not new and several attempts have been made to establish one de facto platform, with little tangible success. But now Google is hovering in the wings, threatening to bring the automation it applies to search and digital marketing into the old-school world of TV, press and radio.
This frightens media agencies and owners and has made them look at trading platforms afresh; for fear that Google will muscle in and steal their traditional lunch, as well as their online snacks.
MediaEquals is the latest ad trading venture to dip its toe in the water, marketing itself as a partner to media companies, not a threat (see page 20). It has signed a number of media agencies and owners for its trial phase, but the jury is still out on whether these firms are merely "sucking it and seeing", or envisage it as a fundamental shift in the way they do business.
Media business will become more automated and the Google factor will galvanise people into action. But I sincerely hope the people factor never disappears. It would be a much poorer place without it, and, ultimately, clients would not get the level of service they need and expect in our modern multimedia age.
Steve Barrett is editor of Media Week
www.mediaweek.co.uk/stevebarrettblog
So what are we to make of those who say media is set for a fundamental shake-up, with many transactions conducted over the phone becoming automated and processed silently and methodically by big silicon beasts in the corner of soulless offices, in obscure parts of the UK - or offshore in Bangalore? The futurologists equate media to the stock market 10 years ago. They say it will undergo a wholesale mechanisation that will automate processes and transform ad trading.
This is where online ad trading platforms appear on the horizon. They are not new and several attempts have been made to establish one de facto platform, with little tangible success. But now Google is hovering in the wings, threatening to bring the automation it applies to search and digital marketing into the old-school world of TV, press and radio.
This frightens media agencies and owners and has made them look at trading platforms afresh; for fear that Google will muscle in and steal their traditional lunch, as well as their online snacks.
MediaEquals is the latest ad trading venture to dip its toe in the water, marketing itself as a partner to media companies, not a threat (see page 20). It has signed a number of media agencies and owners for its trial phase, but the jury is still out on whether these firms are merely "sucking it and seeing", or envisage it as a fundamental shift in the way they do business.
Media business will become more automated and the Google factor will galvanise people into action. But I sincerely hope the people factor never disappears. It would be a much poorer place without it, and, ultimately, clients would not get the level of service they need and expect in our modern multimedia age.
Steve Barrett is editor of Media Week
www.mediaweek.co.uk/stevebarrettblog