David Hayes
Managing director, Mediaedge:cia Ireland
Key clients: Xtra-vision, Nintendo, Novartis, Specsavers
How is the Irish media industry changing?
The media industry had been changing until mid-2008. Better broadband coverage meant social networking had become very popular. But then the classified advertising business began to collapse. In television, the Communicorp/Boxer consortium won the digital licence last year, but it has since handed it back and it is unlikely anyone will take it up given the climate, so everyone's digital plans have been put on hold.
In 2007/08, digital media started to accelerate and to change consumer use and advertising spend patterns. However, with projects being cancelled and advertising spend thin on the ground, media owners' plans are in disarray.
Can agencies still deliver value for clients?
TV costs have come down 30-40% so it is a buyer's market, with fantastic value for advertisers. The Irish economy was booming in recent years, but now all media are fighting for every Euro of ad budget. From a business model perspective, MEC Ireland is in a good position - as part of GroupM, it trades as one block and can drive prices down with media owners.
But clients' plans have gone out of the window - instead of having a 12-month or three-year strategy, advertisers now have a 24-hour strategy. Revenue changes are so volatile that it would be crazy to plan ahead.
Predictions for the future of the Irish media industry?
Radio and online will come out of the recession best. Radio is a very popular medium in Ireland because of the size of the market relative to the cost of radio ad production, which is very low compared to the cost of delivering TV commercials. Press and cinema are also high-risk because they require high investment.
Press will be interesting to watch - for example, 70% of The Irish Times' revenue comes from property and recruitment, but both those markets have collapsed, which doesn't leave those two revenue streams looking very healthy.
Graham Taylor
Chief executive and owner, GT Media
Key clients: Allianz Direct, Domino's Pizza, Honda, Citroën, Dyson
How has the recession influenced media planning?
Everything has become very short term. That would normally have implications for availability, but because things are slack it hasn't had such a big knock-on effect - it just means planning has become very focused. TV prices were down 38% year on year last month, and press is being discounted by a minimum of 50-60%.
This really changes the dynamic in the market, because media sales tactics are based on getting money in rather than value. Clients are spending considerably less money than they were this time last year, making the market incredibly distorted.
Which sectors have been hardest hit?
Motor and financial are the worst-affected sectors. They would always be big spenders in Q1 in Ireland, but advance bookings are looking very slim. There's no growth anywhere; I can't think of a client that is spending more than last year. The recession caught Ireland so unawares and so suddenly, it's as though someone pulled the plug out of the socket.
We had such a successful and buoyant economy that people weren't expecting it to fall off a cliff as quickly as it did. Hopefully, by the back end of this year, advertisers will start to say, "I can't not market my product", but at the moment the financial people have the marketing people by the throat.
As an independent agency are you more vulnerable?
Some agencies have reacted by consolidating media buying into bigger groups, but I see that as a defence measure. Media has fallen to rock-bottom rates, so scale is a complete irrelevancy because clients will take any price from anybody.
As a smaller company, we are vulnerable to clients not spending, but we are not vulnerable to bigger agencies poaching clients. Larger agencies can't give clients the same level of service as us - we can reinvent ourselves and change our strategy quicker.quickethan big companies. We can be more nimble - we're already talking about remodelling ourselves and completely integrating digital into our offering.
Liam McDonnell
Chief executive, Aegis Media Ireland
Key clients: Carat: Bank of Ireland, Nissan, Vodafone. Vizeum: Johnson & Johnson, Kerry Group, General Motors
Can agencies still deliver value for their clients?
Absolutely, but creativity is becoming more important than ever. Also, we're in a better place than ever in terms of understanding how people use media and the accountability we have at our disposal. We're all finding it tough and there is less money out there, but it is also true to say there are good and better businesses.
If someone said to me a certain car company was in trouble because of the economy, I would point out that it also makes bad cars. It's all cyclical and good will come out of the recession in terms of weeding out companies that just weren't delivering.
How long will it be before the economy stabilises?
The recession has hit Ireland harder than the UK. We grew faster and higher than most other economies, so we had further to drop - the timescale was more condensed. The UK has suffered economic challenges for the past 15 months, but Ireland has only been in recession for six months and people are still wondering where the bottom is.
We had to adjust when business was growing and, now business is shrinking, we are adjusting again. There will be a lot more stability by Q3 this year, but I don't believe the economy will turn around before the end of 2010. There is a huge amount of nervousness that, unfortunately, is contagious.
Predictions for the future of the Irish media industry?
It's not survival of the fittest; it's survival of those who have a role. Take a medium such as TV - it will continue to exist for an awfully long time, but there will be demand for a local slant. The radio market seems buoyant and new stations are coming in to the market all the time, but the stations' survival depends on their viability.
As for print, everyone makes an argument against press surviving, but the Irish are very keen on current affairs and information. So, while I believe press will be streamlined, it will be a long time before you can't buy a paper in this country.