Gone are the days of linear and digital advertising being two completely different worlds. We expect to see in 2018 a media convergence that will change how media is planned and bought. Industry experts are estimating that 10% of the TV ad market in the United States will be managed programmatically by the end of 2018. TV media buys will move closer to a linear/digital hybrid. Radio buys will continue including digital platforms like Pandora and Spotify as if they are additional stations in the mix.
Fusion Media is preparing to help our clients win in this new world of media by understanding how to best merge what has been up until now the digital/traditional divide.
We believe it will take media planners and buyers with expertise in both digital and traditional platforms versus how it is today where they have expertise in one or the other. Case in point, look at Google’s foray into TV ad buying—its Google TV Ads program—which was shuttered in 2012. We believe this was mostly because of Google’s miscalculations around how TV ad buyers execute their work. And not much has changed at Google or any other digital giant in the five years since then.
In 2018, we are ready for what we think will determine the future of the advertising industry. Traditional media companies converging with digital platforms as well as digital companies converging with traditional platforms to provide more cost-effective ways for our clients to reach their targets and achieve their business goals.
Both digital and traditional media will be disrupted by the coming convergence. Navigating this disruption and convergence will be our focus for the new year. Our team of digital/traditional media experts are ready!
