Volunteers sought to prepare media manifesto project
Representatives from Australia’s media agencies and media owners are being asked to join a working group to do the groundwork for a new manifesto for the media industry to be thrashed out at Mumbrella360.
The next two months will see the working group create a list of key articles to be discussed and agreed at Mumbrella360 which takes place in Sydney on June 7 and 8.
The Mumbrella360 session – titled Establishing a change manifesto for Australia’s media industry – is being curated by media agency PHD after it was voted for by Mumbrella readers.
PHD strategy director Chris Stephenson explains the vision for the manifesto:
The working group will meet three times during April to agree the objectives of the manifesto; to agree what the manifesto will cover and how far it will go; and to agree the format of the session at Mumbrella360. The aim is that by the end of the Mumbrella360 session, a manifesto has been agreed by the audience that – subject to ratification by the Media Federation and other industry bodies – can be put before the industry as a whole.
The aim is for representatives from all of Australia’s major media agencies and media owners to take part in the session. The plan is to produce a manifesto which reacts to the changes facing the media industry and sets a course for the future.
In PHD’s proposal for the session, it said:
“Australia’s media planning and buying industry – like others around the world – is witnessing fundamental shifts in the media landscape. The impact of digital communications and technologies, the disintermediation of the broadcast interruption model, demand side platforms and trading desks, social media and socialisation of advertising, fragmentation of media planning and buying services into digital and creative agencies and the monetisation of communications revenue in an online-oriented world to name just a few. This is combined with increased pressure on margins from the commoditisation of media and influence of procurement departments in marketing, but also from high churn and challenging staff retention rates.
“So what is actually changing as a result? How are we restructuring, and evolving our offering? How is what we are doing today different from what we were doing twelve or even twenty-four months ago? And how are we educating and involving our clients so that they come on the journey with us?
“We need a shared manifesto. A manifesto for change. One that we all agree on. One that we can signal to everyone who works in our industry. One that we can signal to clients. One that frames the conversations between agencies and media owners. A manifesto that galvanises our industry, defends our margins and energises our people.”
Stephenson said that an inspiration for the project is the Cluetrain Manifesto which set out a series of beliefs for marketing in the online age. Although the session is being curated by PHD, he emphasised that the intention is for it to be open to all within media.
Anybody interested in joining the working party – particularly those working at media agencies and media owners – should email Stephenson at Chris.Stephenson@phdnetwork.com.
Tickets for Mumbrella360 are now on sale.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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Dear Mumberlla, is there a way to volunteer Mumberalla 360 in June, I would like to be a part of this amazing event!
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