A new approach to talent is key to TV’s transformation
When it comes to how the TV industry works, Foxtel Media CEO Mark Frain argues it's time for media's most powerful medium to evolve.
Many media organisations are battling the same challenges as they embark on a digital future. The ongoing shift from print and linear to online and Broadcast Video On Demand (BVOD) over the past decade has changed the game for publishers, advertisers and agencies.
As media companies stare down the barrel of gradual declines of audience on traditional platforms, it’s fast becoming clear that it’s how you respond as a business that counts.
Maximising performance across linear TV – which still holds the mammoth share of the viewing public – whilst investing in fast-growing online platforms like BVOD is a frustratingly delicate balance, not just for media companies, but also for the media buyers tasked with getting brands in front of the right audience, at scale. With the importance of first-party data growing exponentially as we enter a cookie-less marketing world, the playing field is shifting once again.
Increasingly, the question a modern marketer must ask is: “Who is in the best position to be my partner in this changing world?”
In the future, linear audience won’t bother the TV industry, and won’t bother agencies, because the most adaptable networks offer a truly intelligent video network powered by satisfied customers, quality content and consistent advertising performance.
The explosion of digital video advertising has reset how marketing is communicated within every organisation. If TV is to continue its reign as the number one medium when it comes to advertising, it needs to rebuild its back office and move swiftly towards a towards a future where all ads are served digitally. Put simply, it needs to be as simple and streamlined to book a spot on broadcast TV as it is to put an ad on Facebook or Google.
New industry, new people
But in order to get to this future, we need to re-imagine how we hire and nurture our most valuable resource: our people.
When hiring, this means looking further than the confines of our traditional competitive set to find talent to meet the journey we’re on. The answer is no longer to go through LinkedIn and targeting those people working in the same roles in other media companies, or pick up the phone to your trusted recruiter. If TV is to meet the challenge of change, we need to take people from a diverse and varied set of backgrounds.
Beyond bringing new talent into the industry, we must also invest in our current talent, evolving their skillset and retraining and up-skilling our people, in turn making them more valuable to other industries should they decide to seek challenges in the future.
New people, new thinking
One of the reasons we need to embrace new talent is the challenge that should be keeping all media owners awake at night – how to re-imagine how we serve and support our agency and brand partners. The goal has to be to put the trading part of the TV business directly in their hands, with more accurate forecasts, greater certainty, and ultimate control.
Many in adland will probably roll their eyes at this statement, but if there’s anything we’ve learned over 2020 it’s that change can happen fast. Just ask the retailers who had to transition to fully online sales, or the grocers who had to completely re-work their supply chain to keep Australia fed.
As the TV industry transforms from a broadcast business to a 100% IP-enabled streaming sector the goal is clear: create the intelligent video networks of the future. The media businesses that succeed in attracting the right talent and rebuilding the back-ends of their business will ultimately be the ones that thrive and get their first.
Mark Frain is the CEO of Foxtel Media.
