Nick Barron is CEO of MediaCom MENA
“It’s fairly traditional at this time of year to look forward and make predictions, but I suspect by now there is pretty much universal agreement that digital and mobile will continue to grow, the economic recovery in Europe and the US will hopefully benefit marketing budgets generally, and the outlook overall will be a bit more positive.
Instead – and anticipating that I will be on the good list – I would like to share an early wish list for next December’s festive season.
Firstly, to those people accepting new jobs to advance their careers, please don’t withdraw from the new job four weeks after accepting the offer. You made a decision, have the courage to follow it through. Pulling out when everything is set up to welcome you to your new company is not big, it’s not clever and it’s very unprofessional.
Secondly, for clients holding pitches, please make a decision and stick to your own deadlines. Agencies put their hearts and souls into pitches and ‘we haven’t been able to make a decision’ six months after the end date is very frustrating.
On awards, a few less gongs would surely add credibility to those campaigns that win, especially if the qualifying criteria is that the campaign has to be real rather than run on one site or title just so it can be entered. We all know what I’m talking about here.
To my fellow media businesses, please let’s stop being worried about accountability and audited measurement. By showing clients that what we do measurably works, will benefit us in the long term.
And finally, let’s all drive to have creative work developed and produced here rather simply using repurposed or adapted international work. We live and work in a unique environment and I’m sure the very talented marketers and communication experts in the region can create way more effective ads given the chance.”
well said Nick..