Media
Practice
“Nothing shifts advertising numbers like a shift in perception of the people buying it.”
We apply communications strategy and design to magazines, cable networks, and Web sites that want to appear more attractive to media buyers, the people who make decisions for advertisers.
Clients include: weather.com, Playboy, Better Homes & Gardens, Radar
Decision
“Media is a different part of Sullivan, and has a totally different perspective on decision.”
Unlike much of Sullivan’s work in Financial Services and Healthcare, where there are complex decisions and multiple decision makers, in media there is generally one decision process, and a very limited pool of decision makers. That changes everything.
We interview the same industry decision makers over and over. They’re willing to see us because we challenge and provoke them. Through these interviews, we keep our finger on the pulse of the industry, and also have year-to-year points of view on what sells now, and what will keep selling next year.
Approach
“To get to the truth, we get people off topic.”
We don’t do straight research, because it doesn’t tell us what we need to know. Instead, we go directly to the source, and get people to talk about things in a different way. How? We don’t walk in to the interview with a theory. We take them away from what they thought they were going to talk about in the interview. We’re usually shocked by what we find—and so are clients.
These are the insights that lead to really changing how a property presents itself.
Industry
“The business model has changed. The industry used to sell content, but now it sells audience.”
Magazine and TV networks used to sell content. But today magazines kill themselves to appear free. TV seems free, and so does the Internet. Content is not enough to build value to advertisers. Plus, content is expensive.
Today, it’s all about audience, and the habits of that audience. The audience’s media habits have changed, and will continue to. It’s scary when an established business model shifts, but it’s also an opportunity.
Predictions
“No one knows what the metrics are anymore.”
Where are people getting their messages? What are the touchpoints? How do we measure something in constant change? The industry has to face these issues.
In the past, consumers led with their behavior, and the industry tracked it, and followed quickly. Today, the consumer is the last to know. And they were always a poor metric. People can’t actually tell you what they like or will do. They are not a reliable source of insight for tomorrow.
There has to be a new way.
