South Africa seems to have forgotten a word that once ruled – inflation. If you look back a few years, clients spent enormous energies motivating for greater budgets in the face of ever escalating costs. Never mind CPI running hot – the one certainty was that no matter how high consumer inflation was, adflation (yep, it even got its own name) would be higher.
So despite the highest inflation seen by the consumer being under 10 percent, media inflation has consistently been a whack higher. And do I want to write about why media owners should lower their prices? Nope, what I think should happen is they should: PUT THE PRICE UP!
Now I’m fully aware by saying this that a number of eminent media owners will phone me and congratulate me for my deep insight into their businesses, and reward me with offers of lunch, whiskey, and women. Simultaneously, a number of my competitors will e-mail copies of this quote to my clients, together with an open-ended offer to come and see them at their earliest convenience. And lastly, I can expect some irate calls and e-mails from clients of mine who read this far and no further.
But honestly, I have to say I think media in this country is just too cheap. And it reaches a screaming crescendo at the end of the year – every year. October, November and December are just ridiculous in terms of client demand for space, and media owners scratch in every last corner of every hour to be able to put something vaguely acceptable on the table.
The radio stations can offer you time on Sunday, the newspapers can accommodate your loose insert on Monday, and the TV stations put forward really convincing arguments about “a rating being a rating after all”. This accompanied by a proposed schedule of spots stretching from 23h00, through 17 hours, but nonetheless ending at 16h00.
The outdoor companies at best can offer the odd washroom (yep, the rest are sold), and magazine publishers explain why they simply can’t add any more pages, or the binding will give and the magazine simply fall apart. Lastly, Sunday papers start printing third and fourth “main body” sections to accommodate the full page ads they really don’t want to turn away.
And before you point out that January is a different kettle of fish, let me point out that it doesn’t help me when I’m trying to schedule “Santa’s Christmas Specials”.
There has to be a way of evening out the demand situation. The electronic media manage it to an extent – although I still don’t think they get it right. Media ideally should be able to accommodate clients at any time. Probably sit at a 95 percent sold-out situation. So incentives when demand is lower are just not big enough, and loadings for when demand is there are clearly not high enough.
Oh, for the day when newspaper rates are set quarterly, and days priced differentially. The rates of course can go up, but equally so there will be the “equal and opposite effect”. It would just lead to a more effective, efficient media model. A more equitable distribution of demand and volume. Less headaches, and happier clients.
Harry Herber is group managing director of the MediaShop.