Media Momentum

Who is winning the war for the consumer’s mind? NZ Marketing analyses and critiques the channels.

If there had ever been a time for marketers to own a compass, it’s now. The media world is rapidly evolving and the paths to reach audiences are more varied than ever.

On one hand, there’s digital, with its targeted technologies that promise to lead straight to the desired eyes. On the other there’s print, radio and television offering mass-marketing. But in a demonstration of how times are changing, even those traditional channels have digital audiences now. Similarly, direct mail’s letter box now spans across the internet. So where to go? Each path throws up its own opportunities and disadvantages – as seen in the likes of P&G and Unilever retreating, or at least threatening to, from digital channels.

In 2017, P&G cut $200 million from its digital spend due to bot and brand safety concerns and reinvested it into channels with bigger reach including television, audio and ecommerce.

And earlier this year, Unilever threatened to pull advertising from online platforms featuring "toxic content".

But what are local advertisers thinking? And where are their agencies taking them? As we attempt to navigate the way forward, we find it’s not a case of one-size-fits all or one platform.