Study: Gap between "old" and "new media" in Belgium

A recent study by Ernst & Young finds a real gap between advertisers, media agencies and advertising agencies in Belgium when it comes to "new media".

The study states that Belgian advertisers do see an interest in shifting some of their budget to online media such as blogs, podcasts and viral marketing. On the other hand, the traditional media agencies are a bit reluctant when advising their clients to go for these new media; a lack of benchmarking and clear ROI are stated as the main reasons. On the opposite side you have the advertising agencies who are labeled as "the believers" in this report.

"Our study indicates that the rise of new media will not lead to a proportional growth in the budgets available for advertising campaigns. The size of the pie will probably remain the same, but the pieces will be divided up differently", says Bruno Gernay, Partner and Media Leader of Ernst & Young.

Read the full press release from E&Y here.

I presented at the UBA (the union of Belgian advertisers) some time ago and found most of their members very interested in the topic of blogging. I don't think I covered podcasting at the time but still; it was clear that for some advertisers at this session these new media should be included in their overall marketing/communications mix.

A report like this, and the (sound) skepticism of media agencies in this case do reflect the need for measurable case studies and ROI studies. The industry should make it a priority of creating a good and sound framework to study this matter. Same goes for our PR industry as well. We have nothing to lose and a lot to gain I think.

Technorati : Ernst & Young, UBA, advertising, belgium, blog, media, new media, podcast, study

Comments

[Bert Van Wassenhove]

Although the report comes from a reputable source ... I'm not really impressed. In fact, it just lists what everybody in advertising knows (but I guess that's what consultants do, tell you what you know already). The question is however what the motivations of the different players in the field are, and especially the media agencies. ROI is of course important, but I'm afraid fear of losing their commissions on huge traditional (especially TV) advertising budgets is the biggest factor of resistance.
And by the way ... how about a proven ROI of traditional advertising?

[Philippe Borremans]

Hi Bert,

Thanks for your comment.

Still I was rather positively amazed that the major advertisers in Belgium knew what "new media" where...

You're right when you talk about the shift in business model (fear of losing commissions). Many "go betweens" will face hard times and lose clients who will go direct.

With regards to ROI of traditional advertising... Well, I don't know how they do it but they definitely get more attention by the C-level executives than PR professionals. So there must be some ROI system in place that (almost) everyone likes no..?