Mesut Sakal, Managing Director – CEE, APAC & Africa discusses with us how brands can navigate a fragmented media landscape effectively by focusing on strategies to stand out amidst increasing competition and changing consumer behaviour.
The media landscape is very fragmented. How can a brand stand out in such a fragmented landscape?
Navigating a fragmented media landscape where there is information overload, and everyone is vying for attention is a daunting task and a real challenge for media buyers and sellers alike. It requires mastery of three points.
Firstly, knowing your audience. This is now more crucial than ever before. Who are they? What media do they consume? And how ? These are questions that are a must as the more refined the consumer profile, the more efficient the targeting will be.
Then, mastering measurement is vital for brands, “if it’s not measured, it’s not managed”. Measuring the reach and impact of your campaign enables you to assess your campaign and improve the next one.
Finally, being agile and adapt fast. Agility is mandatory for brands in an ecosystem that changes at lightspeed. Lastly, I would add that in a vibrant ecosystem with many brands fighting for attention, having a salient, meaningly different brand enable to stand out and drive growth.
You’re managing Northern, Central & Eastern Europe & APAC , different regions for Kantar Media. How do they differentiate from each other?
Each market has its own local needs. Therefore, not only the audience’s behaviour in each country changes, but also unsurprisingly the advertisers and agencies needs change. We, Kantar Media, are proud to deploy approaches that are both global and local.
While we do have a global outlook, we also understand the importance of local needs, cultural nuances and how they impact the behaviours of consumers. We believe that this is imperative for advertisers and media owners to understand the distinct characteristics of local markets and the role that they play while making strategic decisions. We talked about it in more detail in “The power of regionality” op-ed. Embracing those differences is crucial to see success in those three regions.
What does the future hold for media?
The future of media is poised for significant transformation, driven by technological advancements and evolving consumer preferences. As online experiences are more immersive and personalised, people’s media consumption habits are becoming increasingly fluid. The ongoing shift in how audiences engage with content – from linear television to streaming, social media, and beyond – presents an incredible opportunity but also an exciting challenge. Success will depend on the industry’s ability to not only deliver compelling content but also accurately measure how, when, and why people engage with, making people-powered measurement the final crucial element in this equation. At Kantar Media, we are always looking on to the future and our latest Media Trends & Predictions report is about to launch. You can register here to receive it first!
Any final words for clients or colleagues reading this interview?
Now is a very exciting time for our industry. My final word for clients or colleagues is to build on the momentum of collaboration. By being willing to collaborate, whether you are on the buy side or on the sell-side, we will be able, as an industry, to build a measurement system adapted to the prominent emerging needs that arise as the viewing landscape gets more and more global and more and more fragmented.
This interview has originally been published on TULI’s website. Read the original interview here.