Times are changing in media and this potential new world of media that’s emerging – a departure from mass media to more one-on-one relationships – means working together in a different way to break down some of the old patterns, says one top media buyer, Renetta McCann, during a panel discussion at the Audit Bureau of Circulations’ conference in Toronto on Thursday. That was just one pearl of wisdom McCann, a Chicago-based executive of Starcom MediaVest Group/The Americas and Starcom North America; along with Sunni Boot, president of ZenithOptimedia Canada and Carat North America CEO David Verklin threw out as they discussed what marketers want from print.
McCann emphasized to the crowd of media buyers, advertisers and print execs the ‘power of small ideas,’ which she relates to hitting people behind the scenes in the industry like circulation directors, planners or strategists. While acknowledging these contacts don’t have a dollar to spend, McCann pointed out they are the guardians of the consumer and will be rich suppositories of information, which could potentially open new opportunities – albeit on a smaller scale in some instances – down the road. In a similar vein, Verklin bestowed the virtues of the newest sales trend – team selling. Verklin encourages publishers to get their editors to join them when meeting clients and that by having ‘teams of people on the publishing side of the business working together on a client line of business – circulation, editorial, publisher and the marketing department – it can provide a rich dialogue’ and make a meeting between seller and buyer outstanding.
