MiC reached out to some of Canada’s media agency leaders to find out their thoughts on the year behind, and the year ahead. Here, Vizeum Canada CEO Annette Warring talks about some of the challenges facing the industry today and how her team plans to address them in the year ahead.

What are the biggest challenges facing media agencies today?
Access to current, relevant and actionable consumer insight. More than ever, we need to stay close and highly connected to consumers.

How is your agency working to address them?
With the launch of Aegis Media’s CCS study this year, we have shown that we are taking responsibility for consumer insight. We are also rapidly breaking down barriers and service silos to ensure that our plans and strategies are truly reflective of the interconnected and convergent world that our consumers now navigate. Although we cannot control the consumer journey, we can ensure that we surround our clients’ brands with the right thinking and resources to ensure the most effective touchpoints are employed at the right time to make a consumer connection.

What media do you think could most benefit from a reconsideration of valuation? Why?
All media. It’s that simple. We have to move away from the current one-dimensional thinking that values media based on its ability to either deliver some form of audience delivery or an outcome such as a click or direct purchase. We need to consider media valuation, specifically at the agency and client side, at a deeper level that is reflective of how the particular medium impacts consumer awareness, attitudes and actions specific to our clients’ brands.

Where do you see the biggest opportunity for growth in 2011?
We predict that the out-of-home industry will experience a rapid transformation in Canada during the next 12 months, delivering greater innovation and increasingly more opportunities for consumers to connect and interact with brands in a way that is far more mobile and social than it is today. We plan to be ready for that!

What are you most proud of at your agency in 2010? How will you top it next year?
I’m most proud of our increasing competitiveness in the marketplace. We might not be the largest media company in Canada, but we increasingly find ourselves going toe-to-toe with them in competitive pitches. 2010 proved that it is not only about size, and that clients are seeking better consumer insight, new thinking and alternative approaches. I have to say that I’m also really proud of our amazing team; we have created a culture that fosters both innovation and collaboration while simultaneously creating great work.

This article originally appeared on Dec. 24, 2010 as part of an overview article called ‘The MiC media agency review: Corner office edition‘. Media in Canada will be running the features profiled in the article all this week.