How Friction Can Create Media Growth Opportunities

In a media landscape that is constantly reinventing itself through new technology and behaviors, it’s not surprising that friction is created as old meets new. But knowing how to harness that friction and learn from it will help marketers make better choices that drive greater ROI. “There's an enormous amount of friction in our industry right now, and I believe that that friction is between legacy behaviors and the new behaviors we need to create for ourselves,” Jane Lacher, senior consultant and head of media at global marketing consultancy R3, told an audience at Mediaweek on Wednesday (Oct. 30). Legacy silos sitting within marketing organizations is causing tension across the industry. Areas where friction exists, per Lacher, include media strategy, the concept of “friends and family,” commerce, video, sports, cookies, search, marketing to the middle, and talent. In each of those areas are opportunities to create success. The industry can start by focusing on changing the concept of media metrics, since vanity metrics, click through rates, and viewability are doing us a disservice. “If we think of ourselves as media strategists and not just media practitioners, now we have a seat at the table to discuss business outcomes, and business outcomes are what our marketing clients care about, so we have to do a better job of changing that narrative,” said Lacher. The friction from the “friends and family” concept, which is another way of saying “word of mouth,” comes from the rise of influencer and creator content, which can conflict with traditional creative processes at agencies and brands. “That's a legacy behavior that is causing friction which we have to address, which means you have to move media up earlier in the marketing decisions. It's a good friction, but it's a friction we need to be aware of,” said Lacher. The rise of retail media networks is another point of tension that has risen steadily in the past four years. That rise has meant a wealth of coveted first-party data, which may initiate a shift in how media dollars are spent. Lacher pointed out that $84 billion will be spent on U.S. retail media by 2026, which is greater than all the money to be spent on traditional media. She said it's no surprise that retail media networks are attracting most of the dollars, because they're selling first-party data on shopper behaviors. Sports is huge, but the friction there is in how it’s still divided between men’s and women’s sports. With so many eyeballs viewing sports, Lacher hopes that by 2025, we won't have to differentiate between men’s and women's sports. The legacy behavior is thinking that they are different audiences, but the demographics of sports fans are changing. Lacher also talked about enhanced viewing experiences through different screens, as well as the rise of the “no click search,” which often comes before the sponsored content that brands pay a lot for. She added that marketers and media buyers need to get past their coastal biases and make sure they “market to the middle" by putting dollars into outlets that speak to the middle of the country as well. Addressing friction points may come with some pain, but Lacher said that confronting them will lead to opportunities for positive change -- such as smartly addressing AI issues, which she said should only enhance what marketers do, not lead it.

Mediaweek

How Friction Can Create Media Growth Opportunities

We need to think more as strategists, says R3’s Jane Lacher

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