Bala: Shrinking margins are placing more importance on efficiency across the board.
As advertising and media agencies operate in a challenging and demanding environment, the Media Specialists Association (MSA) is continuously looking at ways to assist member agencies to navigate the critical issues affecting the media and communications industry.
StarBiz met up with MSA president Bala Pomaleh to get his views and insights into the happenings of the industry, initiatives undertaken by the association and plans, going forward.
StarBiz: What are some of the initiatives which MSA is looking at for 2024 in a bid to strengthen the media and communications industry?
Bala: The industry has already seen tremendous changes over the years and the MSA plays a pivotal role in strengthening and advancing the media and communications industry.
The MSA is continuing to pursue the Single TV Audience Measurement (STAM) initiative, which aims to achieve a unified measurement methodology across television audiences to ensure a single currency that is a credible source of truth for advertisers to rely on.
Currently, we are awaiting updates from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to select a research provider for this massive undertaking.
As the technical experts and primary users of this data, MSA is in continuous dialogues with MCMC on how to move forward with these plans, as our longer-term objective is for similar measurement systems to extend to other screens beyond TV, like digital video.
MSA has also been discussing the need for more effective media pitching guidelines that can help both our members and clients to improve the pitch process.
The volume, frequency and intensity of pitches have increased, and this creates immense pressure on both clients and agencies whenever a pitch is conducted. MSA has developed some initial recommendations on how we can achieve a more effective pitch process for both clients and agencies.
Our hope is that better alignment in this area will smoothen and standardise processes for everyone, and eventually lead to better partnerships being forged.
The annual MSA Awards which is the highlight event of the year for media agency professionals in Malaysia is continuing to be a focus.
Aligning with MSA’s remit to include more people-centric missions, this year’s awards has led to an expansion of the People Awards section, to better recognise agencies and individuals for their culture initiatives.
For the first time, the people category will also count towards the overall points and ranking, underscoring and celebrating the importance of our people, the backbone of all agencies. This is in-line with MSA’s objective of raising the quality of our talents.
Are there any trends that you foresee for the media and communications space for 2024? Will these trends benefit the media landscape? Or will it impact the industry?
With shrinking margins and greater scrutiny on financial impact, there is now a bigger push for more efficiency across the board.
I expect more effort to go into operational transformation, to leverage on technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to assist in the automation of mundane, repetitive and administrative tasks, such as reporting.
We will also see more advanced use of data analytics as the integration of planning processes with multilayered data platforms will help planners become more accurate in how they reach audiences.
This will be further extended through better collaboration and integration with creative partners to ensure seamless output and delivery for meaningful customer experiences.
Financial pressures have increased tremendously in recent years, and these business transformations are not merely nice to have, they are critical for survival.
Those agencies who have been ahead of the game on transformation will reap benefits in the coming years, while laggards will struggle with cost and resourcing issues.
What are some of the hurdles that you foresee will affect the media industry this year?
The boycott of certain brands over the past six months has dented their profitability and greatly impacted sentiment in the long-term.
Reduced revenues for brands will mean a reduced ability to spend on advertising, and it is a vicious cycle that will ultimately hurt our local stakeholders, from shareholders to media partners and agencies.
Worryingly, we will see jobs being impacted if this continues throughout the year. This could then lead to more difficult economic and social issues for the country.
The other big concern in 2024 is the ringgit’s depreciation, as businesses that rely on imported material will now be at a cost disadvantage.
This fluctuation of prices and commodities affects the supply chain and Malaysia’s trade, with spiralling costs affecting competitiveness. If prices are passed down to consumers, it would erode demand and have a cascading effect on advertising spending.
Is there a brain drain in the media specialist and media and communications industry in the country? Why? How can this situation be improved?
Malaysia has been facing a brain drain with some talent choosing greener pastures like Singapore or other global powerhouses.
With the decline of our currency, this will further affect the talent pool, especially for specialisations in high demand such as technology, data and analytics.
Our remit with MSA has always been to support agencies to invest in training to ensure engagement with key talents.
Alongside this, MSA fosters partnerships with higher learning institutions to collaborate and build better awareness of the industry, inviting students to be a part of the MSA Awards judging and festival, and works closely with academic institutions for media stakeholders to play an active role in mentorship and the development of the university syllabus.
Are there any other relevant areas that you would like to highlight as the head of MSA?
Agencies are all operating in conditions that are highly challenging and demanding, however there are opportunities that we can capitalise on collectively.
We need to see the industry coming together in a more meaningful way to work closely on policy matters for the betterment of our industry, and to help promote business growth for our clients and partners.
While there might be differences in priorities and how we operate, finding common ground to focus on things that matter is critical, and we should not belabour upon unproductive activities.
