'Blurs' and What They Mean for the Media Agency of the Future

We've identified five "blurs" that will shape the media landscape in 2014. Beside each one we've explained how the merging of traditional boundaries will affect how a media agency operates.

Blur 1: TV and Online

By 2014, a high percentage of homes in developed markets will be watching content streamed over the Internet, as opposed to being broadcast over the airwaves. We'll also reach the tipping point when all major TV channels, and production houses, stream and make all their content available online. It's happening already in major markets, particularly America. Just look at Hulu.com (the Internet content system created by NBC and Fox and other networks and studios). And even the stalwarts are playing - ABC has embraced the merging of TV and online and even launched its own branded news channel on YouTube in May (www.youtube.com/ABCNews).

With sites like YouTube uploading thousands of new videos every day, consumers are getting used to consuming broadcast content online and soon - when the TV and the computer finally merge in the living room - they will be able to sit at home using TV-based search to find the content they want, when they want. This will be driven forward by the convergence that we are about to witness within the TV market: the replacement for the plasma screen you bought last year will incorporate a hard-drive (an Intel chip) and an Ethernet cable. And we will be able to stream content directly into the TV or over the top of broadcast content in the form of applications that enhance the viewing experience. Imagine sports stats, wiki-information about the program, actors, place or even on-the-fly blogging about the content. It is coming.

What Does This Mean for the Media Agency?

Naturally, this will lead to a merging of TV and online buying and measurement. This is already happening. Nielsen launched its TV/Internet Convergence Panel in late 2008. 

Media agencies will have to merge TV buying with online buying to create an AV (audiovisual) buying department - or simply expand their online departments and shrink, and ultimately close, their TV buying departments. Traditional TV buyers will see their roles change and remits widen. This movement to streaming content will give marketers the opportunity to achieve an unprecedented level of interaction with consumers. This will mean that TV buyers will play a much more important role in targeting, ad serving and ongoing campaign management. Expect to see behavioral targeting TV planning. This will allow for an even more advanced form of targeting and interaction than we are currently seeing with cable-based addressable TV.

Blur 2: Mobile Phones and the PC

Think for a minute about the iPhone. It seems to have slipped from a future decade into ours, seamlessly bringing a host of applications we are more used to seeing on our PC to our handheld device. But by 2014, the mainstream audience will be using mobile devices with intuitive, touch-based controls, paper-effect or e-ink screens, image recognition (augmented reality), high-definition resolution and a constant connection to the Internet. We're already seeing other players like Sony Ericsson, LG and Samsung launching touch phones, and the technology will only continue to improve - rapidly.

By 2014, the development of mobile phone applications will also be revolutionary. Software for mobile phones like the now-fledgling Google Android and other new entrants will, in five years' time, be commonplace. Android is open source, which means that anyone can create mobile applications for it. For example, developers can come up with new ideas based on the latest innovations to make functions like texting, using the camera or making calls a richer experience for users. Google Wave -- a new platform that converges e-mail, instant messenger, wiki-software and microblogging - will dramatically reorganize how we communicate. This will enable other companies to build their own software from this platform. By 2014, it is highly likely that brands will create their own versions that will be free - de-positioning Microsoft Outlook. Consumers will be able to create a phone tailored exactly to their interests and needs. They will also be able to make use of location-based services such as Google's Latitude, which will be much more sophisticated in five years. As a result, users will be able to, for instance, be alerted when their friends are in the vicinity -- or their favorite brands. All these new applications will provide a wealth of new advertising and ad-funded opportunities.