steve Jones’ opinion regarding the changes necessary in our business was nothing less than remarkable.
Jones certainly made one thing clear – management knowledge at the cbc has got to change for it to have any possibility of competing effectively with private broadcasters.
Not only was most of what he said blatantly false, it was also insulting to an industry of which professionals are by far the majority.
For the sake of space (as I’m sure there will be many responses to this ‘article’), I am focussing in on the five most ridiculous generalizations Jones made.
1) ‘We almost never get to talk to the advertisers and we rarely get to talk to the planners, at least not in a sophisticated way.’ Surprise, surprise.
Sophisticated is one of the last adjectives I would use for Jones’ speech. Steve, why don’t you call this number and see how it is done – 928-6283?
‘Mostly we deal with buyers in a clerical manner,’ Jones says. Perhaps if there was some empowerment of the sales staff this would not be the case.
2) ‘If the media is to be able to deal with the advertiser, the advertiser has to have less fascination with the creative.’
The creative product deserves all the attention it gets. A client’s input does not need to be mutually exclusive. What, perhaps, Steve meant was, although many clients provide the input and interest warranted into the media process, it would be to everyone’s advantage if all clients were closely involved with media decisions.
3) ‘Right now, we’re not finding out about those needs [the advertisers’] because the agencies don’t want us to call on advertisers.’
The only reason the cbc does not understand the advertisers’ needs is because it does not care to. Neither I, nor other senior members of our department have ever been called by anyone in cbc management to determine what our needs are in terms of customer service.
In addition, whenever we attempt any dealings with cbc beyond grp buying, the cbc either cannot accommodate us, or the process is badly bungled.
4) How dare Jones say, ‘but we’re caught having to deal with a middle man who interprets the advertiser’s objectives for starters, then flavors them a little to meet the agency’s objectives.’
There is no substantiation for such sweeping, ridiculous generalizations. That, Mr. Jones, is libel.
5) Steve’s little lesson on how we can better buy qualitatively in regards to hockey is proof he does not have a clue.
Buyers across the land know these simple statistics he cites in regard to the hockey viewer. What, perhaps, they have not been informed of is that if hockey is bought selectively they will most likely air in intermission, rather than in game.
‘I wonder if they realize there’s a different environment in’ an intermission time-period versus live action?
This type of rhetoric is a prime example of why ‘there’s a lot more action out there than cbc gets.’
Lauren Richards is media director at Cossette Communication-Marketing in Toronto.
