TheBuzz
TheBuzz
Nobody knows how bad it'll get, but "We can almost guarantee that the trend line (of your business) will come back," according to Faith Rex, president of SMS Consulting. Advertising in adversity
That was perhaps the most hopeful point made at yesterday's Hawaii Advertising Federation luncheon, where panelists were asked to discuss the impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the local ad community.
Aside from Rex, speakers included Mark Adkins, senior vice president of marketing for The Honolulu Advertiser; Chuck Cotton, general manager for the seven-station Clear Channel Hawaii radio group; John Fink, vice president and general manager of KHNL and KFVE TV; Pete Martinez, president of Hawaii Internet Emporium Inc.; and Floyd Takeuchi, president of PacificBasin Communications LLC. HAF Vice President Page Gaylord of Inter-media moderated with a list of prepared questions as well as some submitted by attendees.
The immediate drop in advertising revenue has been well-reported, but doom and gloom was not the mood of the speakers -- nor were they Pollyanna-esque. The overriding tone was uncertainty, reflecting inability to predict the duration of Hawaii's economic downturn.
Corporate owners have had to take another look at reality, Cotton said; while Martinez said people's need to stay abreast of events has proven the value of the Internet. "We're seeing that companies recognize that they need to have a serious message on their Web site." In the magazine industry, where Takeuchi said clients commit advertising dollars months in advance, "The question is, what happens in the first quarter?"
For ad-driven media, holiday advertising usually translates into the strongest quarter of the year, but it is immediately followed by a "soft" first quarter. "This (attack) exacerbates what was already going to happen," Takeuchi said. On the other side of the business-planning coin, Fink cited research in warning that companies who withdraw advertising for three months take six months to rebuild "top of mind awareness."
"We're not doing any long-term planning," said Adkins, who said they've now been told such efforts would be "a waste of time," and that energies should be focused on the community, he said.
Media companies have been overwhelmed with requests for space and air time for public service announcements for victims' relief efforts. Fink and Cotton agreed that some announcements airing around the state may appear to be more self-aggrandizing or electioneering than public service-oriented, but that such conclusions are subjective and the public is smart enough to see through disingenuous efforts.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com
