Since 2009, Wessenden Marketing has been tracking the changes in the UK publishing and media industry through its annual mediafutures project. The unique aspect of mediafutures is that it digs beneath the surface of individual companies to focus and track key operational metrics. It is based on senior executives within the business sharing (anonymously and confidentially) what their key issues are, where they see significant opportunities and how they are allocating their resources.
This year, with the help of two new partners, FOLIO and Flashes & Flames, mediafutures has gone international. It has engaged with 177 companies in UK, Europe & Asia Pacific (a record level of participation) plus an additional 154 companies in the USA, across five broad industry categories: Consumer Media, B2B, Events, Customer Media and News Media. The high level of participation demonstrates the appetite and need to benchmark in volatile times. The result is two reports: mediafutures EUROPE and mediafutures USA – with a bridge linking the key findings of the two.
These are intended to be practical, working documents: a summary of the mass of statistics and shared insights. The aim is to provide the context to navigate the stormy waters more confidently: to bring a greater sense of control to companies who may feel that the business environment around them is totally out of control. The reports usable toolkit of key ratios which can be used instantly in any media business. The key variables are the same in any organisation and fall into three broad sections: Revenues, Organisation and Performance.
