Guardian made an announcement yesterday on "Digital First Strategy" which is kind of just a way of saying we are going lay off a lot of journalists (and sales, production etc) but we do have a plan. This is a bit of slap in the face of the counter intuitives who are proclaiming print to make a comeback any time soon.
Choices facing the large newspaper groups are
- either to radically reduce their cost base (and i mean RADICALLY reduce)- Guardian employ 630 journalists - the Huffington Post employs about 80
- or become playthings of very rich vanity publishers.
The similar choices for the traditional rec ad agency businesses are
- Radically reduce their cost base (many seem to have been pursuing this via multi stages for last 2 years)
- Reposition your business - WMW are largely employee comms/brand, Work and TMP are very much brand strategists to some degree
- Or go out of business as your lunch is eaten by the new models that have sprung up while they have been paralysed staring at the gaping holes in their revenue line
That is unless Roman Abramovich fancies buying up a couple of businesses in recruitment advertising to put on his mantelpiece.
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