Media analyst Jack Myers on ad spend outloook: not so good

November 12, 2008 by Dave Haynes

From an interview in eMarketer, with media analyst and, his word, futurist, Jack Myers:

eMarketer: Jack, you’ve been looking into the future of advertising for several decades now. Has it ever appeared so gloomy?

Jack Myers: No, it hasn’t. The signs have been there for several years that we were going to hit this wall—but it’s come more quickly than expected. The problem is that we are confusing the economic and financial downturn with the crisis we’re experiencing in advertising and media. Many in the industry assume that, as the economy turns around, the advertising business will naturally turn around with it. But that’s not necessarily the case.

The interview goes on at length to look at the world of pain still to come for network TV because of DVRs and for my old haunt, the newspaper industry.

The piece also takes a look at what media compnies should be doing to better position themselves in a world of slowed ad spends, and where there actually is growth (social networking, etc).

No real references to our space, but a good read.