BDO Mediatalk 2020

20 FLEXIBLE, VERSATILE, RESILIENT | MEDIA talk

MEDIA SECTOR TRENDS AND ANALYSIS

H1 2020 is destined to be remembered for the pandemic that pressed the pause button on entire economies around the world. As governments and societies grapple with the peculiar apprehension unique to a post-COVID environment, the challenges ahead are only gradually taking form. It is without doubt that the foreseeable future will be shaped by the medium and longer-term impacts from this crisis. It would also be a significant lapse to overlook other important stories of 2020 so far. Images of George Floyd’s arrest and the graphic video displaying his maltreatment and death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers spread around the world and gave further impetus to the Black Lives Matter movement.

The images stoked protests which gathered in cities across the United States and spread across the Atlantic into the UK. The incident also had knock-on effects in the advertising world with some outlets recording a drop in ad prices across many digital publications as many companies sought to avoid placing ads next to sensitive content. Keywords and potential blocklists are now important considerations for companies advertising digitally and digital advertisers need the capability to effectively match a client’s risk threshold to appropriate digital content. Digital ad revenue will depend on getting this mix right, and the problem is likely to become more challenging. The example of George Floyd may be rather simple compared to dealing with polarising content appearing in the midst of a hard- fought election or striking the right tone amidst a pervasive threat to health.

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