At an evening aimed at inspiring the latest generation of planners to tackle misinformation through responsible advertising investment, former Starcom and Electric Glue CEO Glucklich called on news to be “properly considered on every relevant plan”
As part of her keynote opening speech to a room full of early-career media planners, she questioned to what extent blunt brand safety tools actually produce effective advertising campaigns: “Does a blanket exclusion make the client’s advertising any better? Is it better to be safe than relevant? Does treating all news content the same help brands connect with people in a more meaningful way? I highly doubt it.
“I think it would simply make the client and agency feel safer — and less likely to get into trouble. But arguably this approach just leads to less impactful and relevant ad environments.”
Glucklich added: “With all today’s technology and targeting, we’ve somehow ended up treating some of our most trusted news environments — loved and read by customers in their millions — as dangerous places for brands.”
She also called on the next generation to be curious about news-reading audiences outside their bubbles, to challenge the default arrangements that prevent campaigns from appearing around good journalism, and to be brave in challenging these assumptions with clients.
“You have to remind yourself to take your biases out”
The speech kicked off an evening of panels discussing advertising’s impact on growing misinformation from both junior and senior planners’ perspectives.
The junior panel, chaired by Bountiful Cow CEO Adam Foley, echoed Glucklich’s call for younger planners to consider their wider audiences’ media habits when it comes to investing in trusted environments.
Mya Patel, Craft Media planning manager, said: “You’re not going to like everyone, but do you need that for them to buy a chocolate bar? You have to remind yourself to take your biases out at times.”
T&P account director Alex Czapski agreed, saying: “I think you get into difficult territory when you allow politics to determine your media platform selection.”
Meanwhile, the increasing discussions around advertising’s role in funding the information ecosystem have made OMD UK account manager Anabel Robson more prepared to take these considerations into her planning.
“It’s been a bit of an eyeopener for me”, she said. “Now I feel a lot more equipped and more confident about having those conversations… don’t always assume if people can tell what’s fake or what’s not.”
“Find someone over Christmas you don’t agree with”
Themes around disagreement and a pluralistic media industry continued into the senior agency panel, headed by Sky Media director of planning and The News Alliance chair Sarah Jones.
Greg Newman, Craft Media strategy consultant, challenged the audience to use the festive period to see that disagreement did not necessarily mean not “nice”.
“Just because they have values and views that disagree with yours, that doesn’t make [those values] illegitimate”, he said.
Lin-Sze Teh, chief planning officer at Starcom, continued the theme of conversation, saying that “clients want to hear our opinion as planners… it’s your job to be informed and ask those questions.”
She also called on the audience to “really spend time looking at the context of your audiences and their different perspectives.”
World Media Group CEO Jamie Credland highlighted news media’s openness to helping planners and marketers navigate advertising in quality journalism environments.
“When you turn on Channel 4 News or Sky News, you’re not going to see something that promotes self-harm”, he said, adding: “Publishers will help you because they appreciate your business.”
“Giving young planners a voice”
The event was organised by Hadyn Millar and Theo Rubins, both planners at Craft Media and members of The News Alliance.
Welcoming the audience to the event, Rubins said: “Our aim for today is to educate the next generation of planners on the role they have in tackling misinformation in media… It’s something that Hadyn and I have become quite passionate about, so hopefully we can pass that on to you all.”
Millar added: “That’s what today’s all about. Giving young planners a voice, a forum to discuss and a chance to hear industry greats talk about how we can change the way we approach media investment for the better.”
That sentiment was carried by Newsworks communications director and The News Alliance vice-chair Rupert Smith in his closing address. Encouraging attendees to get involved with the community of like-minded planners Rubins and Millar seek to build in the coming months, he said: “We certainly don’t expect everyone to leave agreeing with everything they’ve heard. Frankly, it would be a boring industry if we did.
“But I think we can all agree that media is at something of a crossroads. And yes, that may qualify as the understatement of the century.
“What happens next will be shaped by the choices all of us make, including the people in this room.”
