Paul Appleby, Chair Bristol Media

It’s not necessarily the “R” word that’s taking its toll, it’s just the degree to which businesses respond to changing market conditions, audiences and client needs; results of a rapidly evolving digital world.

You can’t escape it and, although we may all be sick to the back teeth of hearing about it, the economic climate for many creative businesses in the region has meant 2008/9 has been a challenging one.

In spite of screams of total “economic Armageddon,” it appears that, actually, many businesses are holding their own and have taken appropriate action to face whatever’s thrown at them in 2010/10; some with a bullish “bring it on and do your worst” chutzpah, with others adopting a more cautious approach.

We’ve spoken to company MDs, and analysed the completed Top 100 surveys, yet it’s hard to pick out overarching key themes which ‘sum up’ the state of the industry regionally, given the diverse mix of TV, digital, design, marketing, PR, publishing and animation companies featured.

Yes – clients are taking longer to make decisions, budgets are tighter, competition is greater and money takes longer to filter through, but these are only temporary glitches that we all have to deal with, until things pick back up.

However, one resounding characteristic that has almost certainly been accelerated by the
close scrutiny of client and commissioning editors spend over the last 18 months is their demand
for greater accountability and return on investment (ROI). Whatever the medium or final execution, clients expect to see results – whether it’s an
online campaign, viewing figures from a show,
point of sale material, or an animated brand-building piece.

Another characteristic is how ‘digital’ is forcing companies across the region, and in every sector, to think differently about previously tried and tested business models. The world is changing, trends are shifting, boundaries are being redefined
and how customers, clients and audiences consume media has undergone a seismic shift
over the last 18 to 24 months – and it’s going
to continue.

Who seriously thought we’d be sitting here considering the prospect of social advertising being bigger than TV, the most powerful advertising medium known to man? Or that people are now officially spending more time online than they are watching TV? Who saw Twitter coming, or the impact that blogging would have on the PR industry? And have publishers only really seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to citizen journalism, ultra-local web sites fuelled and driven by user-generated content?

Maybe what the recession has done is to expose, and bring to the surface much more quickly, sector-specific challenges and issues and just made them bigger and more obvious.

Has it simply reinforced the need for TV production companies to seriously 
embrace 360 commissioning or accelerated 
the urgency for publishers to look at monetising
their online content? Has it pushed digital agencies to embrace a more strategic approach and prove comercial value, or heightened 
the realisation that PR consultancies can no longer simply ‘broadcast’ client messages to a passive audience?

Are all these issues a threat or opportunity for our regional Top 100? Only time will tell. Some companies and sectors will fare better, based on how they make sense of, and respond to, an ever-changing rule book.

Whatever the outcome, the next 12 months is likely to be just as challenging.

Linked from the home page are the views of five leading figures of the design, digital, TV, advertising and marketing and PR sectors who we asked to give us their thoughts about the last 12 months and, in addition, how they think the next year will shape up.