Key Takeouts: Trend and insights from WMG Content Creatives

The World Media Group hosted its annual Agency Advisory Board this week, where a group of senior agency executives shared best practice and discussed the topics affecting the media  industry.

This year’s session began with a discussion about Creative Solutions with a panel of experts from three of the World Media Group members’ Content Studios. Ibs Ajayi, Global Head of Films at Economist Impact; Helen Collerton, Content Strategy Lead at Create, CNN International’s Brand Studio; and Katya Ionova, Head of Creative Strategy and Global Brand Partnerships at Business Insider discussed the topics and trends they are currently seeing in the market. Here are some key takeouts from the conversation.

Increased use of data

There’s been a big shift in understanding of audiences as quality media brands benefit from more insight into their first-party data. Creatives and Strategists are increasingly required to analyse the data to strengthen their creative campaigns and find white space for content.

At CNN’s Create studio, for example, the ability to work with global data from a variety of different markets has provided a much deeper understanding of which specific products are performing better in different territories. At Economist Impact, data is analysed in real-time to optimise live programmes, and user behaviour data is continuously evaluated to inform everything from design to content enhancements.

Multi-platform campaigns to reflect the customer journey

A deeper understanding of the customer journey is changing the way creative campaigns are conceptualised because publishers know that viewers won’t interact with every single touchpoint of the campaign.

Publishers that were traditionally linear have had to adapt in response to this. Seventy-five percent of CNN’s campaigns, for example, are now multi-platform, which reflects a bigger trend of brands putting marketing budget across multiple platforms, not just linear and TV, where viewing habits have become less predictable.

“Ten years ago, we would devise a beautiful joined up, cascading campaign hero film, and cut-down social content, and we would consider it all as a single narrative,” says Collerton. “Now that we can see people are interacting with a single piece of content, it’s changing the way that we provide concepts for those assets because all the messaging needs to land in every single individual piece.”

A return to longer-form storytelling

According to Ionova, long-form content is “no longer scary,” even for a digital-first media owner like Business Insider, as audiences increasingly embrace premium, in-depth content. They are seeing a shift towards longer-form content across both their website and social platforms, particularly on YouTube, a key video distribution platform for Business Insider. Data indicates that 50 percent of views now come from Connected TV (CTV), suggesting their audience is watching both short-form and long-form content on a big screen

Ajayi also highlighted a similar trend at Economist Impact, referencing ‘The Childcare Initiative Dividend’, a 16-minute film created as part of a research-driven campaign that demonstrated the economic gains countries could achieve by investing in childcare. 

Keep commercial content brief

When it comes to clearly commercial content, however, Collerton believes it’s best kept to 60 to 90 seconds or less. “Everything that we do is led by human stories, but the actual narrative is often very brand focused,” she says. ”We have to offer a huge amount of value to our audiences to maintain their attention because we are openly, honestly commercial content”.

CNN is doing some behavioural work with its C-suite audience data to find out how a decision is made, which will help to inform the optimal length and duration of content. “We’re looking at the levers we need to pull in terms of head versus heart, rational versus emotional, but also what the pathway of that decision might look like on our platform and how long it will take,” Collerton says. They now have examples of how long it takes, on average, for a C-suite leader to make a decision, meaning they can shape a campaign based on the touch points they’ve seen for this audience.

Convincing B2B to be human

Ionova has seen a growing demand for human-centric storytelling, mirroring findings from Business Insider research where 87% of readers strongly prefer person-first narratives. This trend is gaining momentum in B2B campaigns, as 84.2% of Business Insider’s audience confirms that technology, business, and innovation content centered on human experiences is more impactful and memorable.

However, convincing some B2B clients that they should be more human-centric can be challenging, Collertion says, because they are less familiar with making that type of content. A B2B firm selling insurance can tell a very human story of how it affects people’s lives, but Collerton says she finds clients often “feel uncomfortable to enter what they see as consumer space”.

Trending topics

According to Ajayi, sustainability remains a popular topic to come through Economist Impact briefs, along with AI. Rather than jumping on popular bandwagons, however, he stresses the importance of  “being authentic and looking within your organisation to see what issues align within your brand’s values.” Collerton noted that every brand seems to be far more aware of their purpose these days.

Ionova observes that sustainability has become a baseline expectation for brands, making it harder to stand out with generic messaging. She encourages brands to differentiate themselves through niche and impactful initiatives, highlighting female and youth empowerment as underserved areas that offer unique storytelling opportunities.

Collaboration and quality media

One of our audience members asked for advice on scaling a campaign so that it works across multiple media outlets yet avoids disparate messaging or diluting the tone of voice that might come from creating a bespoke campaign with one specific outlet.

The panel agreed that all of their brands (and, more broadly, all of the World Media Group member brands) are willing to work in collaboration with other media partners, as long as it’s clear from the outset of the campaign what each publisher’s role is. The creative panel cited examples of collaborative campaigns that played to the strengths of each individual outlet, and importantly, sat within the context of quality trusted journalism.

The Editors’ View: What financial marketers need to know

We were at the CIM Financial Marketing Leaders’ Summit, where senior Financial Services marketers come together to share knowledge and best practice across the industry. The World Media Group hosted a session with a panel of top finance and business journalists, chaired by Preya Shah, Head of Sales at Reuters. Joining her to discuss the key trends and issues impacting the Financial Services sector were Izabella Kaminska, Senior Finance Editor at Politico, Tola Onanuga, Senior Editor at Business Insider, and Jason Karaian, Business News Director at the New York Times.

Winners and losers

Shah began by asking the panel who they thought were the winners of the last few months within the Financial Services sector. The panel agreed that as inflation and interest rates had risen, it was the big financial organisations such as JP Morgan and UBS, who had come out best, and were poised to continue doing so. The City of London was also a winner, beating France and Germany to become the financial hub in the Euro-dollar clearing battle. As for the losers, it seems that Crypto and Stablecoins have lost some of their lustre.

UAE – the portal to a new multipolar trading environment

According to Kaminska, “When you speak to traders, they’ll always tell you that regulation is a huge opportunity for them, because it creates arbitrage opportunities.” The whole of the West increasingly going on a war-footing undermines the old-fashioned idea of free markets, she says. “Markets are going to become much more command economy-based and traders who understand that and carve out Rick’s Café-type areas of influence in places like the UAE, which I think is going to be the portal to a new multipolar trading environment, that’s where the real opportunity lies.”

An increase in values-based investing

For Karaian, the current environment is pushing financial organisations to do things differently and reach people in a different way. “I think people are thinking more about their values and how they invest,” he says. Financial services brands are thinking about how they screen funds, and how they describe how they screen funds, in a way that attracts clients but minimises backlash from one political tribe or another. He’s noticed that fewer brands are labelling ESG investments for example, due to backlash. 

The impact of AI on Financial Services

The topic of AI and the impact it will have on the Financial Services sector was a clear theme throughout the summit, so it’s no surprise it featured heavily in our editors’ discussion.

AI offers great potential to increase efficiency and improve services for customers if companies implement it in a way that allows them to collect lots of data, said Onanuga. The big challenge, however, is figuring out how to build those efficiencies into their everyday systems.

Onanuga is also closely following the search for the must-have AI consumer products. “There’s a lot of talk about the implications of AI and how it can affect bigger picture ideas, but a lot of consumers are just interested in how it’s going to affect their daily lives. With so many companies going all-in on AI, realistically that is going to be the biggest growth area.” With that comes the challenge of ensuring regulation and ethics are keeping pace with innovation.

The unintended consequences of AI

Another challenge is weighing up savings and efficiencies against the unintended consequences of AI. According to Kaminska, “People are beginning to appreciate the energy footprint of AI, and also the new geopolitics that are emerging around it and the fusion of where capital to fund AI projects is going to come from.” She likens the development of new players and new partnerships in the AI space with the original Petrodollar relationship between America and Saudi Arabia.

The politicisation of the Central bank is another area to watch, she says, with situations like the Coutts scandal – which saw Nigel Farage’s account closed by the bank last year – occurring more frequently as AI begins to play a bigger role in the tools banks use to manage reputation.

The hidden danger for analysts

According to Karaian another unintended consequence of AI may be the longer term impact it has on the analyst community in firms such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. While AI can no doubt make analysts more efficient, it could also reduce their numbers. “They can use it to read all the S-1s that are coming out and run the numbers on various M&A scenarios, reformat spreadsheets and PowerPoints. Investment banking chiefs are very excited by that,” Karaian says. However, if AI replaces the role that entry-level analysts play in their formative years, it could potentially change investment banking career pathsandthe whole culture of investment banking as a result.

The dead internet

While we tend to think of generative AI as a shiny new technology, Kaminska pointed out that Large Language Models have been around for a long time. Although they have become more sophisticated, AI is still not good enough for Kaminska to use as a journalist – she finds it takes far too long to correct.

She talked about the theory of the ‘dead internet’: “The idea that once the amount of information on the internet is mostly generated by AI rather than humans, it creates a terrible feedback loop where we go from sensemaking to an utter collapse of sense within a very short space of time.” Kaminska likened it to being in a room where the noise level gets higher and higher until everyone starts shouting and can no longer hear.

The upside of the dead internet is that the value of a human touch increases. For example, the role of news organisations, which can bring eyewitness reports to the fore, will become even more essential as the demand for a more trustworthy means of communication returns. That’s good news for quality journalism and for our World Media Group brands. And, as Kaminska joked, who knows, it may even lead to a renaissance in print media!

2024 World Press Freedom Index indicates that journalism is under political pressure

According the 2024 World Press Freedom Index, press freedom around the world is being threatened by the very people who should be its guarantors – political authorities. 

Released today on World Press Freedom Day, the annual report produced by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) shows that it is the political indicator that has fallen most of the 5 rankings used to compile the report, registering a global average fall of 7.6 points.

Governments fail to protect journalism

According to the Index, a growing number of governments and political authorities are not fulfilling their role as guarantors of the best possible environment for journalism and for the public’s right to reliable, independent, and diverse news and information. 

RSF sees a worrying decline in support and respect for media autonomy and an increase in pressure from the state or other political actors.

At the international level, the report highlights that this year is notable for a clear lack of political will on the part of the international community to enforce the principles of protection of journalists, especially UN Security Council Resolution 2222. The war in Gaza has been marked by a record number of violations against journalists and media since October 2023. More than 100 Palestinian reporters have been killed by the Israel Defence Forces, including at least 22 in the course of their work.

Occupied and under constant Israeli bombardment, Palestine is ranked 157th out of 180 countries and territories surveyed in the overall 2024 World Press Freedom Index, but it is ranked among the last 10 with regard to security for journalists (see the 2024 World Press Freedom Index security ranking).

Journalism vs disinformation in a super election year

While 2024 is the biggest election year in world history, 2023 also saw decisive elections, especially in Latin America, where elections were won by persons who boast of being predators of press freedom and media diversity, above all Javier Milei in Argentina (down 26 at 66th), who has shut down the country’s biggest news agency in an action of disturbing symbolism.

Obstructing journalists’ work

Elections are often accompanied by violence against journalists, as in Nigeria (112th) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (123rd). The military juntas that seized power in coups in the Sahel, especially Niger (down 19 places at 80th), Burkina Faso (down 28 at 86th) and Mali (down one at 114th), have constantly tightened their grip on the media and obstructed journalists’ work. Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s reelection in Türkiye is also a source of some concern. Ranked 158th, the country has continued to lose points in the Index. 

Absence of regulation around AI

In the absence of regulation, generative AI’s use in the arsenal of disinformation for political purposes is disturbing. Deepfakes now occupy a leading position in influencing the course of elections. This was evidenced by the audio deepfake of the journalist Monika Todova during the parliamentary elections in Slovakia (down 12 at 29th), one of the first documented cases of this kind of attack on a journalist with the aim of influencing the outcome of a democratic election.

Government interference 

Many governments have stepped up their control over social media and the Internet, restricting access, blocking accounts, and suppressing messages carrying news and information. Journalists who say what they think on social media in Vietnam (174th) are almost systematically jailed. As well as detaining more journalists than any other country in the world, the government in China (172nd) continues to exercise strict control over information channels, implementing censorship and surveillance policies to regulate online content and restrict the spread of information deemed to be sensitive or contrary to the party line.

Some political groups fuel hatred and distrust of journalists by insulting them, discrediting them, or threatening them. Others are orchestrating a takeover of the media ecosystem, both state-owned media that have come under their control, as well as acquisitions of privately-owned media by allied businessmen. Giorgia Meloni’s Italy (46th) – where a member of the ruling parliamentary coalition is trying to acquire the second biggest news agency (AGI) – has fallen five places this year.

Political propaganda 

Political groups often serve as channels for disseminating disinformation campaigns or even instigating them. In more than three quarters of the countries evaluated in the Index (138 out of 180 countries and territories), most of the Index questionnaire respondents reported that political actors in their countries were often involved in propaganda or disinformation campaigns. This involvement was described as “systematic” in 31 countries.

Media censorship

In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, media censorship has intensified in an astonishing mimicry of Russian repressive methods, especially in Belarus (down 10 at 167th), Georgia (103rd), Kyrgyzstan (120th), and Azerbaijan (down 13 at 164th). Kremlin influence has reached as far as Serbia (down seven at 98th), where pro-government media carry Russian propaganda and the authorities threaten Russian exile journalists. Russia (162nd), where Vladimir Putin was unsurprisingly reelected in 2024, continues to wage a war in Ukraine (61st) that has had a big impact on the media ecosystem and journalists’ safety.

Best and worst

Even the trio at the top of the World Press Freedom Index has contributed to the fall in the overall political indicator. Despite retaining its No. 1 position, Norway is among the countries that has suffered a fall in its political score. Ireland (8th), where politicians have subjected media outlets to judicial intimidation, has ceded its position as European Union leader to Denmark (2nd), which is followed by Sweden (3rd). 

The three Asian countries at the bottom of last year’s Index – Vietnam, China and North Korea – have ceded their positions to three countries whose political scores have plummeted. They are Afghanistan (down 44 places in the political ranking), which has persecuted journalists incessantly since the Taliban recovered control; Syria (down eight political places); and Eritrea (down nine political places), which is now last in both political and general rankings. The last two countries are lawless zones for the media, with record numbers of journalists detained, disappeared or held hostage.

You can read the 2024 World Press Freedom Index in full, including the state of press freedom in the world’s five regions, here.

The role of the World Media Group is to champion the values of trusted international journalism and we’re proud to support RSF and the important work it does to protect the freedom of the press around the world. Today on World Press Freedom Day, we continue to call for the release of Wall Street Journalist reporter Evan Gershkovich, wrongfully detained by Russia, and support the journalists around the world who are threatened, harassed and detained for simply doing their jobs. 

The Editors’ Perspective – What’s really happening with AI?

6 things you need to know about generative AI

The World Media Group hosted its latest Smart Briefing yesterday with a panel of AI experts distilling the reality from the hype. Chaired by Economist Impact’s Emma Winchurch-Beale, the panel included Jeremy Kahn, AI Editor at Fortune, Elena Corchero, Director of Emerging Tech and Innovation at Dow Jones Live, and Hugh Langley, Senior Correspondent at Business Insider. Below is the discussion video and our key take outs from the event.

1.   Cool demos – but not worth paying for yet

Insider’s Hugh Langley said it felt like there had been 500 hype cycles since the arrival of Chat GPT 18 months ago, and that would continue as the models got better. However, it’s still not clear what generative AI’s consumer proposition will be for Large Language Models (LLMs). Langley paraphrased Sam Altman, founder of OpenAI’s description of Chat GPT as a ‘cool demo, bad product’. “I think what we’re going to see with these tools is that they’re cool to play with, but not yet necessarily turning into things people are going to pay money for,” Langley says.

Langley believes we’ll start to see a more specific focus on use cases such as medicine for LLMs in the future. He said we’re also likely to see an increase in AI Agents automating processes and taking away the leg work for companies. An Agent could be used to track invoices, for example, with a minimal amount of human supervision, or an AI Travel Agent could save time building an itinerary.

2.   Chat GPT still the leading model for businesses

Fortune’s Jeremy Kahn referenced a recent survey from the venture capital firm A16z, that asked 2,000 businesses about their adoption of generative AI and the models they were using. “It turned out that lots of people are playing around with lots of different models and different methodologies. But very few people actually have anything in full production,” he said.

Anything that is in full production is almost exclusively using Open AI’s GPT4 API. That may be because people are most comfortable with it as the first to market, but Kahn says it’s also still the most capable model available. “That reliability is important in enterprise use cases where being 86% accurate as opposed to 79% accurate actually makes a difference in deployment,” he says.

The vast majority of models currently in production are in employee-facing applications, not in customer or consumer-facing applications, which Kahn puts down to two things. Firstly, there’s the question of whether it’s reliable enough to be customer-facing. Secondly, the cost versus the return on investment. “These models are still very expensive to use,” he says. “People haven’t quite figured out how this is really going to be worth it.”

3.   Big tech companies are winning out over start-ups

The cost is one of the problems facing start-ups. Those in the Open Source world are giving away their model for free in the hope that people will build on it. But just because you get the model for free, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to save you money. ”It costs a start-up a tremendous amount to build an API and it’s not clear what their business model is so the large tech companies seem to be the big winners here,” Kahn says. Rather than investing in building AI themselves, he is noticing many organisations are waiting to see what companies like Microsoft or Salesforce create.

Despite some narratives that suggest that some of the big tech companies like Google are behind the curve on generative AI, Langley thinks they will catch up fast because they have the scale, infrastructure and brainpower to win in this space.

4.    Think of AI as a layer you can add to anything

The clients that Elena Corchero works with at Dow Jones Live are enthusiastic about the potential for AI and have embraced it in the same way they have other technologies such as the Metaverse, NFT, AR and VR. Rather than it being simply the ‘next shiny thing’ however, Elena sees generative AI as the key to propelling these other technologies to the next level.

“It’s a layer that you can add to absolutely anything, so all the investment in other technologies had not been in vain,” she says, as illustrated by the Dow Jones project Sustainable Horizons.  This new method of immersive storytelling demonstrates how AI can create a more sustainable world. The experience is developed using generative AI with human supervision for the script, the audio, the music, the imagery, the animation and the environments within the 3D world. It’s a brilliant example of how all the technologies come together under the layer of AI.

Kahn talked about how AI is being used in this way with self-driving cars. By layering LLM testing on top of a foundation model, the AI can explain what it’s doing while it’s driving. “It can talk through the logic of what it’s trying to do – ‘I see a pedestrian here, therefore, we’re going to apply the brakes,’” Kahn explained. This acts as a debugging technology for engineers building the systems.

It also works for financial analysis tools. Kahn cited an example of a CEO asking how to save 10 million on a budget in the next quarter. Seconds later, the AI had generated suggestions of the areas it was possible to make cuts in.

5.    It’s only as good as the human controlling it

Although all our panel agreed that generative AI technology is world-changing, we shouldn’t worry about it stealing our jobs (yet). Chatbots are only as good as the search prompts you give them and much of what AI can do is flawed without human intervention. That said, employers have a responsibility to consider how they support the workforce and help people to navigate this uncertainty.

“The reality is that generative AI is going to empower people; we need to upskill them on how to use these APIs and to understand where it can fail and the flaws to look out for,” Corchero says. “We need to focus on enhancing all capabilities, but also safeguarding collective values, which is the human alignment that is missing from generative AI.”

6.   Heightened vigilance and rigorous fact-checking required

The final topic centred around how to combat disinformation and misinformation, particularly in an election year. The rise of unintentional misinformation stemming from the proliferation of AI-generated content, combined with intentional disinformation, such as deep fakes, is presenting serious challenges to newsrooms.

Although some standards and legislation are in place, there is still a long way to go. “While the industry seems to be coalescing around the C2PA standard, it’s not perfect and can be manipulated,” Kahn says. Likewise, watermarks can be removed and audio content can be difficult to authenticate.

As journalists grapple with the task of distinguishing between genuine stories and fabricated or manipulated content, our panel agreed that it requires heightened vigilance and rigorous fact-checking procedures for newsrooms.

However, Corchero says this also presents an opportunity “for trusted media brands to distinguish themselves as impartial sources of truth, and to regain public trust. Now more than ever, it’s going to be very important to support people by providing that.”

Find out more about the World Media Group’s events programme or sign up to our next Smart Briefing here.

The 2024 World Media Awards Now Open for Entry

New categories include ‘Small Budget, Great Impact’ and B2B

London, Wednesday 10th April 2024: The 2024 World Media Awards (WMAs) are open for entry today, offering 11 categories to recognise the very best in cross-platform, cross-border, content-driven advertising. Created by the World Media Group, a strategic alliance of global media brands that promotes award-winning journalism and the value of quality international media to the marketing industry, the WMAs are now in their ninth year.

B2B added to the sector categories

The organisers have added two new categories this year. The B2B category is designed to recognise the best content-led campaigns targeting international business audiences. These can come from any brand that creates products or services designed to support business customers.

‘Small Budget, Great Impact’

This new specialist category is designed to show off strong partnerships between brands and media owners. It recognises stand-out international branded-content campaigns that are created on a smaller budget (less than €300K or USD $300K). The ‘Small Budget, Great Impact‘ category can be entered by media owners and must demonstrate how the client and media owner have worked together to develop engaging content that delivers outstanding results for the brand.

A panel of international judges

To reflect the importance of collaboration in creating successful international, content-driven advertising campaigns, the independent jury is made up of heavy-weight judges from brands, agencies and media owners. Leading this year’s line-up are co-chairs Jasmin Kaur, Global Managing Partner, Havas Media Network and Santosh Sethumadhavan, Global Head of Commercial Campaigns, Swift.You can find out more about this year’s judges here.

“The last few years have been challenging for the marketing and media industry, across agencies, publishers and in-house. Concerns around profitability have resulted in budget cuts which often means brands are expected to be doing more with less,” said Kaur. “The Small Budget, Great Impact category is an inspired addition to the World Media Awards. We’ll be looking for campaigns that show a deep understanding of the client’s brand and marketing objectives and deliver innovative content in the most effective format. It’s going to be one of the most interesting categories to judge, and I’m looking forward to seeing just how creative brands can be on a smaller budget!”               

Sethumadhavan added: “The World Media Awards always provides insight into how the top international advertising teams are driving engagement and success for global brands through content-led marketing strategies. After many years of leading B2B campaigns for major brands, I’m particularly excited to see that the jury will be evaluating B2B as a standalone sector category this year. Alongside Jasmin, I look forward to working with the judges to ensure that we surface the very best campaigns and give them the kudos they deserve.”

The World Media Awards offer a unique prize to each of the sector category winners. The winning entries are amplified in a worldwide advertising campaign valued at more than €750k running across the World Media Group’s leading international media brands. Members comprise BBC Global News, Business Insider, CNN, The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, National Geographic, The New York Times Company, Politico, Reuters, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and associate member, The Atlantic.

global media brands that make up the World Media Group.

Championing international trusted journalism

The WMAs are not-for-profit. 50 percent of the entry fee will be donated to Reporters Without Borders, which protects and supports journalism and freedom of speech around the world. Early bird entry fees before 28th June are £150. Entry fees after 28th June are £200. The exception to this is the Rising Star category, which is £50 to enter. The total entry fee for Rising Stars will be donated to Brixton Finishing School, which supports access to the advertising and media industry for under represented communities.

How to enter

You can enter the WMAs at  https://world-media-group.com/awards/how-to-enter/. Campaigns must have intentionally targeted audiences in at least three countries and 75% of the activity needs to have been implemented between April 2023 and June 2024. There is no requirement for campaigns to have run in any of the World Media Group brands. The closing date for entries is Thursday 12th September 2024.

Categories

This year there are 11 award categories plus the Content Leadership & Innovation award, which is judged based on nominations from WMG members. The jury will select the Grand Prix from amongst the following category winners:

  • Automotive
  • B2B
  • Corporate Influencer
  • Financial Services
  • Luxury & Lifestyle
  • Technology & Telecoms
  • Travel & Tourism

Specialist categories

The following four categories are designed to celebrate the power of great partnerships between brands and media owners; the potential for brand storytelling to drive progress on social issues; and to celebrate the next generation of talented individuals who are leading the way in delivering effective, creative and innovative solutions for brands.

  • Brand and Media Owner partnership
  • Small Budget, Great Impact
  • Rising Star
  • Social Good

Awards ceremony

The winners will be announced at an exclusive live ceremony on Thursday 21st November 2024. Shortlisted entrants will receive two free tickets to join the celebration as guests of the World Media Group, and additional tickets will be available for purchase.

** ENDS **

About The World Media Group

The World Media Group is a strategic alliance of leading international media organisations that connects brands with highly engaged, influential audiences in the context of trusted and renowned journalism. Its members include BBC News, Business Insider, CNN International, The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, National Geographic, The New York Times Company, Politico Europe, Reuters, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, associate member The Atlantic, and partners Brand Metrics, Dianomi and Smartology. To find out more about the World Media Group, please visit www.world-media-group.com. 

Should you advertise in an election year?

There are good reasons for brands to spend their ad dollars with trusted news outlets, writes Jamie Credland, CEO of World Media Group, an alliance of leading global media organisations.

This year will see more than half the world’s population heading to the polls, with at least 70 countries holding national elections including the US, the UK, India and Russia. The results of these elections will shape the socioeconomic landscape for millions of people and will have huge implications for businesses and marketers. Read the full article here: https://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/opinion/should-you-advertise-in-an-election-year/6567

What we learned about Davos and its implication on the year ahead

Last week the WMG had its first Smart Briefing of the year, a lively discussion with some of our top international journalists about the impact of Davos on the year ahead. Business Insider’s Spriha Srivastava chaired the panel, which included BBC News’s Faisal Islam, TIME’s Yasmeen Serhan and CNN’s Hanna Ziady. The full discussion is available to watch below alongside our key takeouts. [vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/G-err9SAMuI?si=h832ihNEyyeQcEFo” el_width=”80″]

A cautiously optimistic outlook

Business leaders at Davos expressed a sense of ‘cautious optimism’ over the outlook for the global economy with the expectation that central banks will cut interest rates likely to deliver a boost to business and consumer spending. However, according to Hanna Ziady, there are still question marks over whether we can declare victory over inflation yet, not just from economists but also from bankers and from business executives. After a decade of ultra-low interest rates, where borrowing was cheap, companies are now having to become more ruthless and focused about how and where they invest, with borrowing costs expected to remain higher than in the recent past. Overstaffing is one such example, as evidenced by the slew of tech company layoffs we’ve seen over the last couple of years. Geopolitics is clouding the outlook, with concerns around shipping costs increasing because of the situation in the Red Sea and the potential for energy prices to rise if the Middle East conflict widens. That said, the ongoing conflict within Israel and Gaza didn’t dominate Davos in the way that Ukraine did last year. While the conflict was a focus of many of Yasmeen Serhan’s interviews, she thinks the lack of profile was because the Israel/Palestine/Gaza situation is less black and white. “I found that when people did talk about it – and they certainly talked about it – it was with a bit of anxiety and anxiousness,” she said.

 AI seeped into every conversation

It’s no surprise that AI was a hot topic. Srivastava asked the panel how they thought businesses were going to implement it and if people had a true understanding of it yet. Faisal Islam said that “about a third of Davos was like a giant AI sales conference,” but despite being cynical about its omnipresence, he is optimistic about how it will increase productivity, citing what’s been happening here in Britain with a Google DeepMind example of protein mapping. Previously, it took one PhD five years to map a protein, and it would have taken a billion PhD years to map all the proteins in the world. Today that has been achieved, thanks to generative AI, in a matter of months. Ziady thinks the potential of AI will contribute to economic growth by boosting productivity, which has been very weak for some time in the Western world. The conversations she was having about it at Davos were positive, centring on how it was going to augment workers rather than replacing jobs. She cited OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s pragmatic view ofAI as a “tool”, which, like any other tool, some people are using really well and it’s making them more productive, but it can’t do everything. For Serhan, who covers democracy and rising authoritarianism around the world, weighing up the risks and rewards that come with generative AI is unavoidable. “We have an unprecedented election year on our hands where half of the global population is going to be going to the polls at one point, including here in the UK and in the US. One thing that was certainly on my mind, particularly given the fact that this year’s conference was under the banner of Rebuilding Trust, was the question of how generative AI is going to impact these elections?” she said.

The battle against misinformation and disinformation

Serhan pointed out that AI has been used to mislead people in the hands of bad actors and could even be used by ‘bad candidates’ who want to mislead voters. Speaking with people about this in a geopolitical context and a from a human rights point of view, she said she was disappointed that there wasn’t more of a focus on it at Davos, especially given the headline theme of Rebuilding Trust. That said, she hopes it will be a focussed topic in the year ahead. Srivastava agreed there could be a huge problem in India, for example, during the upcoming election because the spread of misinformation and deep fakes is so wide. Islam pointed out that with the instant ability of AI to create thousands of articles that appear quite credible, it becomes easy for bad actors – not to specifically misinform, but to muddy the waters in terms of information. He said it was a big conversation amongst media executives at Davos and stressed that there’s never been a better argument for quality journalism from strong, trusted leading media brands. When it comes to bridging the digital divide, Serhan believes the media has a key role to play in shoring up trust. Although 95% of the global population now lives in areas served by mobile broadband connectivity, billions of people remain offline. While getting them online is important, Serhan pointed out that it’s equally important to ensure that the information they are accessing once online is accurate. During a TIME roundtable Josephine Teo, Singapore’s Minister for Communications, emphasised how essential this is. Teo said the media has an important role in securing digital trust for the long-term, stressing that the risks with going online could drive people to withdraw from digital engagement, which would be detrimental.

A memorable meeting

Finally, the panel ended on a fun note with Srivastava sharing her favourite celebrity anecdote from the conference. “I was going to interview the Minister of AI for UAE and I was downstairs in their pavilion waiting outside. The room door opened up and Sam Altman was there right in front of me. And the first word that came out of my mouth was a four-letter word that rhymes with duck! He laughed out loud. We had a two-minute interaction and he walked away, then he turned back and smiled. I knew that he would definitely remember me now!”

New WMG CEO to advertisers: Don’t shy away from trusted news in an election year

The Media Leader Interview

World Media Group (WMG) has appointed Jamie Credland as CEO, succeeding Belinda Barker.

Credland was most recently senior vice-president, marketing and strategy, at The Economist Group. In his new role, he will be supported by two newly appointed co-presidents: Samantha Adams, vice-president, advertising sales, Western Europe, at BBC Studios; and Emma Winchurch-Beale, vice-president, group partnerships UK, at Economist Impact.

Barker, who led WMG for 15 years, will remain on the board and act as chair in 2024.  To read the full article in The Media Leader click HERE

World Media Group announces new leadership team with Jamie Credland at the helm

  • BBC Studios’ Samantha Adams and Economist Impact’s Emma Winchurch-Beale appointed as Co-presidents
  • Former Chief Executive Belinda Barker takes on the role of Chair
  • Global news organisation CNN International is the latest member to join the WMG’s ranks.

The World Media Group (WMG), a strategic alliance of leading international media organisations that connects brands with highly engaged, influential audiences in the context of trusted and renowned journalism, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jamie Credland as its new Chief Executive. Credland brings more than 20 years’ experience in media and publishing to the role, most recently as SVP Marketing & Strategy at The Economist Group, where he launched the Economist Impact brand. He takes over from Belinda Barker, who will remain on the WMG Board and will act as its Chair for 2024.

On the announcement, Credland said, “In an age of misinformation and disinformation, the role of the high-quality journalism has never been more vital. 2024 is going to be a year of elections, conflict and rapid change. Providing audiences with impartial, trustworthy content is going to be more important than ever. I’m looking forward to building on the incredible work Belinda and the World Media Group have been doing to support many of the most trusted international news organisations in their quest to help people make sense of the world when it matters most.”

The WMG also announced a new structure for its management team today, appointing two co-presidents to support Credland: Samantha Adams, VP, Advertising Sales, Western Europe at BBC Studios and Emma Winchurch-Beale, VP Growth Partnerships UK, Economist Impact. The co-presidents will ensure that the WMG’s content, thought leadership and events programmes remain closely connected to the commercial realities many news organisations face. 2024 also sees global news organisation CNN International join WMG for the first time.

Barker steps down after 15 years as Chief Executive, during which time she developed a variety of programmes designed to highlight the importance of supporting high-quality, international trusted journalism through advertising. Under her leadership, the WMG launched the World Media Awards in 2016, the only global awards to recognise brands, agencies and media partners who, together, create the most effective cross platform, cross border, content-driven advertising campaigns.

“I am very proud of the work we have achieved championing international, trusted journalism, and it has been a privilege to work with the top international media brands, agencies and advertisers,” Barker said. “I’m delighted to hand over the reins to Jamie, whose passion and experience is exactly what we need to grow and evolve the WMG for the future.”

Credland will present the World Media Group’s strategy for the year ahead at its AGM this afternoon, following the WMG’s first Smart Briefing of the year. A panel of top international journalists including the BBC’s Faisal Islam; TIME’s Yasmeen Serhan; and CNN’s Hanna Ziady, chaired by Business Insider’s Spriha Srivastava, will discuss the implications of Davos on the year ahead.

ABOUT THE WORLD MEDIA GROUP – CHAMPIONING INTERNATIONAL TRUSTED JOURNALISM

The World Media Group is a strategic alliance of leading international media organisations that connects brands with highly engaged, influential audiences in the context of trusted and renowned journalism. Its members include The Atlantic, BBC News, Business Insider, CNN International, The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, National Geographic, Politico Europe, Reuters, The New York Times Company, TIME, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, and partners Brand Metrics, Dianomi and Smartology. To find out more about the World Media Group, please visit www.world-media-group.com.