Geoff Dixon: ad industry in race to bottom

By Paul McIntyre | 19 May 2011
 

Former Qantas CEO and current chairman of Tourism Australia, Geoff Dixon, said the communications industry is in a “race to the bottom” with margins, just weeks before an announcement is expected on the giant Australian tourism media tender.

Speaking this morning at a breakfast where he was presented with the Phil Warner Lifetime Achievement Award for marketing from the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA), Dixon said he was worried about the pressure on margins, which did not allow the industry to reinvest.

“This industry is changing more than any other,” he said. “The thing that worries me most is there are no margins left. That’s a very, very bad situation. It’s a race to the bottom. The airline industry is the same. Somehow or other we’ve got to get to a situation where people are allowed to make some money and reinvest. Many things in the world are under attack from constant change and none more so than the media in all its guises. We’re in a pretty vital time at the moment.”

Dixon, who was a former marketer at Qantas and Ansett before becoming CEO, said marketers’ credibility was on the rise in Australian boardrooms and that the trend for CFO’s to be viewed as the default choice to run companies had peaked.

“The marketing communications industry is hugely important,” he said. “More and more, people who lead companies have to be very skilled in marketing communications.”

Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au

Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.

comments powered by Disqus