forward

Simon Pound

SENIOR . Specialist writer

Hello! I am a story-teller and trouble-maker, looking for like-minds.

I come from a writing, directing, reporting and television-production background. My advertising specialties are in New Media and Social Networking.

This is because I’ve been interpreting and actually getting-amongst these areas of popular culture. I’ve played right across the spectrum: hosting radio; editing magazines; presenting shows; directing media commentary and I’ve cooked up plots that have led to records being broken on the 6 o’clock news and David Lynch making a film (really).

In amongst it all I’ve been thinking about the future of where our media is going, and through working on a few large-scale projects that cross-over a bunch of job-descriptions, formats, channels and disciplines I have found that the one thing that really matters now is engaging with the audience.

As far as I see it advertising is changing. Where in the past it has been possible for advertisers to simply piggyback on content that people love and engage with - by interrupting and surrounding it on TV, in magazines or on the radio - this option is fast-fading.

When you have a situation with fewer people buying magazines, fewer people listening to the radio, fewer people watching TV - then I think that the time has come for advertising to stop interrupting content people connect with and actually start creating things that people will seek out, share and choose to engage with.

This is the kind of new work that I have been exploring with some really cool results.

This new media environment means that you need to be able to work and communicate across many different platforms - and in many different ways. For example - why not start making TV shows instead of just advertising in the middle of them?

It is possible, and cost-effective. Though it isn’t just a matter of making TV shows in a traditional sense. Your audience, your market could make the show with you. And then they would have a reason to pass the result on, and a reason to stay engaged with your brand. And we’re not talking just TV, we are talking entertainment and engagement across all media. Because the way things are moving, we have to.

That’s what I’ve been working on anyway. If you have been thinking along these lines too, then it might be time for us to talk.