''Advertising on television is becoming even more important in future - not less.''
So says dr Duane Varan, professor of new media at the Murdock University in America in a CNBC Africa Special Report. He was talking about television advertising in a panel discussion in Johannesburg on the changing media landscape in South Africa.
''Certainly there are threats and challenges to much of that landscape but we have to realize that advertising is about brands having a meaning. You can have an ad in a newspaper or a billboard but it doesn't weave a meaning. The whole art of telling a story - and commercials do that incredibly well in 30 seconds - that art of weaving meaning, that doesn't go away. So the need for television advertising is going to be even stronger in the future than what it was in the past,'' dr Duane Varan said.
''For advertisers it's going to be more important in future to find ways to make sure that they stand out. There's no replacement for the ke and crucial role that the television commercial plays in that landscape,'' he said.
''The entire broadcasting space faces a challenges right now because what's online, is what's on my TV at the same time,'' said Pieter Grootes, the general manager for markets and competition at the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).
''So broadcasters are going to have to find a way to make people sit in front of their TV and watch the advert, rather than sit in front of their computer and when the commercials start they switch to their mobile phone. Advertisers are going to have to become sharper and much more meaningful in the message that they send,'' he said. ''So the broadcasting industry faces a challenge because of the cross-platform competition from the internet world.''
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