The closing off of 2019 is a time for reflection as we ponder our launch into another decade. Most media outlets are consumed by fear and negativity, whether it be over the economy, bushfires or climate change. Forgetting where you sit on the political spectrum one cannot be disappointed by the predominance of ‘bad news’ everywhere you look.

Whilst difficult it’s time to overcome these negative sentiments, be positive, and approach the future with realism, energy and enthusiasm. The technology that drives our lives continues to evolve and is so exciting few of us can really comprehend what awaits us in the next decade. We have the opportunity with the advent of more scalable technology to continue to improve our productivity across the workplace. To revolutionise the ‘way’ we work and to more fully embrace the new tools that are available to us.

It would be easy to stay in a rut and castigate ourselves about all that is not right in the world. If recent election results have taught us anything it is that the public will sign up for a positive message whatever the issue. Negative messaging is unlikely to gain traction with an audience eager for some leadership and hope.

For those of us in the advertising industry we continue to come to terms with ‘more disruption’ as the old model becomes a relic of the past. Television companies are looking at across the board cost reductions in front of, and behind the camera. Subscription services continue to grow, but can so many suppliers achieve sustainable models? The introduction of Disney and the realignment of studios support for different services will be interesting to observe. Print continues to be under pressure as the online world continues to evolve. The catalogue medium is facing new pressures as retailers realign their marketing mix with the new world.

The democratisation of agency services continues at a rapid rate with the continued growth of internal advertising departments. Agencies will no longer have a sustainable business if they don’t adapt and evolve their offering to embrace more digital marketing and beef up their strategic creative resources for client problem solving.

Clients welcome this, but seem conflicted in working out how best to work with their agency, whilst also having an internal team whose prime focus is execution. Selling the value agencies offer as a collaborative resource to internal resources, is vital, to creating the right marketing ecosystem for brands to grow and prosper.

Faith continues to grow its digital service offering and has also embarked on the introduction of a new cloud-based technology, Faith Express, for the production of cost-effective video content for social media and online. We have also bolstered our internal strategic creative resources and are looking at more collaboration with like-minded digital companies and service providers to deliver improved results.

2020 is the start of a new beginning where efficiency, productivity and accountability are fundamental. We strive to develop new thinking and services for our clients that are both relevant and complementary to the activities of their internal resources.