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EMS RECENT NEWS
February 27, 2004 By Stephen Warley and James Sheridan Reprinted on behalf of TV Spy See the original article by clicking here. Last week more than 600 MBAs interested in working in the media industry converged on New York for the third annual MBA Media and Entertainment Conference at NYU Stern. The event brought MBAs in contact with executives from the media industries to discuss possible career paths and the emerging need for better-trained managers in an even more complicated media landscape. Melanie Kahn of Duke University, one of the conference's organizers, stated, "In its third year, its primary goal is to increase attendance and to get recognition for MBAs who want to go into media because media is still not the most common career path for most MBA students." Besides finding a job, what was on the minds of tomorrow's media leaders this year? Creative Talents v. Business Skills The question of business skills versus creative talents was a prevailing theme throughout the conference and a concern among many of the attendees. When Donald Trump's The Apprentice pitted the boys against the girls to see who would reign supreme in business, the girls clearly dominated, but who's more important in the media biz, the suits or the pony tails? Those with a creative background said they decided to purse an MBA to acquire financial skills they felt they were lacking. "I worked in television for about 9 and a years in a variety of capacities and I spent the last 5 years considering getting an MBA. I felt that there was a void of fundamental management knowledge in the business," said Dawn Keller, a first year at Columbia Business School. Believe it or not, there was also concern among MBAs with financial or consulting backgrounds about how they could compensate for their lack of creativity to become a success in media. There was almost universal agreement among attendees and panelists alike, that a deep passion for media is the key ingredient. Successful media operations find the right balance between the right brain and left brain. Some would argue that the media industry throughout much of its history was too dominated by the right brain, but new realities are now welcoming the analytics of the left brain. "I think you need to marry the two, deep interest in the media business with the managerial expertise," shared Alkarim Govindji, a student at Said Business School at Oxford. What is Business Development Anyway? During the boom of the dot coms, "business development" was one of the most coveted positions in media. Over the last few years their ranks have thinned and the title is even considered a dirty word in some organizations. Business development is still a popular alternative for many MBAs wishing to enter the media business, rather than the finance and consulting routes. In a sense, business development is like the fusion of the suits and the pony tails: they are the jack of all trades. "It can be just about anything depending on the company, from sales to marketing. On a daily basis it is more about finding new partners or businesses to build," said Greg Bernard, Director of Business Development at Sony Corporation of America. They draw on their creativity to pursue opportunities no one else can see, yet rely on their business skills to discover how the best ideas that can be turned into viable businesses. However, Betsy Morgan, Vice President of Business Development at CBS News warned against a "career bottleneck" in this particular path, "You don't want to get stuck being an internal consultant for company. You want to be able to move from a staff position into a line position, so you can execute and own a P&L." Marketing Brands, not TV Shows Now that TV shows can be seen on DVD, Video-On-Demand and through your computer, the marketing of TV networks and shows has become more complicated. Add to that the extension of these properties into consumer products (Sesame Street toys, Survivor board games) and the push towards product placement ( Coca Cola's partnership with American Idol) and it's no wonder the marketing department's work has increased dramatically over the last 5 years. Geof Rochester, SVP of Marketing for Showtime, remarked, "Who is in control of the brand at the network level? Is it the producer of Friends or is it the marketing department or the programming department? There is a lot to work out when it comes to figuring who is responsible for what." The proliferation of different platforms to use as marketing vehicles has led TV networks to completely redefine the ways they package their shows and think of themselves more as brand managers rather than traditional promotions people. "Marketing people need to lead the way and to be the forward thinkers," said Jason Klarman, SVP of Marketing for TrioTV, "The ad-based model will not be around in 20 years and we have to find a way to create new business models." Michael Rosen, SVP of Media Sales for Bloomberg added, "With more and more media choices, it will be marketer's job to use these options in a way that's meaningful to their clients." With marketing seemingly the best way to combine business and creative skills, the next question inevitably was: "How do I break in?" Jason Klarman, who started his career in public relations at CNBC advised, "Anyway through the door is a good way. Ideas in a media company flow across all divisions pretty easily and once you are in a department you can get your ideas heard by a lot of people." First job paths recommended outside of marketing included public relations, ad sales and operations. John Fraser, VP of Marketing for Classic Media, said, "Once inside, you have to show drive, energy and become useful really fast and don't act like anything is below you." The most important thing to remember when you are on that first interview? Geof Rochester of Showtime said, "Bring ideas that are relevant to that company and lots of them. People will hire based on enthusiasm and knowledge of their company." The Future of Media Through the Eyes of Kids Most of us have gotten over our dot com hangovers by now and have set out to the real work of pursuing new ideas in an evolving media landscape. One sector worth keeping an eye on is children's media. Just a decade ago, it was a very small business with just a handful of players. In 1990 there was just one preschool television distributor, now there are six. Children's media, once dominated by educators is now big business, welcoming MBAs to help them manage these enormous enterprises. "You can do good things for kids and do well for your bottom line," said Alace Cahn, Vice President of Development at the Cartoon Network. To understand where media is headed, one just needs to watch your children at home. If you don't have any, you better find some to start hanging out with. Cahn says children have a different relationship with media than adults because they grew up with media everywhere, "Television is not only place children want to experience a character. They want to play with them, sleep with them and want them on their lunch boxes." Deborah Forte, President of Scholastic Entertainment said Scholastic was starting to see a dip in their book sales because of children's changing media habits. They are spending more time with plug and play devices like Leap Frog and less time with traditional books, "Kids are spending more time with screens and not print." These new behaviors are forcing the evolution of the tried and true business models in children's media. Forte said in the early days if kids television it was just about the ads, but the model has changed because they consume media everywhere, "We are no longer in the business of creating properties, but creating brands." For example, Clifford the Big Red Dog has gone far beyond the pages of the books we read as kids ourselves to become a $300 million brand. Of course, there are the challenges of finding the right balance between the development of the characters by the creators and their merchandising potential. The panelists agreed they are finding their way and television will always comes first, but ultimately it all depends on what's best for the brand. "A Passion Business" As media companies look for more professionally trained management, one common theme emerged during the conference: anybody can get an MBA, but a degree from a prestigious school alone is not enough to assure success. Most of the executives speaking at the conference agreed media is a passion business. It is only with a combination of experience, education and drive that the media MBA will truly make a difference in their companies. As Donald Graham, Chairman & CEO of The Washington Post Company put it, "I guarantee that you will make more working for Goldman Sachs, but as one of the MBA's who works for us said, 'I want to be the happiest person at my 10-year MBA reunion' and that's as good as reason as any to work in this business." About the Authors Stephen Warley has made a career out of assessing the future direction of television. From producing for CBS News and CNBC to working as a project manager for interactive media agencies like ThirdAge and Osprey Communications, he has gained an insider's view as to where tomorrow's content and business opportunities lie in the video media industries. Currently, he is the General Manager of TVSpy.com and is pursuing his MBA at Fordham University with concentrations in media management and finance. He can be contacted at swarley@tvspy.com James Sheridan has worked in video production for CBS Sports, Miramax Films and a new media startup company specializing in corporate webcasting. His freelance clients have included The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, CBS News, the History Channel, A&E and Bravo. He is currently the founder and executive producer of InterPositive Media, a documentary/public service announcement/corporate video production company. James has recently completed an MBA candidate at Fordham University Graduate School of Business Administration with concentrations in media management and finance. He can be contacted at jsheridan@fordham.edu |
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