Sustainability at forefront of Power of Planning education day for media planners

The ninth annual NewsBrands Ireland Power of Planning competition for media planners took place in The Dean Hotel yesterday. 11 teams from agencies Core, Dentsu Aegis, Omnicom, Group M, Mindshare, EssenceMediacom, and Havas, were represented at the event which focused on sustainability as its main theme this year.

The day-long education event is designed to immerse junior media planners in all things news brands and to meet the key people in the industry. A speed networking event allows planners to meet the commercial teams from Ireland’s major publishers including Business Post Group, DMG Media, The Irish Times Group, Irish Farmers Journal, News Ireland, and Reach Ireland, and find out the latest research, creative possibilities, case studies, and audience insights from these publishers.

The competition

The teams are then challenged to create a media plan for a fictious sustainable food brand using a range of news brands platforms which offer everything from Brand Partnerships, to Big and Beautiful full page ads, to Sponsored Podcasts, to HPTOs, Events, Supplements, Native Articles, Video, and much more.

The judging panel comprising of Lisa Buckley, NewsBrands Ireland, Aoife Hofler, Javelin, and Christine Matthews, Kantar Media will judge the media plans and announce the winning team on Tuesday, 28^th May.

Welcoming the audience to the event, Richard Bogie, Vice Chairman of NewsBrands Ireland and MD of News Ireland & Scotland, said: “Today you will discover news publishers’ power to really engage audiences and the halo effect that creates for brands. Collectively Irish news publishers reach 82 % of the population and that’s more than those reached on TikTok, Instagram, or X. What’s more is that advertising on our print and digital channels works, and this has been proven through a range of studies which have found that campaigns that use print and digital news brands are more likely to deliver major long-term business effects than those that do not.”

A morning panel discussion set the tone for the event and featured views from the panel on the role of journalism and the media industry in combating the climate crisis. The panel moderated by Sammi Bourke, Operations Director with the Irish Farmers Journals, featured views and opinions from:

• Catherine Cleary, freelance journalist with The Irish Times, and co-founder of Pocket Forests social enterprise
• Chris Cashen, Group M Head of Strategic Practice, Vice President IAPI, and member of the Ad Net Zero Council
• Daniel Murray, Policy Editor with the Business Post and presenter of 5 Degrees of Change climate podcast
• Elsa Gregori, Head of Energy and Sustainability with News UK

Among the main takeaways were:
– Journalists and trusted news brands play a crucial role in providing accurate information and combating misinformation amidst the chaos of social media.
– Emphasizing solutions through journalism rather than doom and gloom can mitigate eco-anxiety and foster constructive engagement.
– The media landscape is diverse, with each medium having its place and requiring conscious choices. Comparisons on sustainable choices such as Retail Media vs. TV, or Print vs Digital can be misleading and unhelpful without proper context.

NewsBrands Ireland is a coalition of Irish news publishers who are committed to championing and protecting responsible journalism and providing a trusted and effective platform for advertisers. Their member publishers are household names with long established and trusted reputations and include the Business Post, DMG Media, The Irish Times Group, Irish Farmers Journal, News Ireland, and Reach Ireland.