BIC industry adviser, Rob Norman, warns: don't underestimate the news

Rob Norman
Chief Digital Officer,
Global, GroupM
and BIC Adviser

Rob Norman, Chief Digital Officer, Global at GroupM, kicked off the new year by writing for Advertising Age a column, "Why Is Hard News a Hard Sell for Advertisers? Marketers Still Aren't Putting Enogh of Their Dollars Where Online Users Are."

Rob dispels the oft-repeated assumption that the news media is dying. Acknowledging the vast impact of digital technologies and news' delivery system, Rob also reminds us that "news organizations, those with their roots in newspapers as well as TV, have enjoyed an astonishing increase in consumption and now are far more current, enriched as they are by multimedia, by social media and citizen journalism. Furthermore their content is the most-shared across the Internet."

Brands and ad agencies are short-sighted to underestimate the audiences that news media can -- still -- deliver. "Digitally delivered news, both hard and soft, appears to combine reach, popularity, engagement and authority like no other collective of digital assets. And individual news outlets engage their readers and viewers frequently."

Rob Norman
(2011 photo from Advertising Age)
with the inaugural group of
GroupM Diversity Scholarship
recipients

Rob Norman is one of four senior communications industry advisers to CCNY's MPS program in Branding + Integrated Communications. Rob is a long-standing supporter of CCNY's Media & Communication Arts Department, spearing-heading the GroupM Diversity Scholarship Program with CCNY since 2011 and counseling on the creation of BIC from its inception.

As Chief Digital Officer, Global at GroupM, Rob oversees the activities of the world's largest buyer of online media with more than $5 billion in billings. In this role, he develops the digital capabilities within GroupM while establishing thought leadership positioning in the digital space and contributing to the agency's business development. In December 2013, GroupM was named Media Network of the Year by Campaign Magazine.