Publishers are going into ad production…

Magazine and newspaper publishers hate it when websites undercut their prices online, but it looks like they have a different opinon when it comes to ad creation. Last week Conde Nast announced it would start creating ads for brands — on its properties and elsewhere. The move is sure to step on the toes of agencies who pride themselves on doing just that. Now it looks like other publishers might follow suit.

Many ad agencies aren’t going to take this encroachment too kindly. Mary Price, principal of brand media at Dallas independent agency Richards Group tells Steinberg:

“These companies are not singularly focused on creating great work that produces results for clients. Getting into aggregate sales of inventory or creative production divides their focus. And fighting a war on two fronts is seldom successful.”

Isn’t it funny how much that sounds like the argument that publishers once made about keeping their focus on the print world?

But as digital media develops, keeping business goals siloed is increasingly difficult. Publishers have learned that online and offline strategies have to work together in 2010 and beyond. And media agencies as well as ad agencies are also evolving and creating new business areas, blurring the lines between what you can expect from a traditional agency today…

Source: Econsultancy