60 Seconds with… Jack Baird, Regional Media Manager at Carat

We caught up with Jack Baird, Regional Media Manager at Carat, to discuss his views on local media and what local media means to him.  

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Regional Media Team manager on GM team. I’m from South West London and still live local in Twickenham with my long term girlfriend who I’ve been with before I started at Carat – and I’ve been at Carat since I started as a graduate in 2001. For my sins I’m a Spurs supporter.

What’s your local newspaper and why is it important to you?

Richmond & Twickenham Times. I’m from the area anyway so I do have a sense that it is part of the area and provides stories on local issues and information – some national issues such as the expansion plans for Heathrow and the Rugby World Cup.

When and where do you read it?

I get the newspaper on weekends when I can but I more regularly dip in and out of the website on my laptop or mobile whenever I get a chance at home or work.

What’s a typical day like for you at Carat?

Tricky question. My team’s multimedia so we are involved in press and radio predominantly but also digital, outdoor etc. We look after all retailer requests, through a central client team, across the whole GM network so it can be pretty reactive on a daily basis. Basically, no day is ever what I’d describe as typical.

What are the most important considerations when putting together a media plan?

Starting from scratch it would be the area to target and campaign aim. Then when you’ve established the area you can build upwards. That’s what makes regional and local media such an integral part of this process – It can deliver regional and local targeting, and it can deliver awareness and direct response. It’s also important to assess whether there are there media type considerations. There’s more but each campaign is tailored for a range of reasons.

What are the benefits of using local media to communicate with an audience?

I can write about the benefits of each media as anyone else in media would, but the key points of difference for advertisers are that it’s targeted, has the least wastage, it’s a highly trusted source  which advertisers can associate with, and is highly relevant.

What does local media mean to you?

As a planner it means a delivering consumer action through a highly trusted and relevant environment which speaks directly to people in the communities it serves. Local media has also kept me in employment for 13 years! As a regular reader of local press, I know that I can trust the content regardless of whether I consume it on print or digital platforms.

What do you think the future of media holds?

I don’t think local media will ever lose its significance in the overall media spectrum but like everything else it will evolve – that much is inevitable. Digital will obviously be a key part of that but maybe not exclusively, or maybe not in the formats we would expect. What I do think is certain, is that the right targeted and relevant audience will always be out there for advertisers and local media will still be the portal to reach them. It’s up to Local Media Works to help the industry tell this important story.