The main reason why consulting firms\u2014some of which started in the mundane but essential accounting space\u2014have moved into entertainment and media is that consumers have taken charge. And many marketers have failed to keep up.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrankly, the reason why I think consulting is becoming so relevant at this particular moment is this is an industry undergoing tremendous change,\u201d says Janet Balis, who is Global Advisory Lead, Media & Entertainment, at EY. \u201cThe consumers are leading and the business model is in catch-up mode in so many cases,\u201d she adds in this interview with Beet.TV.<\/p>\n

EY is a case in point in the diversification of professional services firms. Until its official rebranding in 2013, it was known as Ernst & Young, with a pedigree that dates to the 1800\u2019s. Now it competes with the likes of Accenture and a host of other big-name entities that have expanded their consulting offerings in step with the increasing complexity of the advertising and media world.<\/p>\n

Balis has a deep background in media, having been Publisher at The Huffington Post, head of sales and marketing at AOL and EVP, Media Sales and Marketing at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. She also held positions at Time Inc. and Newsweek.<\/p>\n

When she surveys the present terrain, Balis<\/a> doesn\u2019t focus on the friction that can exist between consultancies and advertising\/media agencies, preferring instead to posit that everyone should be working together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI certainly recognize that some companies in the professional services space are absolutely and increasingly playing roles that we would consider to be the roles of agencies,\u201d says Balis. \u201cWe have taken a distinct position, which is that we want the full ecosystem to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus EY<\/a> works with agencies \u201cthat we\u2019re privileged to serve and that we believe in. We think that the right answer is not that this is a moment to compete, but this is a moment to collaborate.\u201d<\/p>\n

More specifically, the name of the game is to help marketers connect the dots. \u201cThe fact is that there are so many places that the dots don\u2019t connect. There are silos in the organization, people working at odds with KPI\u2019s, data sitting in particular silos. In order to connect the dots, that\u2019s the perfect role for a consultant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to the Cannes Lions International Festival<\/a> of Creativity, Balis discusses EY\u2019s sponsorship of a concept known as \u201cbetter questions,\u201d which rests on this philosophy: The better the question, the better the answer, the better the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause this is a moment frankly for intellectual humility. No one has all the answers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given the dynamics of lower linear television viewing amid a sea of video alternatives, giving rise to a lessening of ad loads, \u201cIt places more pressure on the business model. It also places more pressure on the creative. It\u2019s really about the stories we tell,\u201d Balis adds. \u201cSo Cannes is the perfect place for us to have that dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

This video is part of The Road to Cannes, a preview series of topics to be addressed at Cannes Lions.\u00a0 \u00a0The series is presented by FreeWheel, a Comcast company.\u00a0 For more videos from the series,\u00a0please visit this page.<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The main reason why consulting firms\u2014some of which started in the mundane but essential accounting space\u2014have moved into entertainment and media is that consumers have taken charge. And many marketers have failed to keep up. \u201cFrankly, the reason why I think consulting is becoming so relevant at this particular moment is this is an industry […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":52380,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[]},"categories":[7262],"tags":[7259,7260,7261],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.beet.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52378"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.beet.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.beet.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.beet.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.beet.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dev.beet.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.beet.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.beet.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.beet.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.beet.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}