French ministry selects PMP Strategy for future of advertising study

France’s Ministry of Culture and Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (ARCOM) have selected PMP Strategy to lead an economic study on the future of the country’s advertising market and its impact on the media ecosystem.

The study will see the strategy consultants analyse the 10-year evolution of the communication market in France and its impact on media advertising revenue. The report will also seek to identify potential future scenarios for media advertising revenue, including how the main players in the media landscape could be impacted.

The results of the study will be released in the first quarter of 2024, and will serve as input to France’s overarching ‘Les États généraux de l’information’ strategy (in English: States General of Information).

Launched by President Emmanuel Macron in 2022, the initiative aims to protect press freedom within France’s media sector and ensure that independent reporting and production is (financially) sustainable.

PMP Strategy’s report will be handed over to the Steering Committee of the initiative, which is headed by Bruno Lasserre and deputy Christophe Deloire.

Similar to developments in other countries, French policy makers are concerned that the rise of major international digital players such as search engines (Google) and social networks (Facebook) is endangering the commercial models of press and media. According to some estimates, over 80% of advertising revenue currently flows to a handful number of dominant players.

By gaining insight into the future developments of the advertising landscape, the PMP Strategy study is hoped to feed into future policy developments.

The mandate sees PMP Strategy return to France’s Ministry of Culture and regulatory body ARCOM. The international consulting firm had previously already supported the development of an earlier edition of the same study.