When you control a market you control the prices - Wrong

So very very Wrong.

The above statement was made by Jean Pool, executive vice-president of JWT New York. She was quoted in the Economist in October 1999.

She was later promoted to be head of MindShare.

Another JP, Jane Perry, the brilliant head of Y&R research proved that Jean Pool is wrong 10 years earlier. By comparing media prices around the world Y&R's excellent media cost comparison database showed the following trends. There is a link in the headline to Global Media Costs.

1. The price of TV is always in line with consumer spending power
2. Other media 'follow' the price of TV
3. If they don't price themselves in line with TV costs their share of media budgets drops dramatically

Simply by plotting the CPT (CPM if you are American) against the GDP per capita shows a direct correlation between the two. I have personally witnessed this 3 times. Russia in 1998 during the economic meltdown. Istanbul during their financial crisis in 2001 & finally in Moscow again as I type. In each case when the clients cut their budgets due to the 'crisis' the price of TV fell significantly

Client budgets control the price of TV not the media owners

If clients want to bring down the price they can either start a cartel. Risky & possibly illegal. Or they can engineer an economic crisis. Not good for Sales - but an opportunity to create a monopoly & drive out weaker competitors