Annual Review 2006 - PwC

Why?
Thought
Leadership.
Entertainment
and Media
The year was one of monumental change for the
entertainment and media sectors.
Government restrictions on foreign and cross-media ownership
were lifted, new initiatives were announced to drive consumer
uptake of digital television services and technology convergence
is shifting control to the consumer in media consumption.
Retail and
Consumer
Forecasting consumer demand can be a nightmare for
retailers riding the rollercoaster of consumer sentiment.
While government action such as tax concessions can raise
consumer confi dence, the fi rst sign of petrol price increases,
rising interest rates or a weakening economy can equally send
it spiralling.
PwC addressed a variety of issues faced by the retail and
consumer sector in the fi rm’s second annual edition of the Retail
& Consumer Outlook. While the report confi rmed Australia’s
economic conditions have recently been positive and conducive
to growth, it found many retailers have suffered from product prices
consistently falling for more than a decade. This has brought
increasing focus onto supply chain management and, in the case of
supermarkets, massive transformation.
78 PricewaterhouseCoopers
In the face of such an unpredictable future, PwC analysed the
unique social, technological, economic, political and regulatory
drivers that infl uence consumer spending and advertising across
11 industry segments spanning fi ve regions of the world. The
Australian Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2006—2010 used
these indicators to forecast industry revenues for next fi ve years.
The report also gathered insights from some of the country’s most
prominent entertainment and media leaders, forming a
collaborative vision for the evolution of everything from newspapers
to recorded music.
The next wave of bottom-line profi t delivery will likely come from
innovation and customer management rather than production
effi ciency. The report found retailers must fi nd ways to extract more
profi t from existing customers, in addition to meeting customer
concerns surrounding corporate social responsibility. Another
source of challenges and opportunities will be the baby boomers,
who are approaching 60 and hold 39 per cent of the country’s
wealth. To be successful, retail and consumer companies will have
to manage the impact of demographic change.