A new study by Vertonis Suhler Stevenson, a private equity firm who specialize in media, has been attracting some interest.
The reason is that their annual report on the state of media consumption in the USA showed that the average American's media consumption declined over the year before, for the very first time in the 10 years since their reports started.
This sounds dramatic as a headline. But it is slightly misleading, as what they mean is that the consumption of "traditional media as defined by the industry" like TV, radio and print has declined.
But if you look at it not from a narrow established industry definition, but from a consumer perspective then media consumption did not decline - it got more efficient and controlled by the user. Instead of sitting up or around to watch or listen to a show when it was scheduled, consumers may have time shifted it via TiVo/ Sky plus, watched it online on one of the many "catch-up" services being launched by content and TV channels, watched clips via the program’s own website or even on YouTube to see just the best bits or clips.
While the headline "less media consumed" sounds dramatic, it is wrong. Maybe "better and more consumer defined media consumption" would be a better headline.There clearly a slow but steady, and still not mainstream, trend away from "push and scheduled" content consumption. The growth and ease of use of new platforms and ways to consume content will accelerate this. I keep watching my parents as when they start then you know it is will then be the mainstream!
I believe for marketers there are 2 key things we need to do:
(1) Make sure you have a "media" partner who understands the trend. You need a partner that you trust to help you decide how to allocate your entire marketing support funds. This used to be the "media agency" but this trend affects more than just "traditional" media. This was fairly easy to buy as there was so much data to help with the decisions.
However, for the foreseeable future there will not be as much data on the total consumption and where and how to place your commercial messages within it. It is going to be about understanding which of the media consumption formats has the most engagement and interest where your marketing messages will have the greatest impact.
For example, as a huge sci-fi fan and addicted to shows like "Heroes" and “Dr Who”, I (like many) record it on TiVo to enjoy and savor them on my time. This means fast forwarding through commercials stopping when the sponsors tag came on as that meant the show was starting again. It also means I devour the additional background shows on other channels, online and in podcasts and videocasts that discuss and review the shows and the stories. These may, for example, be even better places to provide the detailed messages and “sell” with sponsor inserts in the main show being there for awareness creation primarily.
(2) Even more important as I still think media buying will and is a “numbers game”, is that you must ensure you focus on having a "big creative idea" linked to your brand promise.
This will mean you can use the right execution approach and format for each medium. One execution format or idea may not transcend multi-media effectively or be the best and most optimal and I believe that you should try and create executions that work with the media – even if they do not look even the same as what you have say on TV. Use of the same visual is not what I mean. The creative idea of say Lynx/ Axe "the lynx effect" making you instantly attractive to women can be adapted and used creatively based on the media format. It may mean different executions and specific executions off the “big creative idea” not the specific execution.
What do you think we can learn from the report?
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