A lot of media and marketing analysts have provided post-game recaps following the CTAM Summit - perhaps more commentary than in years past. What are the takeaways for those of us in the interactive marketing community specifically? Lots of questions, few answers, and an ever-changing media landscape.Are Cable and Broadband companies recession-proof?
As much as any industry, possibly. It’s interesting to note a lot of the commentary coming out of the credit crunch and global economic crisis indicates (though not necessarily in a positive tone) that many households will keep their cable turned-on right up to the moment they are foreclosed… or bailed out. In the emerging climate of bailouts, what’s the incentive to cut household budgets – especially for a product like cable or internet access?
Look for families to bunker down this winter and budget their time and money as media consumers, not materials consumers.
Who owns the relationship with the content consumers?
The next year may be very telling as to whether there is a shift in how content producers – Programmers – get digital content into the hands of the consumer. Marketing consultant Jeffrey Rayport respectfully challenged Operators to improve the ways they offer digital content to their customers, to improve the customer experience that “enables users to create the context” for video-based online content consumption. I don’t believe that Programmers will wait forever for Operators to improve the experience and will quickly discover their own ways to distribute and monetize the content. The reality is that the strongest content brands in digital content belong to the Programmers like HBO, Showtime, FX, and Discovery.
The lines between content creation and distribution are blurring, and if Operators can’t improve the experience they will lose the rights to place their brand on the consumption of this content.
Are the “3 Screens” competitive channels… or collaborative?
A gut reaction may be to assume that interaction with one of these screens poaches eyeballs from another. However this assumption is not confirmed by recent research and observation of content-hungry consumers. We are entering a brave new era. (Green energy conservation advocates avert your eyes.) Applications are on and drawing power and content simultaneously. As I write this post I am watching the Cleveland Cavs in HD, running Outlook and Firefox on my laptop and have my smartphone by my side (I’ll be Tweeting in a bit).
An established generation of consumers, me included, is very comfortable consuming content through multiple devices simultaneously – with no consideration of the channel other than to evaluate which content is appropriately consumed over which screen. This precisely is what Jeffrey Rayport means by context.
The Operator may own distribution right now through the TV and Internet (and soon the mobile phone, for many Operators building their own wireless networks). However, this ownership is not a birthright. As consumers look for a friendlier, more flexible digital content experience there will be no loyalties to the distribution brands – only the content. Right now, it’s the job of interactive marketers to provide as many access points to content as possible, while remaining loyal to the needs of the distributors and helping them improve the content consumption experience.
