Introduction - Changing trends in the media and entertainment industry
Media consumption across the globe is increasingly happening in digital formats. The increase in the number of devices that can support digital media along with increased internet capability has given consumers the freedom to access media content of their choice, ranging from information, entertainment and social activity from anywhere, anytime. Consumers are moving away from traditional media and moving toward new micro forms of content.
Mobile devices driving the increase in digital consumption
A major changing point for the media and entertainment industry has been the increasing penetration of mobile devices. Mobile devices have become the most preferred medium of consuming online media. The smartphone market has seen an unprecedented growth in the last
5 years. Smartphone devices across the globe grew at a CAGR of 17% as compared to 9.5% growth in all mobile devices. Smartphones crossed the 2 billion mark in 2014 and are expected to reach 4.6 billion by 2019. This increase in the number of mobile devices is making it easier for consumers to access music and video content on the go.
As per studies, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in India will spearhead the next wave of growth in the Indian smartphone market. Twenty five major tier 2 and 3 cities currently make up around 21.3 percent of the Indian smartphone market. The 4G revolution is promising to trigger the next wave of smartphone growth with 4G enabled devices already overtaking 3G devices as the largest smartphone category. There is a clear trend of migration from feature phones to low-end smartphones in smaller cities and towns, making these markets the next growth engine for the smartphone industry. With the first time mobile phone users coming on a smartphone, it will be their only connected device which meets all of their internet and entertainment needs. In developing markets, higher broadband speeds facilitate exclusively mobile-media consumption that bypasses traditional media companies and motivates providers to offer their content on mobile channels and in mobile-friendly formats. One notable example of this trend is Star India’s (now owned by Disney), streaming video platform Hotstar, which uses low-cost broadband access to reach hundreds of millions of consumers with a high- quality, mobile-first over-the-top (OTT) video offering
Consumers are demanding new forms of entertainment
Aided by the pandemic, 2020 saw demand patterns shift. Consumers were stranded at home and entertainment seemed to make isolation at home easier. Due to the growth of digital infrastructure, digital media adoption increased rapidly. As a result, consumption patterns shifted towards newer forms of entertainment like social media and gaming. India inched towards becoming a global gaming hub with a new found interest from developers, studios, students and enthusiasts. On social media too, short form video content like Instagram reels became a popular source of entertainment. With so many newer forms of engaging content easily accessible, gaming and social media did eat up some space in the media and entertainment industry.
The need for Innovation in the Media and Entertainment Industry - strategies to retain consumers in this era of diluting attention spans
Companies in the media and entertainment industry must reinvent their businesses, using available and emerging technologies to accelerate their growth. They can no longer rely on traditional business models. The top drivers of change in the industry are a dynamic changing and competitive landscape, increasing fluidity of companies across sectors, rapid pace of change in emerging technologies, a continuous cycle of reinvention the includes, virtual and augmented reality, voice, blockchain, artificial intelligence and IoT, new offerings becoming enabled by these emerging technologies, and finally, shifting customer expectations and trends.
User generated content as a strategy
The key to success in adapting to changing trends in the media and entertainment industry lies in developing new monetisation and business models in order to keep the revenue streams flowing. They will need to identify new forms of content that can complement their traditional strengths. In a study carried out by Accenture, top media and entertainment executives saw the growing ability and eagerness of individuals to create their own micro content as one of the top three challenges they face.
This new landscape offers opportunities as well as challenges.
Media franchises can leverage user generated content to capture additional consumer engagement. They can encourage their community to create their own content based on existing content and strengthen fan involvement, thus giving them ownership over their fandom and facilitate that consumer connection.
Demand for short-form content
For media companies to retain their customers, they need to align the creation and curation of content around their audience and their changing tastes and expectations. Consumers have gotten used to bite sized content due to the rise of social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube. Existing media franchises need to create distinctive content to remain relevant to a discerning target audience. They can create short form content and exclusive digital series, around existing intellectual properties. For example Inshorts, a news platform creates personalised content based on user interests and creates micro content like 60 second summaries of important news headlines to stay relevant.
Personalised and unique experiences to win users attentions
Netflix uses their algorithms to personalise their users homepage and has more than a 100 million products instead of a single one thanks to personalised visuals and recommendations. Similarly YouTube designed a new homepage with a feed of users’ interests using AI and machine-learning. It uses algorithmic recommendations, which drive more than 70% of time spent watching video. The aggregate time spent watching videos on homepage has grown 20 times compared with three years ago. Media companies must identify ways to use technology to inform content discovery and curation and help monetize consumer attention.
Netflix is undoubtedly leading the way with their distinct and unique experiences like interactive storytelling, where viewers make decisions that guide the plot.
Some other notable examples of new content formats and types are - virtual reality, mobile-first content, e-sports, short form videos and live streaming.
Let’s look at how a local news interaction and content app Lokal, evolved to stay relevant for its target audiences needs.
Case Study: Lokal App
Bangalore based Lokal App, a hyperlocal news interaction and content app, has made its mark in the industry by offering people everything from local news, jobs, local information like contact details of doctors, police stations, weather, vegetable prices, and classifieds to matrimony and real estate business opportunities. It presents news elegantly across formats, and designed in a way to keep younger consumers engaged, by offering news widgets, and news tickers.
What started as a whatsApp group initially, today is a popular app that provides people in far off villages and constituencies a one-stop platform to have their say and to make unknown voices heard.
Conclusion
With fierce competition and a rapidly evolving marketing and media power shift, media companies need to adapt to new trends, take risks and strengthen their direct relationships with customers by engaging them as per their changing tastes and needs and investing in the right content.