Interrupt the consumer at your peril
When we’re connected, we’re more accessible – but advertisers can only capitalise on this in a way that complements the media experience, rather than interrupting it, says Digital Cinema Media’s Alex Wright ahead of tomorrow’s Connected Consumer conference.
As we discuss the ‘second screen’ – and some of the ideas behind the Connected Consumer conference more generally – there’s one thought that has to be borne in mind: the connected consumer is not a phenomenon of our making. The connected consumer is a result of hitherto unanswered dissatisfactions with the media landscape finally being answered.
We – consumers of media – are finding technology answers our unsatisfied needs. We want to read, view, listen and participate whenever and wherever we want – and we want to do it interchangeably. The new media landscape is making this happen for us, and we’re delighted.
All media have recognised these changes in content consumption and are reacting in their own respective ways to maintain relevance and satisfy the consumer’s increasingly unpredictable media palate. Sometimes we’re just playing with new functionality – but at other times we’re scratching a long-unsatisfied itch.
As a consequence, the advertiser’s perpetual challenge – the battle for attention – just opened up on several new fronts.
Media success today, more than ever, depends upon triggering our deep seated facility of selective perception: the ability to select what we need from the cacophony around us. We can, after all, hear our own name mentioned in an adjacent conversation at an otherwise noisy cocktail party.
Today’s advertisers are searching for that relevant trigger. How do we make consumers hear their name in our marketing efforts?
If we accept we’re living with second screens, we have to decide which one is actually the first screen.
From the individual’s perspective, there is no definitive screen hierarchy: no screen which is automatically first, and none that are automatically second.
Wherever we are – at home, at work, in the car, on the train, in the pub, in the cinema – one screen may temporarily occupy centre stage as circumstance or task dictates. Whichever screen commands our attention, the smartphone is our constant companion – providing always-on access to whatever screen we want.
The versatility of the mobile device means it performs the functions that up until now where catered for by a multitude of other devices: more than half say this device has replaced their alarm clock, 50% say it’s replaced their watch, 46% say they no longer need a separate camera, and on average it’s the focus of two hours of attention a day (24 minutes of web-browsing, 16 minutes of social network checking, 15 minutes of listening to music, and more than an hour of gaming, making calls, texting and emailing). [Mobile Life study].
At its best, our mobile device fulfils an enriching purpose: it helps us deepen our understanding of stories by fitting a personalised funnel to the editorial filter mainstream media applies.
This could, of course, be said for any internet-enabled device, but the convenience and omnipresence of the smartphone allows us to pursue the narrative of our choosing, in the moments that suit us best.
It’s an information skeleton-key – one that we always have in our pocket or handbag – that fits any lock and lets us open any door.
And when we are connected, we’re more accessible. But we can only leverage this increased accessibility in a way that complements the media experience. Note the use of the word ‘complements’: this is in stark contrast to the word ‘interrupt’.
We can learn a great deal about this behaviour from cinemagoers. Movies, and going to the cinema to experience them at their peak intensity, offer a genuine passion point. Cinema is an interest actively and attentively pursued.
Connected devices allow the film fan to plug into the experience at every step from preview to review – watching trailers, getting show-times, booking tickets – not just when they’re in the foyer or sitting in front of the screen.
Our research shows that we want to keep our phones on silent throughout the movie despite Orange’s (or EE’s) best attempts to get us to switch them off. We always want to stay in touch, but that is not to say we want to be distracted.
The greatest evangelists of our medium want to deepen their experience and are latching onto every opportunity to do so. We can tell when an experience is relevant to them because they’re choosing to view the content.
As an advertiser, this means we must think about the nature of our content and how this will or won’t resonate with our consumers – or prospective consumers. If it doesn’t resonate and deepen their experience, it will be ignored.
The message is to think about how you can enrich your viewers’, listeners’, or readers’ media experience in what they’re interested in; not in what you want to tell them. Cinema is one media that provides a rich narrative into which brand stories may be interwoven.
Media is becoming democratised. People – consumers – are more empowered than ever to watch or read – or not watch, and not read – what they like, from whatever source they choose, to whatever depth they require.
Advertisers want everyone to jump on their bandwagon. Consumers are piloting their own wagons, so it’s up to us to earn our ticket and get on board rather than expect it to happen the other way round.
Interested in learning more? There are still last minute tickets available for the Connected Consumer conference on Wednesday 19 June. Visit our events page for more details.