There’s no shame in coming second

The mobile industry’s preoccupation with trying to be the ‘first’ screen misses the point says Thinkbox’s Lindsey Clay – it isn’t about status, it’s about chronology.

Except for certain superheroes and the supernaturally hungover, most people put their pants on before their trousers or skirt or onesie. Does this mean that pants are ‘better’ than trousers and skirts and onesies? They come first after all; they win the race to be worn.

Well, no, not really – at least, not objectively; trousers and pants are just different, complementary items that are put on in a certain order that works best for all concerned. They aren’t competing to be worn.

What has this to do with media and ‘tel? Well, because it is about hierarchy and there seems to be an obsession with hierarchy coming from the mobile industry which I just don’t understand.

To give you the most recent example: last week Weve, the commercial joint venture by EE, O2 and Vodafone, released the findings from an online survey they had commissioned. Weve found that the mobile is now deemed the ‘first’ screen for some people (younger people) and they were pleased. David Sear from Weve explained why they had done the research: “We commissioned the research because we were a bit fed up of mobile being called the ‘second screen'”.

The background to this is that in recent years much research and effort in the marketing world has gone into understanding and exploiting the phenomenon of multi-screening – that is watching TV and using another internet-connected, mobile screen at the same time. This latter screen is often called the second screen. The TV set is the first and this is what has irked Weve.

Well I hope their survey findings have made them feel chirpier, but they have misunderstood what is meant by ‘first’ and ‘second’ when it comes to multi-screening. And they’ve totally misunderstood TV and the relationship it has with mobile.

It isn’t status, it is chronology.

Weve was fed up I think because it thinks first = best and second = not as good as first. I don’t see it that way and at Thinkbox we have always been conscious of potential chippiness in this area and to try and prevent anyone fretting about being second we decided to talk in terms of ‘companion screens’ rather than ‘second screens’.

However, even among companions someone needs to start the conversation – but this doesn’t mean they’re better than the person they’re talking to, just earlier. This is the main point behind the TV / mobile relationship and the origins of how the term ‘second screen’ came about.

When someone is watching TV and using a mobile device at the same time more often than not it is what is happening on the TV that will influence what happens on the mobile – if indeed the two activities are interacting (Ofcom calls this ‘media meshing’, as opposed to ‘media stacking’, which is using two devices simultaneously but unrelatedly. Ofcom estimates that 40% of mobile device activity when watching TV is meshed and that 95% of that activity flows from TV as catalyst to mobile).

So it isn’t about status, it’s about chronology: what prompts behaviour and what capitalises on it. For marketers it is crucial to understand this order of activity in order to make the most of it and integrate mobile activity with TV.

TV *is* mobile

It also doesn’t make sense to compare mobile with TV because they are not equivalents or rivals; mobile is technology, TV is content and lots of TV is watched on mobile screens. So mobile is helping TV expand. 2.5% of total TV viewing now takes place on mobile screens – not a lot in the grand scheme of things (the TV set is still very much the preferred screen for TV) but it is growing.

If some people claim to prefer their mobile screens – as Weve found – then great. Go them. I can’t force everyone to claim they love their TV set more than their iPhone or to love their tablet more than their laptop, but it doesn’t really matter. It is like saying you prefer your arms to your legs; no one is threatening to come round and take either away – unless you’ve got yourself into some serious trouble. Similarly, no one is going to confiscate TV sets, which is good news for advertisers, because…

Stop worrying about status and focus on effectiveness

…every major piece of research into what really counts – advertising effectiveness – shows TV’s supremacy and, crucially, its potent combination with mobile. There is lots of research into effectiveness here. It really is time to stop worrying about hierarchy and start focusing on the blossoming, mutually beneficial relationship. I hope you’ll all second that.