Effective entertainment marketing is now video, but shorter

Effective entertainment marketing is now video, but shorter

Andy Marken November 27, 2023

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It was great the way her mind worked. No guilt, no doubts, no fear. None of my specialties. Just the shameless pursuit of immediate gratification. What a capitalist. Joel Goodson, Risky Business, Warner Bros, 1983

A few weeks ago, our son said it must have been rather dull growing up in the old days (60s/70s) because folks didn't have the internet or mobile phone to instantly be able to text someone and watch long and short form videos, play games whenever you wanted.

We left out all the sordid details of all the trouble young boys/gals with hormones screaming could get into growing up in middle America and gave him the G-rated version.

Didn't want to give him any ideas.

Figure he'll learn fast enough on his own.

Actually, that's what bothers us a little.

He and most Gen Alphas/Gen Zers were born with a smartphone in their hand.

Today 98 percent of them own (and use) a smartphone.

But according to a recent CNBC study there is a retro trend emerging for mobile communications devices.

They say that many are reverting to less smart phones much like your and our early flip/slide phones.

It's a little difficult for us to believe that anyone would abandon all of the features, capabilities and benefits.

Really? Seriously? Next thing they'll want to see are phone booths on every other corner.

Source - Atlas Obscura

Speaking of phone booths, we showed our son actor/producer John Putch's fantastic indie film project, Mojave Phone Booth.

He thought it was cool because he couldn't recall ever seeing a real live phone booth.

Today he's not alone.

Thanks to the global internet over half of the world population, 5.2B people, have internet connectivity.

Sixty-eight percent of the population (5.5B) use mobile devices for almost everything - work, entertainment, play and constant communications.

That anywhere, anytime, always connectivity opened the gate for today's streaming video services.

The smartphone is the primary entertainment viewing screen for people in emerging markets and Alphas/Gen Zers everywhere. The younger generations do watch some long form videos (films/shows) on the big home screen, but a lot less than streaming services would like to see.

Source - Hub Research

Screen Time - For the younger generations, smartphones are not only their key to staying in touch with others but they are also their main source of information and entertainment.

According to Hub Research, most Gen Alphas/Gen Zers spend a fifth of their screen time with the TV but most of the time is spent with their smartphone on their social media apps, short videos or playing games.

While only 91 percent of 13-14-year-olds have smartphones, 98 percent of the older Gen Alphas and Gen Zs use them almost constantly.

The fact that it's a phone is almost incidental.

Source Ericsson

Static Voice - People still talk and even occasionally on their phones but they are primarily used for digital communications and video information/entertainment.

Voice communications has remained almost flatline since the devices first gained popularity.

With all the information and video available online the younger generation want to stay in touch and communicate but not necessarily talk.

There's little indication that the trend will change.

After all, texting is so much easier

For the content creation industry one of the ominous Hub findings was how little time these generations spend with professionally prepared entertainment.

Source - GameDev Reports

Social Entertainment - YouTube, TikTok and similar video content sites are becoming key information/entertainment locations for the younger generations while professionally prepared content is of less interest to them. Playing and watching video game activity also continues to keep them involved.

Teens are on the internet daily (97 percent) with almost 46 percent constantly online and 48 percent several times a day.

According to the latest Morning Consult research, 48 percent of females are online constantly compared to 43 percent of males. Black and Hispanic respondents (56 and 55 percent respectively) are more likely to be online than their White contemporaries.

When they do watch professionally prepared entertainment their prime content sources are Netflix, Amazon, Disney and Apple TV (70M iPhones were shipped last quarter).

However, streaming entertainment is well behind online UGC (user generated content) video and social media for them.

Social scientists suggest that this viewing/entertainment habit is becoming so ingrained that it will be a significant part of their entertainment consumption even after the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Studios and theaters may look at the statistics and say that this doesn't affect them except for the open-ended question, why go to a movie when they can get instant entertainment gratification with a few clicks of their smartphone and it's free?

While the strikes may have impacted the ability of streaming services to launch fresh, new content to attract and retain subscribers many of them are leaning into the self-created content services - YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, etc. - to keep the younger generations interested in their content/services.

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They have been posting past highlights, select edited library content and unscripted show/project clips with reasonable success.

While social media reviewers and influencers aren't members of the unions - m

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