In this week’s text, Chris Lederer and Megan Brownlow outline some of the recent shifts in the Entertainment and Media (E&M) industry that, if utilised effectively, have the capacity to contribute to the continuing sustainable growth of the field. In this post, I will elaborate on two of the shifts they identified that were of particular interest and relevance to me.

One of the shifts mentioned was the role of youth as an increasingly influential demographic for the E&M industries. According to their research, there is an obvious correlation between markets with higher populations of youth and those with high E&M growth. This does not surprise me, as increasingly we see youth today adopting new technologies and platforms ahead of older generations. Not only are we quick to jump on the latest technological bandwagons, but we are also the generation of multi-taskers, with phenomenons of double- and even triple-screening becoming a daily habit. As youth today have growth up with the Internet and technological devices such as smart phones and tablets, they are inherently more responsive and open-minded to new technologies that might arise in the future. Marketing to this demographic is thus of vital importance to E&M companies not only due to the fact that they are bringing in more revenue, but also because they are ultimately the future of consumerism.

source: sheknows.com

Lederer and Brownlow also claim that contrary to many contradicting opinions, “content is still king.” This is reassuring to us as media practitioners, as although new technologies and platforms create new and exciting ways of consuming media, they would not get far without the high quality content (which is where we come in) to distribute to consumers. For example, if Netflix had mind-numbingly awful content, people are not going to respond positively despite the convenience and affordability of the platform itself. Further, the section on tailoring universally appealing content for local markets is also an interesting concept to think about. When we think of greatly successful content, we often determine this by its international reach. But international reach is in fact more complex than what we might initially assume. Lederer and Brownlow highlight the benefits of “blending international reach and local focus.” This relates to shows that have begun in one country and are adopted and produced by another with their own national flare, e.g. talent shows, dating shows and even cooking shows. These programs are commonly successful as the style and format has already been tried and tested, and the localised focus helps to resonate more with domestic audiences.

This reading presented some relevant points that are helpful in understanding the areas to tap into in order to be successful in this constantly changing landscape. Although these opportunistic areas might be limited to the next 5-10 years, they certainly provide a good starting point.