Bandwidth

Internet access has now shifted from dial-up to broadband (with over 60% broadband penetration in the UK). This rapid pace of increase in bandwidth will continue to grow indefinitely – giving most households access to over 100Mbps. At the same time, mobile bandwidth is also soaring.

This pervasive high-speed access will open up further access to content, such as IPTV, HD video on demand anywhere, anytime, and the ability to access personal data such as music, video, photos anywhere without local storage.

Source: Ofcom, Ross Dawson

Hyper Fragmentation

As bandwidth increases, fragmentation will continue to increase to an almost vertical incline.

Every existing media channel is fragmenting at pace and this will continue; especially via the Internet and mobile. In addition new channels will continue to be added.

With a limitless supply of channels and content, average total media consumption will exceed waking hours. People’s appetite for content and entertainment will become insatiable and drive multiple media consumption at the same time, resulting in a severe attention scarcity.

Digital Platforms

In the last decade there have been 4 major waves of digital innovations, each offering consumers new ways to watch, read and listen to content. They are the internet, digital television, digital radio and broadband. The most recent being mobile media, is following a similar pattern, achieving 50% take-up between 6-10 years after launch. These platforms will continue to take a growing share of people’s time and afford greater and easier access to more and more content.

Source: Ofcom

Connectivity

The future will bring truly plug and play technology. Common protocols will be agreed across manufacturers and participants allowing home entertainment and IT to inter-work and talk together with ease. Mostly this will be in a wire-free environment.

This connectivity will enable personalised content to be consumed cross-platform, anywhere and at anytime.

Source: Ofcom

Personal Cloud

In the future, the cost of data storage will drop significantly. This will give rise to a virtual storage hub, the ‘Personal Cloud', that will store all of an individual’s data and content.

It’s likely that not only content, but software and processing power will also be virtually available, further enabling the consumer to interact with content rich data anywhere, anytime.

The ‘Personal Cloud’ will be accessible from anywhere, through any device, not only by its owner but also to anyone with whom they would wish to share content.

Source: Ross Dawson

Participation

Is happening now and all around us; Blogs, Flickr, YouTube and social networks to name but a few. Media activities are increasingly focussed on participatory channels and content creation.

However, in the near future, the cost of quality content creation will fall rapidly, and tools to facilitate its creation and distribution will become widespread.

The result will be an infinite supply of user-generated content to consume and share – heightening attention scarcity.

Source: Ross Dawson

Personalisation

Fragmentation leads to choice and choice requires volition and action. Consumer’s will be forced to take more control and further personalise the content they choose; what, when and where it’s consumed, its formatting, filtering and presentation.

Consumption of media content will become active, rather than passive.

Video and audio content is already available ‘on-demand’, thus content choice is no longer guided by broadcasters. Access to video content from the internet will become common place, enabling complete personalisation of viewing habits.

Personalisation of this nature will generate real-time information on consumer’s habits and enable hugely targeted advertising based on their behaviour, location and other profile data.

Source: Ross Dawson

Bimodal Consumer

Today and in the medium term there will be a bimodal consumer base where the majority will continue to operate pretty much as they have always done – passively consuming media.

A minority, however, will be more active and participative, will personalise and control their media experiences.

Advertisers need to consider how their communications will work across both.

As technology fluidity, education and customer service takes hold over the longer term the mass audience will shift progressively closer to a more active relationship with media.

Source: IBM

Digital Immigrants

Represent the current majority of consumers of media, brought up in age where a few broadcasters set the agenda. They have a passive relationship with media, where TV will likely remain as the centrepiece of their entertainment for the near term.

They will continue to be largely content with scheduled programming, although there will be growing adoption of time-shifting.

Source: Marc Prensky

Digital Natives

Have never known a world without ubiquitous broadband internet access. They don’t just consume media, they also produce it. Their relationship is active rather than passive.

They demand content when they want it, how they want it and as they want it.

They interact with and control their media choices. They are comfortable consuming multiple streams simultaneously, meshing media and sharing it.

Source: Marc Prensky

Communities of Interest

Communities of Interest (COI) will range from the wide (e.g. ‘Concerned Parents’) to the more discrete (e.g. ‘Classical Music Fans’) to the niche (e.g.‘Munro Baggers’).

If you are the manufacturer of say, a family sized S.U.V. the Brand Story will, in the future be told in different ways to these COIs. For ‘Concerned Parents’ you might supply a map of Britain’s Safest Roads that can be downloaded straight to your Sat Nav via the car’s USB port. For ‘Munro Baggers’ it could be a series of maps showing how to bag more in a day. ‘Classical Music Fans’ could be treated to an exclusive concerto, specially commissioned and designed to be listened to in-car (via the SUV’s hard drive).

Attention economy

“The tight coupling between attention and money is dependable, bankable. Google made its billions because in addition to having a service that people wanted (the assumed minimum) it knew that sooner or later (and probably sooner than later) where attention flows, money will follow”. Kevin Kelly

Across consumer markets, attention is becoming the scarcest, and so most strategically vital, resource in the value chain.

Cheaply networked digital technologies will produce vast amounts of new kinds of media and consumers will navigate this by picking and choosing what matters most to them and storing it in their Personal Cloud.

What matters most will be determined by their immediate basic needs (narrow focus) then areas of interest (social, cultural, leisure, sporting, learning etc).

For the brand story (or relevant parts of the story) to break into the Personal Cloud it will need to tap into Communities of Interest.

Source: Bubblegeneration

Brand Story

Brand loyalty will still be earned over time through consistent positive experiences and engagements with the brand.

Brand stories give meaning to who we are and what we do. They’re a special kind of story — they’re strategic; they build on themselves chapter by chapter, over time; they grow as they respond to changing customers and changing markets.

These stories will still need to be rooted in an authentic base and dialogue, but play out in a non-traditional, non-linear way.

Content

Individuals within COIs, will look for what interests them. They will not be using their own senses, more likely the search capabilities of their appointed technology, to look for marketing messages. This would be the equivalent today of putting a sign in our gardens saying ’Double glazing salesman please call here.’

They will be looking for content that satisfies either their immediate needs (weather, travel delays, emergency plumbers, car insurance etc) or their long term interests (anything else). Only the most relevant, the most entertaining or the ones that will gain the individual the most advantage when they share them with their peers, will be able to make it into the Personal cloud.

This doesn’t preclude brands but it does mean becoming part of that content to be successful.

Rules of Content: Convergent

Delivering complex brand stories in lots of mediums. Consumers (or their pre-programmed Personal Cloud technology) will search for and pick out the most relevant (to their community of interest) aspects of a brand’s story.

Delivering these relevant aspects through content, using the best platform, will require a radical shift in the way communications are designed.

Virtually anything where consumers access relevant content will have to be considered a possible medium. In some instances the technology will have to be created to best serve the needs of the brand story. E.g. ‘Virtual mirrors’ that let you see what you look like in different clothes / make-up / hairstyles before you purchase.

Source: Faris Yakob

Rules of Content: Recombinant

Able to be remixed by consumers – the less control a brand exercises over its content creation and distribution the more credibility and trust it engenders.

Lucasfilm recently forced the Ain’t it Cool News (AICN) movie review site to withdraw a scathing review of its animated film ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars.’ But the review was ‘re-published’ on other sites except this time with the addition of commentary on the ‘craven actions’ of both Lucasfilm and AICN, damaging both brands.

Source: Faris Yakob

Rules of Content: Participative

This recombinant aspect strengthens the relationship people have with your brand.

Audi’s ‘The Art of the Heist’, an alternative reality game (ARG) created to launch the A3 in the U.S., offered three layers of interaction including on-line character development, file and password cracking and live events.

To date the Cadbury Dairy Milk Gorilla ad has been re-made at least 40 different ways by fans and posted on YouTube.

Source: Faris Yakob

Rules of Content: Networked

From peer-to-peer, the most trusted source of brand recommendation.

Each Community of Interest will have almost unlimited ways of sharing their views with their peers. Forums, votes, recommendations, tips, criticisms will spread as fast and as deeply as consumers want them to go.

Peer-to-peer networks are already starting to transform the distribution paradigm as well as the traditional creative landscape which is currently dominated by large commercial corporations.

Source: Faris Yakob

Audi A3: The Art of the Heist

Audi's 'Heist' is neatly summarised in the following video clip. But if you've more time and are so inclined then link here. And if you're flush with time, why not explore Mckinney the ad agency's interactive case study.

McKinnney Audi A3 Art of the Heist
by legrandmatin