Updated: Aug 24, 2022
By Philippe Guinaudeau, CEO
The question is straightforward. Nonetheless, the response is out of proportion.
What is your favorite brand of entertainment? We’re talking about the names you’ve probably heard on TV when we say “Entertainment brand.” Isn’t it a simple and straightforward question? They give us the name they like on the spur of the moment. There was no list, no instructions from us, nothing.
The responses given by thousands of adults are quite surprising: Netflix, Amazon, YouTube… but also Nike, Adidas… Playstation by Sony… Ten of the top thirty most popular entertainment brands could be considered platforms and support for entertainment rather than entertainment brands themselves. In the chart below, for France, these are highlighted bubbles in yellow.
First, as paranoid as we are, we look for an explanation in our methodology to explain this set of results. To be honest, it was in fact not an option. And we also realized that the identical question asked of children or teens resulted in straight Entertainment brands, with a few outliers such as Netflix or Sony only, which were way down the list anyway.
So, if this isn’t the methodology, what does that say about their world’s reality?
Let’s put things in perspective: 26.6 percent of the demographic group named one of these so-called Entertainment brands as one of their top three favorites; however, 57 percent of those named it as their #1 favorite; and more than a third of these 26.6 percent named two brands as at least one of their top three favorite Entertainment brands. The population is small but dense.
As is typical in such situations, there is no unique dual-dimensions solution. There are a variety of factors that contribute to their preference for ‘pipe’ brands over ‘content’ brands.
The majority of the responses, though, may be summed up with the words ‘moment‘ and ‘destination’.
Indeed, many customers regard the use of the pipe as the entertainment, rather than the content itself, which is constantly changing and changing. Because their relationship with the platform is so crucial to them, it is a defining moment for them. And the content on these platforms is simply gaz to the Entertainment engine for them. That makes these plateforms the destination!
It’s undoubtedly good news for streaming platforms, which are now fiercely battling for subscribers. Indeed, the ‘content consumption’ cycle in that approach is far longer than the consumption of each particular piece of information.
These platforms also have the upper hand since they produce, or have already produced, their own content. Their ‘only’ difficulty is keeping their subscribers interested in their platform, getting the subscribers to move from one of their shows to another show; and, in the case of videogame console makers, similarly on games. We’ve just seen that it may not be so straightforward as I write it since Netflix has lately begun to lose members.
However, the risk is now lurking around the corner for content creators, particularly the ‘smaller’ ones, and for each piece of material published. The latest pandemic has only accelerated this trend. Indeed, because people were locked at home and over-consumed content, they discovered a lot of fresh content – fresh being defined here by ‘new to them’, as some may have been around for a long time -. And as a result, their horizons have been broadened. As a result, show attrition is fast increasing.
Let’s not forget that customers are increasingly shifting their attention to other and many displays, spending less time in front of the television. This adds to the problem of competing for their attention. If I may say so, it’s a multi-player battleground!
