Synergy, Multi-tasking And Other Divine Concepts

Michael Hedges August 24, 2010 Follow on Twitter

People, particularly young people, are spending half their waking hours with one form of media or another. In fact, it looks like they are only spending time with media, often two or more at once. Have we fried their brains?

The UK is, we know, media rich. There are newspapers, radio channels and television programs, many top notch but certainly a wide variety. Add to that, says a report from UK media regulator OFCOM (August 19), the Web and mobile media have pushed average daily media consumption to more than seven hours. Young people – 16 to 24 years – in the UK are pushing that envelope even further, using nine and a half hours of media in just six and a half actual hours.

“For the first time, we can see just how central media and communications are to our lives,” said OFCOM strategy partner Peter Philips in a statement: “The ability of people to surf the web on their laptop while also watching TV has given people a license to roam while staying connected.”

Young people are on-line and on the phone with the radio and TV on, “simultaneous” consumption said the OFCOM report. And “older people” are catching up. “More older people are getting online and finding that things like email are very important to them.” The study detailed media habits during 2009.

Several UK commentators seized on the concept of simultaneous consumption, referring to it as multi-tasking. Task, of course, implies work. To quote Mark Knopfler, “That ain’t workin’.” In the time study section of the OFCOM report, most emailing, texting and social networking takes place between eight o’clock in the morning and eight o’clock at night.

Not likely to rot young people’s brains, offered the BBC’s Rory Cellan-Jones, who noted that young people in the UK are actually using media less than the average Brit. “I seem to remember that when I was a young person a very long time ago, there was a moral panic about teenagers doing nothing more than watch television,” he offered wisely in a blog note. “It was rotting our brains.”

To the surprise of the new media people, “live evening television still remains the main entertainment event of the day.” The study credited games shows, talents shows and reality TV for adding about 4% to television time since 2004. 

Following the OFCOM report, management consultant Deloitte issued its own edict on television, social media, young people and the business thereupon. Nearly half (46%) of the UK’s young people, age 18 to 24, are Facebook fans of a television program. Two out of five “comment” on their favorite shows via social media.

All of this delights advertisers, said Deloitte media partner Howard Davies in a statement (August 23). “A program with strong social currency is generally of greater appeal to advertisers as it means their brand becomes associated with content that is both watched and talked about.” What was once called “water-cooler value” has been transformed. Chit-chat around the water-cooler is so last century. Forty percent of the UK population are now on Facebook.

Central to brand building, media and otherwise, is attachment. Strong brands, in theory, become integral to a set of consumers, a special relationship. There is a demand and reward. There is a conversation. Tell me a story. What story would you like to hear?

“If social chatter is sufficiently voluminous this catalyses a snowball effect as traditional and new media pick up on the story,” said the Deloitte report. “This typically raises the value of content.” In practice, however, “the majority of programs with the highest ratings and adverts with the greatest recall have succeeded despite not having also been social media/ network sensations.” So much for that synergy concept, yes?

Television broadcasters, and presumably other media people as well, will find the benefit from social media chatter supplanted, suggest the Deloitte consultants, by audience time and advertiser money diverted to more targettable social media.

“As the reach, usage and value of social media and networks steadily rise, this could cause advertising budgets to get diverted from television,” says the Deloitte report. “Over time, Web 2.0’s reach is increasingly looking like it may emulate that of television. Combine this with online’s precise targeting and real-time measurability, and advertising rates for social networks and media could increase, as they prove their efficacy and migrate to a cost per action model - which television would struggle to replicate.”

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