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Media and entertainment is a fast-moving landscape. To keep pace, brands need to stay up-to-date with ever-changing consumer trends.
Our latest entertainment report investigates the drivers behind the trends, giving marketers and researchers the information they need on the state of the industry moving forward.
Here are 10 key insights from the report you need to know.
1. TV remains most effective for advertising.
Broadcast TV ranks highest for brand discovery among our respondents, with 37% finding out about new brands through TV ads.
What’s more, experience-based marketing is growing more popular. Internet users are looking to brands to provide entertainment themselves, consuming more branded videos and games.
2. People still mainly watch broadcast TV.
Across every age group, internet users still watch more broadcast TV than online, despite year-on-year drops in broadcast engagement.
It has the greatest reach, and commands the most time.
This goes to show that, while streaming giants like Netflix continue to spread globally, online TV isn’t cannibalizing broadcast – it’s complementing it.
3. Product placement continues to work.
27% discover brands via product placements in TV shows or movies.
In contrast, cinema ads come in towards the bottom of the list. Even for those who go to the cinema each month, it doesn’t rise above the 20% mark.
4. Social media is an entertainment hub.
Social platforms are increasingly looking to integrate sports commentary with broadcasting rights, in a bid to draw viewers from broadcast TV.
But this isn’t where their content strategies end.
Social media services are also investing in long-form video platforms and looking more at music licensing, ultimately looking to upgrade social media into a one-stop entertainment hub for users.
And with 44% of internet users watching a video on social media in the past month, it’s a clearly shift that’s taking shape.
5. It’s a time of opportunity for music streaming.
The famously ongoing rivalry between streaming giants Apple, Spotify and Amazon is helping drive user growth.
However, local services are also showing the importance of culturally relevant content, proving that it may be possible for smaller brands to compete in this space.
The rise of smart speakers may be the key to unlocking an audience of casual listeners, creating opportunities for streaming services of any size to resonate.
6. Internet users prefer having access to content rather than owning it.
46% of internet users say they prefer to access music through online services than buy it offline.
This is another potential reason for the rise of music streaming services.
And with streaming services (21%) and music downloads (22%) approaching a tipping point where streaming will overtake downloads, this is clearly a trend to watch in the year to come.
7. Entertainment is crucial for brand discovery.
Entertainment has a crucial role to play in the discovery of new brands and products, whether it’s through TV, vlogs or movies.
Among our tracked brand discovery channels, TV ads are one of the most impactful of all, with 37% reporting they discover new brands or products through them.
8. Esports is becoming mainstream.
Esports viewers are a desirable demographic for marketers, and continued investment and organization of competitions is propelling the sport’s broadcasts towards established, mainstream media channels.
9. The console decline is stabilizing.
In recent years, we’ve reported a year-on-year decline in games console ownership. But signs indicate this decline is stabilizing.
Consoles now allow consumers to browse the internet, upload content to social media, communicate with friends, listen to music, shop online and engage with various forms of online TV.
While there are fewer console gamers than there were in 2014, the device’s evolution into a multimedia hub means console gamers are spending more time on their devices.
10. Mobile TV viewing is popular.
44% of internet users now watch TV on mobile.
The portability of smartphones, together with impressive screen resolutions, and generous data packages points to their future role in online entertainment.
This is opening up new opportunities for marketers to reach consumers throughout the day, whether that’s during the morning commute or at the gym.
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Within a sector that’s constantly evolving, anyone looking to compete needs to have insight into consumers’ minds and actions to know where their behaviors are headed.
For a complete analysis of these trends and more, download our latest entertainment report.
