Driving forces behind communication and media brand choice Discovery sessions conducted on March 3, 2008
As part of our global consumer research programme, PricewaterhouseCoopers' entertainment, media and communications practice is conducting a series of consumer discovery sessions to elicit candid consumer feedback and gain an understanding of consumer attitudes and behaviours in a rapidly changing media landscape. This research will help identify emerging trends and provide fodder for consideration of how to monetise content. The following is a summary of what we discovered when talking with three separate groups of consumers, ages 14–18, 19–24, and 25–34, about communications and media brand affinity.
 Key findings
- Consumers develop relationships with their favorite brands based on real experiences. Brand marketing and advertising efforts more often serve to carry news and/or reinforce relationships—not create them.
- In developing a relationship with a particular brand, consumer expectations are centered around basic product performance needs: reliability, ease of use, and approachable and quality customer service.
- For younger consumers the relationship has not yet matured into loyalty to a brand—it’s simply about how well the product meets their performance needs. As they age and mature, relationships will develop from product attribute performance to feelings about a brand that include credibility, familiarity, comfort and trust.
- Innovation is a critical part of what keeps a brand relevant.
- Apple emerges as a paradigm of a “favorite brand,” due to its reliability, creativity, user-friendliness, quality and functionality. It draws highest marks for its constant product innovation as well as the creation of new product categories, such as the iPod for portable music and the iPhone as a PDA.
- Innovation must be relevant to connect. One retail company’s new relationship marketing campaign was viewed as contrived, as it was a “disconnect” with consumer perceptions of the brand and of the clothing products.
- Communications brand choices are driven by price, peers and flexibility.
- Particularly among teen consumers, peers heavily influence communications choices, which often are made either to ‘stand apart from the pack’ or alternatively to ‘fit in’ with others.
- Financial considerations also heavily influence communications brand choices, especially with cellular service and particularly among younger consumers, who rely on the services but tend to have more limited funds. For example, T-Mobile’s free cell-to-cell calling among its customers offers a strong incentive. Cellular contracts are disliked as being constrictive. There is an opportunity for service carriers to create greater brand affinity by offering more innovation, especially in terms of flexibility and personalisation of contracts, such as allowing consumers to choose their “weekends.”
- The new barcode scan technology for cell phones is viewed as impressive—especially to younger consumers—but there are a wide range of opinions about how it can be best applied and the risks of using it.
- Its use as a credit card substitute is worrisome, especially for teens concerned about getting into trouble with parents, and consumers in their early 20’s who are concerned about running up their bills. Among consumers aged 25 to 34, concerns range more toward privacy and security, such as concerns about the theft or loss of a phone containing credit card information.
- Consumers view the technology useful for accessing quick information, such as at a retail store to get product data, but express skepticism around the idea that the product would provide objective information.
Implications for your business
- Establishing and building a successful relationship with empowered consumers means delivering basic product performance and being credible in what and how you deliver.
- Successful relationships require constant “upgrading” and innovation. The brand working to meaningfully improve itself by adding value to the consumer draws the greatest affinity.
- The empowered consumer requires “straight talk” from its brands. To keep the communication credible, it must be genuine and consistent with perceptions of the brand and the types of product being offered.
- Effective relationships with the empowered consumer require flexibility, options and increased personalisation.
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Past sessions in this series:
Social networks and today's consumer
User sessions conducted on February 5, 2008
Key findings
Implications for your business
Future business model: Monetizing content
User sessions conducted on February 4, 2008
Key findings
Implications for your business
The value of user-generated content in today's media landscape
User sessions conducted on January 23, 2008
Key findings
Implications for your business
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User-generated content
As part of our global research programme, PwC's Entertainment, Media and Communications practice is conducting a series of consumer discovery sessions to elicit candid feedback and gain new understanding of consumer attitudes and behaviours in a rapidly changing media landscape. This research will help identify emerging trends and provide fodder for consideration of how best to monetise content. The following is a summary of what we discovered when talking with consumers, ages 18–24 and 25–34, about user-generated content (UGC).
Key findings
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Consumers prefer user-generated videos that are relevant, relatable or provide meaningful information
- Content is more likely to be forwarded when it personally resonates.
- Content that viewers immediately relate to, such as particularly humorous or emotional situations, is more likely to spark an immediate personal connection.
- Restaurant reviews, news about the latest products and other information-driven content appeals to consumers, enabling them to share information with friends and cultivating their sense of awareness.
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Consumers expect advertising in UGC to be entertaining, interesting and personally relevant
- Advertising for products and brands which appeal to youthful audiences are well-suited for this venue.
- Advertising for technology and Internet products fits seamlessly with Internet venues.
- Younger consumers prefer fresh, concise, creative and entertaining advertising to the staged or overly-produced ads that typically appear on television.
- Viewer-created advertising is perceived as more creative and engaging; because this form of advertising is generated by their peers, consumers perceive the message as more credible.
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User-generated content is posted and viewed most often on YouTube, widely considered to be the predominant site to view video online
- YouTube is considered an unmatched source for user-generated video content.
- Consumers favor the site for being easily searchable; maintaining libraries for longer-than-average periods of time; and for featuring content that may not appear on the contents’ original site, such as a news or TV show.
- MySpace and Facebook draw a significant amount of user-generated content; because the sites are password protected, consumers feel comfortable knowing that what they post will be seen only by viewers they pre-approve.
Implications for your business
- Advertisers and marketers will benefit by creating a personal connection with the viewer, tailoring messages and respecting the personal nature ofnon-traditional media venues
- The content and execution of advertising messages must be tailored to fit each venue and appeal to young consumers’ entertainment ideal: young, fresh, innovative and original material.
- Advertisers and marketers must understand and respect individual interests and deliver against them, rather than overtly “sell” their messages.
- Viewer-created advertising messages may be one way to begin to establish a credible brand/consumer relationship, as consumers may view them as being more welcome on their personal sites than traditional advertising.
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Advertising perceived as relatable and real is more likely to win trust from consumers, while live or “first hand” content can come across as more interesting, entertaining and forward-worthy
- Creating content that audiences will relate to is a critical factor for breaking through in this venue.
- Live or “first hand” content creates a unique intimacy that may have a stronger appeal and connection among viewers.
- Entertaining advertisements increase the likelihood that the ad will be viewed in its entirety and passed along to other viewers.
- Location-based technology affords a range of opportunities in information, education, advertising and sponsorships.
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YouTube is currently the most viable media target for ad-sponsored/supported video
- Viewers perceive YouTube’s content as inherently “real” and therefore inherently relatable.
- Advertisers and marketers will benefit from a presence on the “Go2” site for user-generated content.
- Ad-supported content must fit in with the casual, irreverent, unstructured style of the venue.
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The future business model: Monetizing content
Discovery sessions conducted on February 4, 2008
As part of our global research programme, PricewaterhouseCoopers Entertainment, Media and Communications practice is conducting a series of consumer discovery sessions to elicit candid feedback and gain new understanding of consumer attitudes and behaviours in a rapidly changing media landscape. This research will help identify emerging trends and provide fodder for consideration of how best to monetise content. The following is a summary of what we discovered when talking with consumers, ages 14–18; 19–25; and 26–34, about their receptivity to marketing messages across various platforms.
Key findings
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Advertising that is integrated in an appealing way and does not interrupt its medium is accepted and can even enhance content.
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On the Internet, this means ads that visually or thematically fit in with the site’s content, such music or movie ads on an entertainment site, or simple logos and one-line messages on social networking sites.
- For virtual worlds and video games, integrated advertising fits into the context or storyline of the game, typically in the form of product placement. For example, advertising on billboards in stadiums featured in sports games. In this case, the integration of the advertising is welcomed and perceived as actually enhancing the games’ realism.
- For personal media, such as cell-phones and MP3 players, more permission and less intrusiveness is required for acceptance of ads. For example, consumers will most easily accept messages while they are waiting for these devices to power on or download.
- For audio devices such as cell phones and MP3 players, visual content is considered less intrusive than sound. For cell phones, this means free text messages of brand logos instead of calls. For MP3 players, the messages absolutely cannot interrupt the music, as that would defeat the purpose of the MP3 player.
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Consumers increasingly expect targeted messages reflecting demographic relevance and personal lifestyle interests.
- As nontraditional media becomes more personalized and targeted, consumers express a correlating desire to receive relevant advertising. For example, they would prefer to see movie ads on entertainment sites and sports-related ads on sports news sites.
- On sites where consumers post personal information, such as MySpace or Facebook, users prefer advertising that features relevant brands, products and services. Conversely, ads that are not targeted such as a car insurance ads reaching a 14-year-old user are viewed as annoying and lead to negative perception of advertising overall.
- Consumers are willing to trade personal information for more relevant advertising messages. Most consumers, especially the younger ones, regularly divulge such demographic and personal interest information, particularly on social network sites or sites where they purchase products or services. Privacy is becoming less of a concern, as there is a prevalent sense of resignation across age groups that personal information can be easily accessed in this era of cyberspace.
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Resistance to advertising on non-traditional media can be offset with incentives.
- Consumers will readily tolerate advertising in exchange for compensation, such as offers, coupons, free ring tones and discounts on products or services.
- To break the barrier on advertising on personal media such as mobile devices and MP3 players, there is a desire to receive something substantive and related to the medium in return, such as discounts on services, free unlimited text messages, or a discount on provider rates. Other incentives may include content perks, such as free ring tones, songs and movie downloads.
Implications for your business
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Advertising needs to integrate into media content both by execution and by product or service offered.
- Advertising on these sites should be more about presence than persistence. This can set the stage for a positive brand relationship with the consumer.
- Making the message relevant to the user’s interests communicates that the brand understands them and can strengthen the brand-consumer relationship.
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Advertisers have an opportunity to meet customer needs by offering more targeted messages on alternative media.
- Most consumers are willing to divulge personal information if it means better targeting for products or services relevant to their lives. Questions about gender and age do not raise confidentiality concerns, and users do not see a downside to revealing those basic demographics..
- Consumers often have already revealed personal interests on their social networks, such as entertainment preferences, sports and hobbies, and wish advertisers would pay attention to this information to create more relevant and targeted ads.
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Advertisers should explore creative opportunities to provide relevant incentives to consumers in order to make it more acceptable and engender a positive relationship with the consumer.
- Younger, more price-conscious consumers are particularly receptive to opportunities to save money by reducing media access fees and getting free perks.
- The same rules still apply: ads need to integrate within the content and not interrupt.
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Social networks and today's consumer Discovery sessions conducted on February 5, 2008
As part of our global research programme, PricewaterhouseCoopers Entertainment, Media and Communications practice is conducting a series of discovery sessions to elicit candid consumer feedback and gain new understanding of consumer attitudes and behaviours in a rapidly changing media landscape. This research will help identify emerging trends and provide fodder for consideration of how best to monetise content. The following is a summary of what we discovered when talking with consumers, ages 18–25; 26–34; and 25–49, about social networks.
Key findings
- Younger consumers largely define themselves by their social networks, spend significant time on their social sites, and are typically loyal to just one or two particular sites.
- Younger consumers belong to sites which allow them to express their personalities creatively and with discretion. They often spend a considerable portion of their days on social sites, and would be receptive to accessing them via cell phone if they could afford the fees.
- The participant's perception was that Facebook typically attracts more college students than MySpace; emphasis is on searching for and learning about other users via user profiles.
- MySpace, meanwhile, is typically regarded as a space for personal expression, such as posting personal updates and blogs.
- While most young social networking consumers have accounts on both sites, users generally check their MySpace site less frequently and maintain it primarily to keep in touch with friends who don’t have Facebook.
- Older consumers generally use social network sites as a tool to satisfy a specific purpose.
- While older consumers visit a wider variety of sites than younger consumers, their visits are typically purposeful and specific; as such,
they are less involved with any particular site. Many compartmentalize their personal and professional social networks with Web sites specifically tailored to each interest.
- They are less interested in accessing social sites on their cell phones.
- Advertising on social networking sites is widely accepted by users across age groups; however, they expect the ads will be well-integrated and will not interrupt viewing.
- While younger groups are more tolerant of advertising in general, all age groups look for Internet ads to be unobtrusive and subtle. Ads that flash and flicker across the page are annoying and can potentially generate ill will.
- Integrated advertising means ads for products or services that specifically target users or make sense for them personally. Ads tailored to personal interests are most relevant; for example, placing movie advertisements on the page of a movie enthusiast.
- Privacy on the Internet is not a significant concern, particularly among younger consumers.
- Most consumers are very comfortable divulging personal information within certain parameters; they will rarely disclose their social security number and generally will not disclose their address or phone number.
- Many older consumers, ages 35 - 49, indicate their privacy concerns have decreased over the years as sites develop stronger password protections; however, they remain less willing to disclose personal information than younger consumers.
Implications for your business
- Advertising must integrate into the social network site content both by execution and by product or service offered.
- Advertising on these sites should be more about presence than persistence. This can set the stage for a positive brand relationship with the consumer.
- Making the message relevant to the user’s interests communicates that the brand understands them and can strengthen the brand-consumer relationship.
- Advertising may have an opportunity to offset Internet fees on cell phones.
- Younger consumers are receptive to any opportunity to reduce the cost of cellular internet access fees.
- Ads on cell phones also need to integrate within the content and not interrupt; for example, users do not want to be alerted to an ad message. Images, rather than text, are considered least intrusive in this venue.
- Advertisers must ask consumers for the personal information needed to target them directly.
- Most consumers are willing to divulge personal information if it means better targeting for products or services relevant to their lives. Questions about gender and age do not raise confidentiality concerns, and users do not see a downside to revealing those basic demographics.
- Consumers already reveal personal interests on their social networks, such as entertainment preferences, sports and hobbies, and wish advertisers would pay attention to this information to create more relevant and targeted ads.
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