Television’s Power of Participation

Technological leaps have enabled consumers wielding Internet technology to connect to whatever interests them anytime anywhere Yet when it comes to time spentamp160the most popular mediumamp160is one thatamp8217s nearing its 90thamp160anniversary Televisionamp8217s longevity is driven by its unmatched ability to capture consumers with emotive storytelling through sight sound and motion Itamp8217s no surprise then that TV still gets theamp160bulkamp160of brand advertising dollarsWhat is new however is that television viewers are increasingly active on their digital devices while watching According toamp160Accenture 87 of global viewers use smartphones tablets laptops or other devices at the same time they are watching TV These multitaskers are often doing research on what they are watching or using social media to engage with a program and its cast access other viewersamp8217 reactions or share their own opinionsIn this way social media has transformed TV moments into participatory media events Historically a oneway vehicle television has become a multidirectional interactive experience With 71 of US Internet users visiting a social media platform during TV commercial breaks the interactive experience applies to ad messages as well as program content Advertisers can no longer ignore the crosschannel impact of their TV advertisingIn a newamp160study completed in partnership with Turner 4C found TVamp160advertisingamp160drives 20 of consumer interaction with brands on Facebook and Twitter That figure becomes more impressive when you consider that TVinfluenced social media users must switch their focus to a secondary device and then navigate to a social media or brand app signifying strong consumer intent and interest in the brandFor driving multiscreen social media brand engagement not all TV shows are created equal The standout is premium programming such as sports live events and originals that people will not record for later viewing or catch on demand Our study found that TV ads that ran during premium content resulted in more than 45 times additional social media brand engagement than ads running during nonpremium programmingPremium TV is key to creating the shared media experiences of todayamp8217s alwayson multiscreen consumers These events get large audiences and the phenomena of FOMO Fear of Missing Out and FOOF Fear of Our Feeds being littered with spoilers greatly increase the number of people who gather around their TVs and devices to contribute to these collective experiencesAs a result of TV turning into a participatory activity for consumers advertisers are now developing crosschannel strategies to capitalize on shared media experiences Thatamp8217s because brands too are now experiencing FOMO They donamp8217t want to be left behind in making realtime contributions to the collective consciousness as amp8220mustshareamp8221 replaces amp8220mustwatchamp8221 in the marketing lexicon amp160Just as technology empowered consumers to share it will enable advertisers to remain relevant amongst multitasking consumers Combining TV and social analytics and activation allows advertisers to capture the emotion from consumers and deliver timely targeted and synchronized messages Being able to do so at scale will make a brand both part of the cultural dialogue and meaningful to consumersImage at top courtesy of Corbis The opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageMyersBizNet management or associated bloggers

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Television’s Power of Participation

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Lance Neuhauser

Empowering Women in Media: Insights from Industry Leaders (Video) - By E.B. Moss

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Television’s Power of Participation

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Lance Neuhauser

Empowering Women in Media: Insights from Industry Leaders (Video) - By E.B. Moss

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