“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: It will be streamed, snapped, tweeted, and projected in virtual reality.”
That’s the title of a presentation from tech strategist and investor Ashu Garg, who leads Foundation Capital.
His big thesis is that hybrid producers/ tech-savvy marketers will develop the “cross-platform, data-driven video strategies that blur the line between content and advertising.”
This analysis provides big picture context for our Choppertown / Facebook Video case study, which is a model for the new fusion between documentary production and social media marketing.
Highlights
Here are the highlight slides. I’m sharing them because the analysis can help producers and executives figure out the new digital economy, and then successfully ride the dangerous rapids of digitization.
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The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Highlights)
Choice is Exploding
- The rapid proliferation of video platforms means that brands have a host of new, more engaging ways to connect with their customers.
- But it also means that marketing is going to get exponentially more complex.
This very interesting slide is readable here
Digital Video Consumption is on the Rise
Generation Z and the New Definition of ‘Tuning In’
- Generation Z shows a love for video and a growing indifference to the big box and remote.
- All gains in live and time-shifted linear TV viewing in Q4 2015 were among those over 50 yrs old.
Ashu Garg’s Key Takeaways
- Consumers have an array of platforms to choose from, with more and more sure to emerge in the coming years.
- Many of these outlets are already on-demand, subscription driven, and ad free—which creates the necessity for new, innovative brand marketing solutions.
- As the number of platforms customers engage with (social, digital, VR, etc.) continues to increase, brands will need new models of content creation.
- Unfortunately, the scale of content required is immense, and there are not enough people with the skills to make it possible.
- Just as marketing has become a technical discipline, a new breed of technical content creators will soon emerge.
- Tomorrow’s content creator will have a skillset that blends digital design, filmmaking, game development (for VR), and data science to enable the rapid creation and optimization of interactive branded video and VR content across multiple platforms.
Report
- Read the full report here.
- And the PPT here.
Peter’s Takeaways
- The “From Mad Men to Math Men + Women” thesis rings my bells because I’ve seen over and over how profitable winners are created by the fusion of direct response marketing skills with classic audience analysis.
- However this shift to digital is a fast-moving current, and not Niagara Falls. There will be decades of evolution of hybrid roles and skill sets.
- Read about Zach Coffman evolved from producer to tech-savvy social media marketer — and then back to producer again. It’s all in our Choppertown Facebook Video case study.
- And read our Factory Media post about another digital success story.
VR Boom or Bust?
- BTW, I’m not ready to buy into the ‘VR story-telling‘ boom-let promoted by Ashu Garg.
- VR may be a great solution for certain museum exhibitions, education and training, and for games and porn. Sports, too.
- But I haven’t seen a single example of VR documentary story-telling that isn’t a bust.
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SVOD EXPLAINED
Original Analysis for Documentary Producers & Executives
PLUS TAKEAWAYS
Opportunities, Success Factors & Deal Terms
for Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, Vimeo and other OTT/VOD Platforms
From DocumentaryTelevision.com with
contributions from distributor Kinonation’s Roger Jackson
Read More Here.
Download Now: $39.95
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- SMASH, Science Media Summit, Boston, September 20-26: Big, Big Trends
- Wildscreen, Bristol UK, October 10-14: WildLIVE!
- WIVF’s ScriptDC, Washington DC, November 5: Distribution Landscape
- Realscreen Summit Master Class, Washington DC, January 23: Production Budgeting with Elizabeth Ventura, the ‘budget whisperer’.
- AIDC, Melbourne, March 5-8. Btw, I’m excited to join the AIDC Advisory Committee