Ms. Kelley

Technology

Changes in Consumer Media Consumption

By Jacki Kelley, Yahoo! Category Development Officer, Travel

We all know the Internet has changed the way people consume media. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who would dispute this. But lately, the conversation has evolved to include Web 2.0 - a second-generation of Internet-based services that let people collaborate and share information online in new ways. But to understand the true value of this shift, let's talk about Consumer 2.0 - at the heart of Web 2.0.

Consumer 2.0 Defined

Consumer 2.0 is a consumer with infinite choices that are always available and on-demand. Consumer 2.0 has incredible tools that help them sort these choices, allowing them to get what they want when they want with very little effort. Consumer 2.0 is someone who is overworked and overwhelmed. Between 1970 and 2002, annual hours worked per capita in the US rose 20%. The wireless revolution that brought us Blackberry's, PDA's and other mobile devices has facilitated consumers' abilities to multitask and extend their workplaces into homes, airports, hotels and cafes. A recent study by Korn Ferry also showed that four out of five executives are always connected to work through these devices.

A Yahoo! research study exploring broadband habits, found that 81% of consumers who have wireless broadband in their home have taken their computer into the bedroom; 51% have taken it into the kitchen, and a staggering 21% into the bathroom.

Ironically, Consumer 2.0 is also addicted to leisure. While personal savings is at an all-time low of 2.1% of income, entertainment spending is at an all time high of 8.4%. As a prime example of leisure activities, travel is a reflection of this growing trend.

To fit all of these activities into their busy schedules, these consumers have become "master hypertaskers." A recent Yahoo! study on families entitled, "A Family Affair," found that today's family is living on average a 43 hour day. Half of this time is spent on essentials like working, school, sleeping, commuting and errands. The next biggest chunk of time - 24% - is spent consuming media. This number continues to grow and leaves many scratching their heads, wondering how consumers could possibly spend 10.5 hours a day with the Internet, TV, radio and print. Where do they find the time? Well, if we consumed media the way we used to - it would be impossible. But the world has changed forever, and media consumption today happens on top of one another.

Understanding the Reasoning Behind Consumer 2.0

Let's take a look at a few hard trends that have altered consumer behavior forever.

Technology:
The first is the trend from analog to digital. The progression to digital never goes backward. In other words, once you have broadband, you don't go back to dialup. By the end of 2008, more than 83% of households will have broadband. So it's no longer seen as something that is solely for the wealthy or the forward-thinking.

Demography:
The trend of demography is about the end of demographic skews. The Internet is for everyone. Technology is a part of people's lives and it's just as likely to see a mom taking advantage of these technologies as a teenager.

Consumer Empowerment:
The last trend is a result of the previous two -- consumer empowerment. Consumers today have more power than ever before. The consumer is truly king. This mantra is not new; however, the meaning of this has fundamentally changed. Today it's not about understanding the consumer, it's about realizing that this consumer has a different level of control.

As people go from dialup to broadband, there are two things that happen that are important to marketers - task efficiency and multitasking. Task efficiency is at the heart of increased Internet usage - it is simply easier and faster to get what you want, when you want it. Also with broadband consumers take much deeper dives into content that is of interest at that moment. Consumers are going from their TV to their computer to engage differently with the content. And this multi-tasking behavior is no longer channel loyal.

With these trends as the foundation, let's revisit how consumers are engaging with media. The diagram below shows that once a consumer has broadband, the Internet becomes as pervasive in their life as television. But what this chart doesn't illustrate is how media consumption is taking place. Media consumption does not happen independently.

Relating to Consumers 2.0 as a Hotel Marketer

So what can hotel companies do to intercept and engage with the consumer in this on-demand, always-on, infinite choice world?

1) Consider the Long Tail concept and how it applies to your brand:

Chris Anderson's book The Long Tail provides insight into consumer behavior. For those who have not read the book, the concept is simple. The Long Tail plots consumer behavior on two axes - audience and engagement (illustration below).

Using the NFL as an example, the Super Bowl would be the "head" of the tail. In 2006 it garnered a huge audience with more than 140 million viewers, but engagement is short-lived, lasting only four hours. Regular NFL games do the same thing 16 times a year - still providing a mass-size audience on a weekly basis. The NFL realizes in today's on-demand, infinite choice environment, their brand requires an everyday presence, so they launched nfl.com and the NFL cable network.

As you continue to move down the "tail," audiences shrink but engagement grows, as you find passionate team followers and millions of searches that allow people to dive deeper with specific content. If the Super Bowl is vintage "head" content, fantasy football epitomizes "tail" content because it involves a much smaller group of consumers but they are enormously engaged with the brand. It's reported that Fantasy players spend 25 to 30 hours a week with the NFL brand. To simplify this further, at Yahoo!, we think of the head as MASS, the middle as PURCHASE and the tail as PASSION (illustration below).

Applying this to your business, think about what a mass audience is for your brand. What is the most efficient way to reach your masses? Then consider how your brand can do a better job of managing the 24/7 cycle. How can you align with your consumer when they are in a purchase mentality? Finally, how can you engage with consumers to align with passion points that your brand shares?

2) Think in context of four pillars: search, personalization, content and community.

At Yahoo!, consumer behavior shapes our strategy. We've got to attract consumers, engage consumers and retain them by integrating content the way that today's consumer demands. To do this, we focus on what we call a four-pillar strategy - grounded entirely in what we've learned about consumer behavior and what they do inside our network. These pillars - content, personalization, community and search - provide a framework for a hotel marketer. As you consider the communication plan, think about:

3) Consider audience engagement and audience aggregation

In the past, media campaigns have been measured on reach and frequency. Now, in the Consumer 2.0 world, this has changed to reach and engagement. Interruption, or disruption, as the fundamental promise of marketing no longer works. You have to create content that's interesting, useful or entertaining enough to invite the consumer. Two examples that deliver on this are:

Dove Soap:
This campaign received attention for the creation of webisodes (starring Felicity Huffman and directed by Penny Marshall) that superimpose Huffman into old episodes of Leave it to Beaver, The Munsters and The Brady Bunch - programs the target audience loves and remembers. The purpose of the effort was to change women's behavior and encourage them to take a relaxing shower (with Dove products of course!) at the end of a busy day. This campaign cleverly weaves the product messaging into compelling and engaging content, inviting women to engage with the brand. To drive traffic, Dove placed snippets of this content into their behaviorally targeted online advertising leveraging the actual ad units rather than relying solely on click through.

Southwest Airlines:
Southwest invites consumers to engage with their brand by embedding a fare search and booking engine into its promotional banner campaigns. By allowing the user to select flights, see fares and book trips right in the ad, they are able to achieve far greater user engagement.

Consumer behavior has changed forever. While some may say reaching the consumer in this highly fragmented environment is harder - those that are doing it are likely to argue it's easier. And they are achieving greater customer insight, far better results and building lifetime customers.

Jacki Kelley currently serves as the Category Development Officer for Yahoo! Travel and is responsible for developing and leading online marketing strategies for Yahoo!’s travel clients. Jacki works with Yahoo!’s world-class marketing solutions team to create integrated programs that increase brand association and purchase intent/sales and is a member of the AAF Hall of Achievement for advertising executives who have achieved significant results before the age of 40. Ms. Kelley can be contacted at 212-381-6860 or jkelley@yahoo-inc.com Extended Bio...

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