Las redes sociales y el entretenimiento

Social Networks become social entertainment

Estoy seguro que ya todos han escuchado hablar de que las redes sociales se han convertido en fuente de entretenimiento. En este sentido, un estudio reciente plantea que los consumidores por sí mismos son generadores de entretenimiento y que el verdadero reto para las marcas es entender qué es entretenimiento para el consumidor. Si el entretenimiento surge de la interacción con los amigos a través de las redes, entonces dónde quedan las marcas. Finalmente, se rescata la idea de que es necesario generar contenido para atraer la atención de los consumidores. El contenido puede ser manipulado por los usuarios y convertirse en fuente de entretenimiento.
Échenle un ojo a esto. Creo que necesitamos pensar en nuevas formas de hablarle al consumidor si queremos ser relevantes en sus vidas...

A recent survey released by Edelman examined the evolution of consumers’ perceptions of the Internet as an entertainment medium, and not just a source of information. While this broad statement may seem obvious to many working directly in the digital media space, the implications of this evolution for how consumers define and consume entertainment – and the factors they value and are inclined to pay for – merit further consideration for any brand looking to entertain and engage consumers.

According to Edelman and AdWeek:

• When asked “What sources of entertainment do you turn to most often?” 32 percent of U.S. respondents cited the Internet
• That put it second only to TV (58 percent), with movies (28 percent), radio (17 percent) and music/CDs (14 percent) each drawing fewer votes
• When asked whether they “consider social-networking sites to be a form of entertainment,” 58 percent said they do, vs. 36 percent saying they don’t and the rest unsure
• Among 18-24-year-olds, 73 percent classified social networking sites as an entertainment source
• When asked about whether a half-dozen entertainment sources “provide excellent, very good, good, fair or poor value in entertainment”, the highest excellent/very good vote (40 percent) went to “social networking sites”
• Social networking sites were ranked ahead head of “film producers/movie studios” (37 percent), “music companies” (34 percent), “gaming companies” (32 percent), “cable television providers” (32 percent) and “satellite television providers” (31 percent) in terms of their entertainment value

What is important about this perception of social media as entertainment is that it places other consumers in the role of entertainer – and not just the professional entertainment industry. It also challenges brands to truly understand what it is that consumers regard as entertaining. After all, if a consumer can derive that enjoyment from their peers, then why go to a brand – unless that brand has true insight, and a pulse on how people want to be entertained?

To this end, Edelman also sought to identify the factors that matter most to consumers in buying and consuming entertainment;

• Eighty-seven percent rated “my personal enjoyment of the entertainment” as extremely or somewhat important, putting it atop the hierarchy of considerations
• Close behind were “excellent visual or sound quality of the entertainment” (86 percent), “being able to purchase the entertainment easily” (83 percent), “the hours of enjoyment the entertainment will provide” (81 percent) and “being able to access the entertainment immediately” (80 percent)
• Perhaps surprisingly, fewer respondents valued “the number of devices with which I can access the entertainment” (65 percent), “having unrestricted ability to share or make copies of the entertainment legally” (53 percent) or “popularity of the entertainment” (50 percent).
• Consumers are willing to trade advertising for free content: When asked which of a number of things they’d “be willing to sacrifice in order to get entertainment for free,” the highest number of votes (47 percent) went to “advertisement-free entertainment”
• At the very bottom of the list of things people would sacrifice in order to get entertainment for free (chosen by just 13 percent) was “privacy of my personal information.”
• Consumers continue to be willing to pay for entertainment: Four in 10 respondents said they “personally spend” more than $50 on buying entertainment in “a typical month,” including 12 percent who spend $76-100 and another 12 percent who spend more than $100.