At this year’s Media Insights & Engagement conference in Scottsdale, insights industry leaders came together to share key challenges and explore new opportunities shaping the future of media, from engaging keynotes by leaders at Disney+, Netflix, and Reddit, to informative panels, presentations, and case studies from Nickelodeon, Paramount, A&E, Roku, TikTok, Warner Brothers, ESPN, Snap, and more. Amid constant change and disruption in the media landscape, it was inspiring to hear from the researchers leading the charge through these transformative shifts.
But as the saying goes, “the more things change, the more they stay the same”. In an enlightening keynote, “Rethinking Trends, Brands & The Future of Community”, Matt Klein, Head of Global Foresight at Reddit shared statistics showing that in general, top trends in the industry are not changing year-over-year. This is evident when I look back at our recap of last year’s conference, where the same trends continued to ring true:
But as Matt shared, “trends ≠ trending”. When we look at trends, we’re comparing the present to the past. But with audiences in the driver’s seat, it’s more important than ever to capture what’s trending, and find opportunities to build with consumers, not just for them, to stay relevant today and in the future. In an industry where brands are swimming in traditional KPIs and behavioral viewership data, media brands need to find ways to quantify the “water cooler talk” if they want to capitalize on what consumers are looking for in the moment, and by leveraging primary research, brands can help amplify consumers’ voices in their decision-making.
The challenge of content discovery echoed throughout many of the sessions. Today, there are 1.1 million more shows available than there were in 2020. On average, consumers use 7 different sources to view content and subscribe to an average of 4 streaming services. Even premium content is brought to the small screen via changing distribution channels. With so many options to choose from across a variety of platforms, content discovery becomes problematic. And in today’s attention economy, consumers are increasingly mindful of how they spend their free time, seeking to avoid regret. As a result, they’ve become more risk-averse when choosing what to watch. As such, brand trust plays an important role to capturing viewership.
Last year’s call to action was to get smarter about the strategies used for integrating short-form social content into the discovery and viewing experiences. It appears brands took this to heart, as heard from Natasha Hritzuk (VP, Head of Corporate Research at Warner Brothers Discovery) in “Frenemies Forever: Leveraging Short Form to Fuel TV and Movies”. In identifying how short form video drives discovery, engagement and loyalty to TV shows and movies, brands are embracing the relationship between short-form and long-from content working together to drive overall viewership. And in “The Science Behind TikTok’s Role in the Evolving Media Landscape”, we heard how in these new rules of viewership, brands need to have an “always on” strategy to remain current and capture consumers’ “higher quality attention”.
In a particularly illuminating keynote address, “Decoding Gen Z and Understanding What Inspires Them to Act”, award-winning, viral content creator, Taylor Cassidy, drove home the point that we only have 1 minute to capture Gen Z’s attention or risk losing them.
And this is not just a lesson for content creators, but for us as researchers as we think about engaging with our participants. As heard from Tik Tok, “mobile-first behavior is on the rise, becoming the primary choice for modern consumers. 61% of time at home consuming media as on mobile vs. 49% on TV.” CMB is embracing this new normal by meeting survey respondents where they are, as evidenced in our own session at the conference, where Sasha McCune, CMB’s VP of Media, Entertainment & Culture presented alongside Terri Rhee, Director, Brand Consumer & Market Insights at Hulu, in “AI-Powered Insights with Hulu, at ComiCon and Beyond”. By leveraging an innovative AI-powered chatbot, we captured authentic, in-the-moment, and post-event feedback from attendees at Anime Expo and San Diego Comic-Con. This approach provided invaluable insights into brand love, awareness, event engagement, and viewer impact. CMB’s approach harnesses AI to collect data in a more engaging way while leveraging human intelligence to provide expert analysis and meaningful storytelling. As we heard throughout the conference, storytelling is still king, and researchers must ensure that AI-driven insights remain contextually relevant and actionable.
In today’s fast-evolving media landscape, it’s encouraging to know that research remains the cornerstone of understanding behaviors, emotions, and emerging market trends. Successful research requires agility, the ability to navigate an overwhelming sea of KPIs, and the foresight to define new, cross-platform metrics that capture the lifetime value of content. Perhaps most importantly, researchers play a crucial role in helping decision-makers move beyond intuition, using data to answer critical business questions with clarity and confidence. As an insights professional, I was particularly inspired by keynote speaker, Fonz Morris, Design Lead, Global Conversion & Monetization at Netflix. He talked about the assumption vs. reality gap, and how, “we thought we knew better until research proved us wrong”. Taking the time to understand not just the behaviors, but also the needs and emotions of consumers is critical for smart decision-making, as he notes that “Assumptions are expensive. Insights are insurance.”
Taking a page from Fonz’s playbook, I ask: what’s one assumption that you have today about your customers, prospects, or products and services that can be turned into a research question, but don’t know how to solve it? Let’s connect today, we would love to learn more!