goetzpartners study: Channel, content, personalisation and the brand determine the success of media content

Finding media content: Individuality wins

17. mars 2016

Press release

Munich, 17 March 2016 – Consumers in Germany are confronted with a real explosion in the volume of content. However, 70 percent of media users are not fully satisfied with how they are able to find content across all types of media. That is shown in the representative study “Entertainment Unlimited” by the consulting firm goetzpartners. According to it, the growing digital offering has partly resulted in a cannibalisation of media use, especially in relation to print titles. However, media usage as a whole has risen from an average of 513 minutes a day in 2005 to 625 minutes for the Internet, TV, radio and print. So that consumers can find the right content faster and more directly, media companies have to take into account three success factors, according to the study: The right combination of channel and content, personalisation and an expressive brand are key to successfully monetising media content.

goetzpartners media study: XXL Infographic

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The study by goetzpartners reveals: 62 percent of consumers prefer to start using media from a central platform instead of via special sites or applications from the individual providers. Marcus Worbs, a partner at goetzpartners, explains: “That underscores just how important a multi-channel strategy is for distributing media content and also illustrates the strong competition among content. Companies have to assume that the customer cannot always find the offered content directly through their own exploitation channels. Instead, customers search far more frequently for their content preferences and find what they want on different channels. A multi-channel strategy helps companies reach their entire user potential and guide users to their own channels via external sources.”

The right combination: Channel and content

However, the right combination of channel and content is crucial; after all, users have clear preferences as to what content they prefer on what end devices. For instance, weather apps are the most frequently installed on all end devices (smart TV: 40 percent, tablet PC: 61 percent, smartphone: 60 percent), but they are followed by device-specific preferences. News apps only manage to make it into the top 3 installed applications on smart TVs (36 percent) and tablets (48 percent). Games are the most frequently installed apps on mobile devices (tablet: 55 percent, smartphone: 48 percent), while communication apps are among the top 3 only on smartphones (53 percent). Media companies should take these preferences into account if they want to place content successfully in the various channels.

Leveraging willingness to disclose information: Personalisation

According to goetzpartners’ study, a majority of users are willing in principle to disclose personal information in order to obtain an offering that is better tailored to them. Only 25 percent of users do not want to reveal any personal information, while the vast majority of the remainder tie this to specific conditions. 46 percent state that data privacy and security are a necessary condition, 31 percent do not want their data to be passed on to third parties, and 21 percent want additional benefits in return. Media companies can leverage this basic willingness to disclose information to personalise the content they offer at various levels: Personalised content packages, customised recommendations or personalised navigation make it easier for users to discover content that is truly relevant for them. As a result, the provider increases its revenue.

Clear promise: An expressive brand

It is also vital for content to be able to be found so that it is not submerged among the sheer mass of what is on offer. Users find their preferred content by means of a full-text search (61 percent) and genre (56 percent), but also inform themselves through recommendations from other users (35 percent) or recommendations based on previous usage. By contrast, editorial recommendations (19 percent) or even newsletters (13 percent) carry hardly any weight. Clear branding of the exploitation channel and content with an obviously recognisable promise is therefore a key success factor in content marketing.

Leading medium: The Internet

The change in media usage in Germany is the reason behind why media companies have to focus their attention more on making their content easy to find. According to goetzpartners’ study, the Internet has become established as the leading medium: 95 percent of those surveyed regularly use the Internet, followed in 2nd place by free TV (86 percent). Videos, DVDs or Blu-rays are also popular, but are used irregularly by 61 percent and regularly by just 21 percent of those surveyed. Among the Generation Y (consumers aged 18 to 34), game consoles (regularly used by 40 percent) and mobile TV (regularly used by 18 percent) are also more widespread than among the older generations (regular usage by 14 and 9 percent respectively). There is also a generational change as regards access channels: The majority of consumers now obtain information on media content from printed programme guides (58 percent) and teletext (37 percent), while online access channels are gaining in importance among the Generation Y: Electronic programme guides (33 percent), programme guides in the Internet (33 percent) and general websites (31 percent) rank almost equally with printed programme guides (35 percent) among them. In addition, personal recommendations (30 percent) are far more important for the Generation Y than for the older generation (15 percent).

About the study "Entertainment Unlimited"

For the study "Entertainment Unlimited", goetzpartners conducted a representative consumer survey of 1,500 Internet users in autumn 2015 and collected data about key questions involving TV usage: from end devices, content and functions to the business models of TV providers. You can obtain the full study upon request here.

goetzpartners: Advisory for Strategy, M&A and Transformation

goetzpartners is an independent advisory firm for all key issues of entrepreneurial activity: Strategy, M&A, Transformation. With 250 professionals operating out of 12 offices in 9 countries, we advise clients worldwide in all key industries. The company ranks among the 10 best-performing German advisory firms (Lünendonk®). In the “Best of Consulting” awards, we took 1st place in the “Project Excellence” (2014) category and were awarded in the “M&A, Finance and Risk Management” category (2015).

Press contact

Ines Bieger
Director Marketing & PR
goetzpartners
Prinzregentenstraße 56
80538 Munich, Germany
T + 49 – 89 – 29 07 25 – 337
M + 49 – 151 – 17 14 11 04
Email

Sarah Hippold
Account Executive
Text100 GmbH
Nymphenburger Straße 168
80634 Munich, Germany
T + 49 – 89 – 998370 – 45
M + 49 – 176 – 19 83 70 45
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