5. Consumers Want Integration
Unlike most of our iMedia events, Integrate '06 was a Summit about integrated marketing, not just interactive marketing. Consumers have already taken the plunge and started to integrate their media consuming habits across channels and platforms, and it's time for marketers -- including movie marketers -- to catch up.
The striking new downloadable video market is perhaps the place where it is easiest to see what consumers want, which is media anytime, anyplace and preferably for free. Marketers need to integrate their messages accordingly, and online is the place to start.
Some Q1 data from Points North Group makes this clear:
- Consumers prefer free ad-supported TV on demand to paying $1.99 a pop by a three to one ratio
- 50 percent more video downloaders would prefer to watch that video on their TVs
- More than one third of internet users are ready to welcome Google and Yahoo onto the video-on-demand playing field-- iTunes, watch your back!
So it's not that TV is going away as a major entertainment channel for consumers, but the nature of TV is changing.
Movie marketers have a terrific and cost-effective opportunity to sponsor video downloads or streams, give consumers what they want, and get a happy association between, say, a free episode of "Desperate Housewives" and a new movie that provides that episode.
Consumers want to watch that sponsored video on the big screen in the living room, but they're going to find out about it online.
