Content also inspires relationships. It brings together fan communities via IRL activations and deep Reddit subthreads, where audiences build out narrative worlds in collaborative feats of imagination.

Today’s audiences are ready to go to great lengths to access the content they love. These passionate fans are extra tuned-in to their favorite shows and the advertisers seeking their attention. And so, advertisers have the opportunity to connect with content lovers in unexpected ways, and even turn them into brand fans by adopting new media planning strategies.

In a new ViacomCBS report, ‘Culture of Streaming,’ our creative strategy and cultural intelligence team set out to uncover emerging audience behaviors surrounding the streaming wars. When it comes to that evolving streaming landscape, the team found that content is all about personal control. Asynchronous viewing patterns allow people to stream what they want, when they want it — and this has only accelerated during the pandemic year, when 30% of American adults surveyed watched TV while they were supposed to be working from home.

How that plays into competitive campaigns and positive outcomes for brands, the data shows, revolves around content, identity and the core factor of audiences’ relationships with the shows they watch.

Borderless identities: the confluence of content and identity

The explosion of streaming content, personalized algorithms and accessible media has opened up the gates for identity-driven exploration. This means that audiences are not quite as predictable as media planners might think. In fact, according to the same ViacomCBS report, 41% of the polled American adults say that there is a show, movie or online video they love to watch that even a stranger would find surprising or funny based on the way they perceive the viewer.

Sometimes, love for content can in some ways shift audience identity as well. In the ‘Culture of Streaming’ report, 39% of the surveyed American adults said they have gotten so obsessed with a TV show that they felt like it consumed their whole identity for a period of time. This comes out to roughly 85 million American adults — more than the largest number of votes cast for a single presidential candidate.

Content encourages personal development and comforts

If a good doctor is hard to find, quality content certainly is not. Half of Americans have used a show, movie or online video as a form of therapy, and 25% in the ViacomCBS study say that a show has helped them understand a problem in their life. TV shows can also help people discover new avenues for exploration: 29% say a show inspired them to try a new activity or hobby. In …read more

Source:: Digiday

Author: Aaron