Most media consumers today operate in a form of perpetual attention deficit: there is simply more content available than they could possibly attend to. The media that go unattended to are not necessarily of an inferior quality, rather they somehow don’t fit into the lifestyle of the person who misses it.
Once information becomes freely available on the internet it is easily accessed and shared by anyone who can operate a search engine and send an email. So in sectors where information is abundant and available, the only ‘cost’ of information is the time and effort that it takes to engage with it.
Businesses in virtually all consumer-facing sectors are facing a similar scenario – they too operate in a marketplace driven by demand for thinly spread consumer attention. Media in general will benefit if they can effectively present advertising and other commercial content in a way that consumers appreciate and attend to; to emphasise Attention over Content. Consumers will be drawn to sources that add value to the information in ways that enhance their experience of it – through having a more trustworthy brand, effective design, accessibility, community and engagement, for example.
Usability as a Differentiator
For many people, the ‘instinctive’ response in the face of all the variety of content available to them is to go faster, multitask, and spend more time engaging with media. Print media may need to start focusing more on the holistic experience of consumption in the context of their readers’ lifestyles. On a simple level, this may mean changing the ways content is written and laid out, as well as ensuring a seamless brand experience across other channels such as internet, mobile phones and e-readers. I would suggest that strong brands help reduce the cognitive dissonance that media consumers may experience when faced with the overwhelming variety of content from various outlets.
Free and Fee
Online content, along with online advertising and payments, continues to grow even as print readership and advertising revenues decline. In the online environment, content is abundant.
Much content online is serendipitously encountered – consumers haven’t gone out looking for it specifically, but have been referred to it by a peer or encountered it via a search engine. It is difficult to get people to pull out their credit cards to read an article they have encountered by chance and with cursory interest. In the case of these encounters, it would be a mistake to hide content behind a password protected “walled garden”. The main argument against this is perhaps that Google and other search engines will not index password protected content, so a significant channel of new readership will be foregone.
On the other hand, the challenge with completely free content is that it tends to rely on more advertising and advertorials. The problem with this is two-fold: firstly, it may lower the quality of the reader’s experience, and secondly, it may begin to infringe on editorial and journalistic independence.
There have been alternate calls for content providers to go free or to continue charging fees, whether in print or online. I would argue for a blended approach, often called Freemium pricing, which works with two basic pricing levels: free and premium. Free content is used to attract attention and showcase the product. Premium content is exclusive and may offer greater access, functionality, or a better quality of experience. A blanket approach to making content either free or paid for is shortsighted and limiting.
In conclusion, I would assert that media consumption is not only driven by the quality of content, but also the quality of the experience in engaging with the content. Increasingly, considerations such as branding, integration with social-communities, personalisation and elegance need to be integrated.
Dave Duarte won the “Best Business Blog” category at the 2009 SA Blog Awards. He is an internet and mobile media entrepreneur, lecturer and Managing Director of Huddlemind.
Dave recently presented his thoughts on the Attention Economy to RamsayMedia staff.
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