Never be content, with your content

We can all look back on that one film that made us stop in our tracks. The power of the image and the score of the music that draws you in, slaps you in the face and demands your attention.

Content now demands your attention more than ever. Gone are the 35ft cinematic screens and the anticipation for the new release, audiences now demand that content adapt to their way of life.

Mobile video consumption has risen significantly in the past decade. By 2020, more than 80% of all content viewed on mobile will be video. But when the consumers attention is scaled back to a staggering 1.6 secs, and the need for satisfaction a share or a like away, how is it not hard to compromise on the quality of the content that you are making?

You shouldn’t.

Although the method in which we are viewing has evolved and will continue to, the new 6” AMOLED display screen that consumes us every day has been developed for the creator. If anything, we now have a deeper connection with the audience. We demand their attention and create content that they can immerse themselves in, either privately or, should they wish, at the touch of a button they can share it to a million people. Why would we as creators not want that?

The audience now carry their own cinema in their pocket and irrelevant of the screen in which it is being displayed, the experience is the same, if not better.

Sure, you can skip a grade, or cut your edit in half to please the dwindling attention of our audiences, but to truly engage and deliver the experience they demand… we should never compromise on the quality or experience that we are delivering.

Our audience demand it, our clients expect it.

And why shouldn’t we? New platforms, methods and innovations are allowing us, as content makers, to expand our horizons, providing us the opportunity to push ourselves and enhance the content that we are creating.

Yes of course there is VR, an immersive experience that can transport the user into your world, but this is still a solitary experience, and AR/MR will start to bring the content to you in new ways and forms but it is not the technologies that are driving the new ways of viewing… it is the platforms in which they are being consumed that are defining how we should create.

Do people want to watch feature length content on their phones? 5 years ago, we were told that creating anything more than 90 secs is a dead piece of content. Yet fast forward to today and the tube is full of heads down watching Prime or Netflix and even our beloved social networks are embracing the power of long form content through the additions of IGTV and Facebook watch.

And the platforms are demanding it too! They are asking for longer form, episodic serialised content and this is a win/win. The audience get a great piece of viewing and the more your content is consumed, the more the algorithm loves you and places your content in front of more people.

This is an exciting time for creators and the way in which technology and content complement each other. It drives us all to think out of the box and drive new boundaries and I for one will never be content, with my content.