At Variety's 2024 Entertainment Marketing Summit, Andrew Wallenstein, President and Chief Media Analyst of Variety Intelligence Platform, speaks with Jana Arbanas, Deloitte's Vice Chair and Head of U.S. Communications, Media and Entertainment. We discussed the background and theme of the annual digital marketing. Media trends.
This year marks the 18th year of Deloitte's Gen Z and Millennials study. This survey analyzes more than 3,500 consumers ages 14 and older and will be sent back to the U.S. Census Bureau to get a truly representative view of consumer behavior.
Five different themes emerging from digital media this year include streamers' crossroads moments, how social media influencers are driving engagement with TV shows, movies, and video games, and the lack of women in the gaming industry , the untapped potential of fandom, and the diversification of fandom. American audience.
According to Arbanas, on average they spend about $61 a month, and more than a third of their customers don't feel the content they're paying for isn't worth it. Companies are combating this by introducing ad-supported tiers. “It’s getting really expensive,” she said. “Personally, I feel streamers are in a crisis situation in terms of consumer engagement and things really need to change, or they risk losing consumers to other forms of entertainment. .”
Regarding gaming, Arbanas said the biggest threat facing the platform is harassment and bullying. But she sees the power of emerging fandoms and diversifying audiences, especially among younger audiences.
“People are recognizing diversity on social media and want to see that representation on the bigger screen,” Arbanas said. “Especially that's what younger generations expect to see behind the screen, not on the screen. They want to see content written and produced by diverse people.”
The two then discussed Arbanas' predictions for the future of media and entertainment. She envisions merging her social media and streaming platforms to unify her tastes in TV shows, short videos, and music, eliminating the need to subscribe to multiple services separately. “I believe that within the next few years there will be a killer platform that will be very personalized for me,” she said.
