So what does this mean to you?

As a consumer, it means that you have more choice than ever.  With the advent of TiVo and Hulu, you can watch your favorite television shows whenever you want because appointment television is now a thing of the past.  You can go to YouTube and watch millions of short-form videos: snippets of political speeches, commercials that you actually WANT to watch and almost anything else that you can imagine, from dancing cats to videos of your niece.  iTunes is quickly becoming a destination for music videos and movies, just as it previously became a destination for single hits.  And Wi-Fi capable devices like laptops, smart phones, iPods, and Apple’s iPad are making it easy to consume video on the go.  Video is everywhere and available via multiple devices…freeing it up from the tyranny of the set top box.

But what if you or your organization wants to communicate via video?  What if you have a marketing, public relations, or branding campaign you want to disseminate?  Depending on the message, it means that you have a lot more delivery choices available to you than ever before – delivery choices that can help you reach your target audience via a very powerful and persuasive medium.  No longer dependent on an expensive broadcast medium that threw a wide net in hopes of reaching a small percentage of viewers, you can now target your audience and reach them via a multiplicity of channels and devices.

It also means that you have to do a little more homework before embarking on that marketing, branding, or public relations campaign.  But no worries, over the next few weeks we’ll be helping you think through this new set of challenges

Although it’s difficult to predict with any certitude what journalism will ultimately look like, it will probably be defined by the following:

1. The Internet: More and more news will be consumed online. Although still lagging behind local and national television news, according to a 2010 Pew Internet and American Life Project report, the internet is now the third most popular news platform…a trend that continues to accelerate, so look for it to overtake television in the near future just as it has overtaken print and radio.
2. “Anytime, Anywhere” Access: News will be accessed via a multiple number of traditional and new media platforms. Consumers will access news when they want it and will do so multiple times a day via multiple platforms.
3. Blended: More and more news online will be a blend of print, video and multimedia. Well underway, this trend will continue to gain momentum and consumers will come to expect high levels of media interactivity when accessing news content, especially when dealing with particularly complex issues.
4. Mobile: Pew also reports that “33% of cell phone owners now access news on their cell phones.” With the recent introduction of other mobile devices, such as Apple’s iPad, you can expect those numbers to continue to rise.
5. Video-centric: Video is playing an increasingly important role in the development of news online and on mobile devices, and video news content draws higher advertising dollars than any other kind of news. This is one of the trends that will affect television news in the same way that blogs and other online news sites affected print journalism.
6. Participatory: Increasingly, more and more news content is being generated by users. According to the same Pew report cited above, “37% of internet users have contributed to the creation of news.” Although the largest proportion of user generated news content is text based, the increased penetration of broadband into the household as well as the increasing number of consumer devices that now include built-in cameras (laptop webcams, cell phones and other mobile devices) will make it easier for consumers to participate in the creation of video news content.
7. Shareable: Also according to the cited Pew report, social networks as well as social networking technology will play an important role in the sharing and filtering of news content. Internet users have already become accustomed to sharing news via email as “more than 8 in 10 online news consumers get or share links in emails.” As more of those users also become accustomed to using Facebook, Digg, Linked In, and the like to share news, social networks will play an increasingly important role in the dissemination of news.

Here at Mind & Media we are conscious of these trends and take them into account as we help our clients communicate in this evolving media landscape. We are in the midst of producing an online, interactive video series on health care reform for UPI.com. The new approach uses webcam technology to encourage participation by experts, pundits, other reporters, and viewers and helps to delve deeper into this complex issue than would otherwise be possible.

I’ll say it again: it’s all about the audience.  Your message, the medium you choose and the distribution mechanism you select is all dictated by the audience you want to reach. With the multitude of choices that make up our ever-widening media landscape, choosing the right avenue by which to reach your audience is extremely important and can make or break your campaign.

So where are these splintered audiences and how can you best reach them? There are entire books that have been written about this subject and I only have a few paragraphs, so I’ll concentrate on one demographic parameter alone: age. In future posts I’ll deal with others such as gender, income level and race.

The biggest general observation that can be made about media consumption is that online technologies are increasingly attracting all age groups, especially the younger demos, while traditional media like newspapers, magazines, radio and television continue to skew older.

Newspapers: Newspaper readership has been in a steady decline over the past decade, with only two in five reporting that they obtain their news via traditional newspaper brands on a daily basis (whether print or online). 60% of those 55+ reported reading a newspaper on a daily basis while “less than one quarter of those aged 18-34 (23%) say they read a newspaper almost every day while 17% in this age group say they never read a daily newspaper.”

Magazines: The average age of magazine readers is now 45 at the same time that ad pages continue their downward trend.

Radio (AM/FM): Listenership is declining in the 12-17 age demo, while 86% of those above the age of seventeen still listen to radio.

Television: Although the median age is now 51, two years older than the coveted 18-49 demo, television is still the broadcast medium of choice for reaching a mass audience. However, the numbers speak volumes about the viewership habits of the newer generations. The 55+ age group spent approximately 60% more time watching television than the 18-24 demo.

Internet Video: The 18-24 age group spends the most time watching video online, three times as much as those aged 65+ and almost twice as much as those in the 45-54 age group.

Internet Radio: According to the NPD Group, more than half of teens (52 percent) listened to online radio in 2008, compared to just 34 percent in 2007 and in a study conducted by Big Research, it’s clear that the percentage of users listening to radio online decreases as age increases, with almost three times as many listeners in the 18-24 age group as there are in the 55+ age group.

Instant Messaging & Text Messaging: There are almost twice as many users of instant messaging in the 18-24 age group as there are in the over 55 age group. And from the same chart you can see that use of text messaging is overwhelmingly a youth activity.

Blogs: Those aged 18-24 comprise the largest group reading blogs and compared to those 55 and over, there are almost three times as many of them.

Social Networks: This is where things get fascinating, especially as it concerns the largest social network out there, Facebook. In an interesting analysis by Peter Corbett, head of iStrategyLabs, he reports that “Facebook’s 35-54 year old demographic segment not only continued to grow the fastest, but it accelerated to a 276.4% growth rate over the past six months. That demo is DOUBLING roughly every two months.” Additionally, the second fastest growing age group on Facebook is the 55+ group. In another, more comprehensive analysis on the Royal Pingdom Blog, it’s clear that those in the 25-54 age group comprise the bulk of social network users.

My next post will be about gender differences in the usage of these media.

Image courtesy: http://www.ny3d.org/2008/03/

To buttress this point, I came across an interesting blog post on the confluence of technology, culture and giving and it’s worth bringing it to your attention.  In his post, Peter Dunn points out that the Red Cross has found the right technology (phone texting), for the right purpose (fast fundraising), aimed at the right generation (Gen Y, a group of users who “average 740 texts per month”).

As he points out:

“…often times, charities aren’t meeting the “needs” of those it asks from. No one writes checks, and even online giving isn’t doing the job for Gen Y. The fast-paced, multi-tasking nature of Gen Y often is a hindrance when it comes to charitable giving.

The Red Cross figured it out (or at least I’m giving it credit for figuring it out). It is allowing mobile phone users to simply text the word “Haiti” to 90999. By doing this, it has cracked the code to Gen Y giving.”

I don’t know about the accuracy of the “no one writes checks” statement or whether Gen Y members feel that it’s a hindrance to give online or not but I strongly agree with the underlying meaning of the statement and the overall post.  Gen Y, or more accurately, Web 2.0 users, are used to doing things differently.  Driven by their use of technology first, they expect to be able to get things done online via their computers or increasingly, via their mobile devices.  They want to do things fast, with a minimum of steps and they are used to doing several things at once, with various devices.

I would add that what Web 2.0 has enabled in this case – giving users the ability to help via their cell phones by making a charitable contribution via texting – is not the end of the story in Haiti—or in this case, the beginning.  Most of the reports of the tragedy first surfaced via Twitter and social networks such as Facebook, as most other forms of communication in the country were wiped out in the earthquake.  As reported by James Morgan of BBC News, these social networks were then used very effectively to raise record sums in record time by non-profits helping in Haiti.

It is the confluence of users, their behaviors (and expectations) plus the technology that is giving rise to a completely new way of doing things…the Web 2.0 way.

“Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after. “

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Image courtesy therainbowfish

Here are some websites that are using Web 2.0 tools to communicate with the public and within Government:

1. The White House: If you want to see a leading example,  look no further than the White House website.
2. The Collaboration Project: This site, created and maintained by the National Academy of Public Administration, is a great window into how different Government agencies are using Web 2.0.
3. GovLoop: This social networking site for Government workers, contractors and anyone interested in Government boasts thousands of participants and has a very robust online community.
4. GovTwit: This Twitter directory lists agencies and Government personnel using Twitter.
5. Young Government Leaders: This Drupal site is a social networking community for Government workers (and up and coming leaders) under the age of 40.

These websites are only a small sampling of how Web 2.0 is being used within and without Government circles. Use these links to connect to other sites and examples of how Government is using these powerful new tools to better engage with the public and within Government agencies.

When we first embarked on this path, we did some research and also wrote an action plan (something we always do for our clients), which served as our playbook going forward.  I’m proud to say that we’ve instituted most of the suggestions in our own internal guide and some that are outside of it (for example, we’ll be painting the roof white, which not only reflects 98% of the sun that hits it but also has the added bonus of extending the natural life of the roof…resulting in less expense and less waste).

As I was reviewing the guide yet again, I thought it might be a good idea to share it with the world…so here it is…attached to this blog post.  Enjoy…and if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

It’s Easy Being Green! Recommendations for the Greening of Mind & Media

Free social media ebook and video: New Media and the Air Force

I thought I’d share it with you…because this information needs to be put to good use!

And if you want to stay tuned post barcamp, follow the conversation at Government 2.0 Club.