Gene Carr's Patron Technology Blog

Subway Video and the Next Big Marketing Thing

For some time, I've been writing about how video is going to change the Web experience, even more than it has already. I sometimes gauge the infiltration of new technology by using my "New York Subway Test" – based on what I see people doing while they are on the train. It was of interest to me today that no fewer than three people in my subway car (including me) were watching videos on their cell phones or portable devices.

In my case, I was "time-delaying" watching an episode of "Charlie Rose" from last week, and while I have no way of knowing this, my guess is that the others may have been watching something that they otherwise would have seen live on TV. I have no grand statement for what this means, except that it's not that hard to connect the dots. Folks in the arts have lots of video content to share - rehearsals, interviews, audience reactions -- and all of this stuff can motivate participation in a way that no other marketing medium can. Someone could be watching last night's pre-show interview with the playwright during their morning commute!

And backing up this point, yesterday’s eMarketer reports that over half of people over 61 years old say that "their computer has become more of an entertainment device then their TV." Furthermore, research from Solutions Research Group says that in the next five years, video-based entertainment will grow by a third, to an average of eight hours per day -- with most of the gain going to online video, not TV.

So, as more and more people access videos in the subway and elsewhere on their cell phones and computers, doesn't this scream out as a big marketing opportunity for our industry?

Video Motivation?

Last week I was at the National Performing Arts Conference in Denver (which explains my brief hiatus from this blog), and I went to a presentation at Opera America assessing the success of the Met Opera's Live in HD  initiative. While it may have been unexpected news for some, I was not surprised to learn that the folks that go to these productions are primarily already opera-goers and -lovers. They are overwhelmingly middle aged, white, upscale, urban culture-lovers who have merely found another avenue to enjoy opera. While the statistics do show that some small percentage of the audience (I recall something under 15%) said it was their first opera experience, this opera experience was by no means a "starter" event for most attendees. 

More to the point, the respondents overwhelmingly reported that going to the movie theater to see opera would very likely encourage them to go to see the live experience. The biggest takeaway for me is the same one I've been seeing for years. 

Exposure in video or television to something that is otherwise a live event only heightens the interest in the live experience, rather than replacing the need for it.

Senior Web Users Continually Surprise

It seems I'm on a roll with how the older audience uses the Web. Since the average age of our the audience that responded to our 2008 Arts Patron Tracking Study is 49, I like to focus on that age range.

This morning I noticed a small piece of research that had something in it that jumped off the page at me. Tell me if you see what I see:

  
OK, perhaps the green circle gives it away, but I find this a bit shocking. According to this DoubleClick study published in eMarketer, promotional emails are more effective in influencing adults over 55 to make a purchase than search engine result pages.

My theory here is that older adults don't do Google searches as frequently, nor are they perhaps as adept at them. If either of these are true, then e-mail marketing has become an even more important tool to use to market to an older audience.