Welcome to the age of "On-demand" - Challenges to Marketers, Content Creators & Teachers!

The concept of "On-Demand"

Any system that allows users to select and consume (audio / video) content, when they want / prefer to, where they want to etc. The benefit it offers is that it makes is easy for consumers to choose what they want to consume and then consume that content at their time of choice, on the device of their choice. 

Obviously, consumers have appreciated and liked the concept and brands are creating, capitalising and responding accordingly. Netflix, Amazon Prime, TataSky, iTunes, Gaana.com etc are some popular brands that are creating and riding the wave. Earlier airlines offered selected video-on-demand to their passengers, now Uber and Ola are doing that as well!

How things were different? 

When I was a kid, we eagerly waited for the 'Sunday Movie' on doordarshan, we also waited for our TV serials too as there was no "repeat telecast", if you missed, you missed! 

We planned where we will watch the movie, the match or the episode of the serial and what will we do while watching them etc. Same was the case with desperately and anxiously waiting for new, popular songs to come on chitrhaar or rangoli (TV programmes that showed movie songs). That wait, that anticipation made the whole experience so exciting!

Even the ad-breaks, people would rush to toilet or to finish their tasks and reach their seats again. It used to be a race against time in real sense!  

When VCR came, we went to video library, spend time and make effort in choosing and then rushed home as we could not wait to watch the movie!

People wrote letters which took weeks to reach the radio stations to play their favorite songs and then waited anxiously for weeks to hear their name and the song on the radio!

It seems it was because 'content' was scarce and required a lot of effort to consume!

Not any more!! Welcome to the age of "Instant Gratification" Welcome to the age of "On-demand"!

Now, accessing what one want to watch is a matter of a few seconds and a few clicks! While the whole thing/process has definitely become "convenient" and "fast" but how does it affect the engagement levels and involvement of consumers? Does it affect our behaviour too?

Let us put it this way, what happens when we get things in abundance and that too, too easily and too quickly?

Can it lead to a feeling of general dissatisfaction or a tendency to being dissatisfied easily ... the feeling might get expressed like -- because I have easy access to many movies at a time, I also tend to stop them immediately or midway if they dont appeal to me in first few minutes and because we do this frequently, the general feeling is "even this is not as good .... let me see if there is something else".

Now compare this with -- how many times have you come out of a movie theatre if the movie did not appeal to you in first few minutes? Or if you are from my generation who saw movies on VCR, how many times you stopped the movie cassette that you brought from the video library from the market after spending significant time in going there, debating about the movie, waiting for the cassette to arrive and bringing it home?

Can this also lead to a feeling of "boredom" ... why do kids who have access to all kind of entertainment "on-demand" are generally more bored? Is there a connection? Can there be a connection? For example as they say - "if you fill and bring your own water from a distance, you will never waste a single drop of it", can there be a similar correlation / connection here?

Can this be one of the cause for reduced attention spans? So much content to consume, so easily available and so easy to shift from one to another!! Is it possible that when we leave things midway or shift so frequently between things, it becomes a habit and we find it difficult to concentrate?!

What does it mean?

One simple answer is create interesting, engaging and appealing content! No. We need to add 2 words in this statement, "Create content that is interesting, engaging and appealing - 'throughout', 'everytime'! Easier said than done!! 

What if you have a "not-so-interesting" message to give? I am a teacher and I have struggled because of this! At times, as a teacher I have to communicate / deliver something that is "dry" and immediately it reflects in dipping interest levels, increasing body movements and fiddling etc. If I feel this challenge, marketers and content creators would also be feeling the heat! 

Secondly, there is a trend that marketers are creating the content (say by having a youtube channel and offering on-demand videos), then it a MUST that the brands and marketers understand and realize the difference between creating ads that come before or during a TV / radio programme (which the marketers are so used to of) --- and --- creating the "programme" (content) itself. This one requires a different level of engagement and involvement and that too for a longer duration. Its a different ball-game altogether!

to be continued...