Joe Strummer sang, “Know Your Rights”

Stanislavski wrote, “Know Your Characters”

Today I say, “Know Your Audience”

Know You’re a Punter

You might be a high ranking media mogul, top tv talent, fully fledged film wiz or masterful games guru – but if you’re not a punter in your own heart, how can you get into the hearts and minds of your audience?

You’re a punter, I’m a punter, we’re all punters. Knowing this is MASSIVELY IMPORTANT!

You Know Better?

You’re dealing with a very different crowd today.

The Audience HAS changed – yep, they still want the same things deep down, but their eyes, ears, minds and hands are busy using new technology.

The audience for stories and entertainment used to be a passive bunch. Captive to the viewing screens, they had limited options in the glare of your TV show or Film. A remote control gave TV viewers the edge over filmgoers (whose only option was to walk out), but even so, the remote only allowed you to switch to another channel.

Technology has changed all that. The internet and following waves of cultural change, like social and mobile, have been like bombs going off in the media industry. Traditional media co’s quite rightfully don’t get the business model. Because there isn’t one!

They Know Better

Now, that remote control in your hand, is a phone – and it controls more than your TV. In fact it’s a TV as well – the cinematic version being the tablet. These devices are like props from a sci-fi odyssey compared to traditional media devices.

For the audience, it’s win = win.

Where they Go, Stories follow

They are a savvy bunch, our modern audience. Totally at home with their new media life.

They get buzzed up with their everyday comms as they hop from one medium to another, socially connected, with many options of what content they can watch, play and interact with. Traditional media producers struggle to reach the audience in these new places.

Yet STORIES, that staple of human existence, will always follow the crowd.

But there are no functioning business models for these new media experiences that the audience are beginning to adopt.

That’s difficult for media companies whose existing business models are still paying fair returns. But it is crucial that they begin engaging the audience in this way as those traditional business models are diminishing.