We are happy to answer marketing questions of all types here on Branding Strategy Insider. Today’s question comes from Todd Longwell, a reporter for Variety Magazine in Los Angeles, California who has this question on the future state of entertainment branding.
How will the state of entertainment branding be different in 10 years? In recent times, the constant stream of new technology has created widespread fragmentation in the marketing space. Is the increasing interconnectivity between devices reversing that trend?
Thanks for your question Todd. Ten years out is a very long time out for projections that are anywhere near accurate, especially given the accelerating rate of technological and market changes. Having said that, I am sure there will be mergers, acquisitions and consolidations leading to larger brands, especially regarding parent brands/owners. At the same time, the branding trend is to focus on increasingly tightly defined markets – super niches.
So channels such as Animal Planet, The Biography Channel, Smithsonian Channel, Comedy Central, Syfy, ExerciseTV, Wealth TV, etc. will only proliferate further based on market demands. And the programming will follow societal trends. So emerging interests, lifestyles, avocations and beliefs will likely result in their own programming and channels. There will not only be FoxNews, MSNBC, CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera, but also perhaps news channels catering to the Tea Party, Progressive Libertarians, etc. I think comedic/sarcastic news formats and programming (such as The Daily Show) might become increasingly popular as people tire of pessimism and fear mongering in their news intake.
In summary, I think there will be larger parent brands/owners that have grown organically and through M&A, perhaps divided along the lines of shared values (due to the owner’s point of view). At the same time, each of these parent brands will deliver an ever increasing number of channels and programming options that takes niche marketing to a whole new level of specificity.
BSI readers may have more to add on what the future holds…
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