There are three major trends changing media according to the document. First, advertising is shifting from selling products to selling relationships by connecting people on social platforms. Second, networks are controlled by people as hubs who distribute content to their connections, rather than media companies. Third, the concept of a single shared living room for content consumption has disappeared with the rise of mobile and on-demand viewing anywhere. Communications professionals must adapt to this new media landscape centered around empowered individuals.

1. three big trends changing media
aka: things are changing again.
gary stein, October 2010 [@garyst3in]
Friday, October 8, 2010

2. changes in media technology means changes in skill sets for
communications professionals.
Friday, October 8, 2010

3. but the most significant change in media has not been
hardware, but in defining concept
Friday, October 8, 2010

4. for a long time, engineers
created, controlled and
operated expensive and
technically complex
broadcast technology.
If you wanted to use that
technology to get a
message out, you need to
go to them and pay for
access.
Friday, October 8, 2010

5. today, engineers create
platforms upon which
personal networks are
built.
If you want access to these
new networks, you still
have to go to the people
who own them. But these
people are just people.
They are your consumers.
Friday, October 8, 2010

6. to succeed in a world where networks are not run by a
minority with ownership and expertise but a mass with
personal connections, you need to develop a different skill set
and a different approach to achieving mass marketing.
Friday, October 8, 2010

7. 1 2 3
there are three big trends in media today. understanding
those trends unlocks the ways in which communications
professionals need to change to take advantage of this new
media landscape
Friday, October 8, 2010

8. 1
TREND: ads that sell relationships (not products)
The emerging advertising platforms have introduced a new step in the common sales cycle. Where we normally thought of
advertisements as a way to sell products, we are seeing a dramatic increase in ad units and models designed to sell relationships.
Consider Twitter. They have introduced a series of new options for advertisers, but really they are only ways to advertise either a
conversation (like promoted tweets) or a Twitter handle (featured accounts). This is way different from what we have come to know
and expect from companies like Twitter. We all expected them to offer something similar to AdWords where offers for relevant
products are placed next to content. No products offered here; we are selling the chance to have a relationship.
Friday, October 8, 2010

9. 2
TREND: people as network hubs
The concept of a network is critical to the practice of advertising. In order to achieve our goals in a fiscally responsible way, we need
efficient methods of distributing messages to masses. Networks allow us to traffic content to a single place and have it broadcast.
For a long time, those networks were under the control of the people who put out the effort to build (and therefore own) the
technology. Today, those builders are more focused on creating and owning platforms. Yes, you can call Facebook and place an ad,
but those ads are only designed to connect to a person, who then distributes it to their network of friends. The big shift in media here
is that we need to target people not only as potential customers, but also as potential distributors.
Friday, October 8, 2010

10. 3
TREND: the mobility of content
The biggest anachronism in media/technology today is the phrase “digital living room”. Some of the biggest companies in the world
have been arguing over who is going to own the digital living room, and it ends up that the concept of the “living room”—the single
space where content is consumed—has all but evaporated. We cling to the notion that the family gathers in a common space and all
watches the movie of the week, but the prevalence of technology to display content coupled with the pervasiveness of digital signals
means that anyone watches/listens/plays whatever, where ever and whenever.
Friday, October 8, 2010

11. in the end, though, these trends are really just about people—
your consumers—using the technology available to them to
shape the media landscape in a way that fits their needs.
your consumers are already living in a new media landscape.
It’s up to you to meet them there.
Friday, October 8, 2010

12. thanks!
the ideas and some of the text in this presentation originally appeared in an article on ClickZ
created by Gary Stein
follow me: @garyst3in
Friday, October 8, 2010