Being Here, Now State of Content 2017 - Accenture
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“We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us” - attributed to Marshall McLuhan 4 Accenture Interactive
The Digital Revolution Remade Us The digital revolution remade us. Tonight's Content is the chorus of human voices that dinner table conversation is held accountable animate the touchpoints spreading all around us, by the fact-checkers in our pockets. We don’t expanding from our phones to our cars, our home pick a restaurant, or make a purchase, without appliances, our digital assistants and beyond. consulting the reviews and recommendations It’s hard to overstate its impact. With the flow of of peers and experts. The most arcane subjects content, markets rise and fall, elections are won are within the easy reach of a swipe and a tap. and lost, relationships are built and reputations Individually, these digitally-enabled experiences are destroyed. are useful, often delightful. In total, however, the sudden emergence of unlimited information is After enduring marketing’s half-truths for 7 profound, often overwhelming. generations, the field has leveled. As old hierarchies are disrupted, there is chaos, furious With little time to reflect, we’ve adapted to a state competition and opportunities we’ve only begun of boundless connectivity. Our thoughts and to imagine. In the new paradigm trust and feelings are more intertwined with one another empathy are the ultimate commodities. Content Survey than ever before. Content provides the bridge between our personal experience and the wide To be present for others today, is to be certain our world around us. The content that we create is content embodies our best self. our voice. By giving more of ourselves, we make ripples that can become waves.
Our Second 1,082 Executives Global Survey 14 Countries 18 Industries Accenture Interactive surveyed more than 1000 executives, seeking their insights about the evolving content environment. We asked these business leaders, the majority of whom In an era of liquid expectations, are the key decision-makers within global the content delivered as part of Countries Represented Industries Surveyed enterprises, to take stock of their strategies, to those experiences competes for assess the strengths and weaknesses of their customer attention like never Argentina Italy Automotive organizations, and to elucidate the trends that Australia Japan Banking before, and the distinction are defining the future. Brazil Singapore Capital Markets between content for external or Canada South Korea Chemicals The individuals we invited to participate have customer consumption versus China Spain Consumer Packaged Goods diverse backgrounds and resumes. They are content for internal or employee France United Kingdom Electronic and High Tech based in fourteen countries and represent and stakeholder consumption has Germany United States Health Payers eighteen industries, from retail to banking begun to disappear. The net effect Health Providers and pharmaceuticals to entertainment. What Life Insurance of these trends—combined with they hold in common is the experience of Life Sciences/Medical Products an increase in the number and leading at a moment when their businesses, industries, and global markets are undergoing importance of social channels, and Survey Population Media and Entertainment Pharmaceutical/Biotech a pivotal transformation. Nearly half of the the impact of personalization—means and Methodology Property & Casualty Insurance participants oversee organizations whose that companies need to create Retail marketing budgets exceed $250 million dollars The online survey was conducted by Accenture Technology extraordinary amounts of content at 9 8 annually. More than fifty are responsible for one among a total of 1,082 business executives in Telecommunication billion dollars or more in marketing resources. higher and higher levels of quality. July 2016. The overall margin of error is +/- 3 Transportation and Travel Almost all have made significant investments in percentage points at the midpoint of the 95 Utilities Accenture Interactive content. Donna Tuths percent confidence level. Content Survey
1 Being Everywhere The virtual world is always awake Content has become as ubiquitous as the air we breathe and the water we drink. The four million search inquiries we send to Google every minute reflect our insatiable hunger for answers and This is a change in mindset. It’s ideas.1 Instantaneous access to a virtual universe not marketing; we just have to be of information, entertainment and more has there for consumers. That’s the accelerated the way we live. Today, the average type of thinking we’re trying to American compresses thirty-one hours of activity drive into our organization, and it 11 into a single day.2 We are all doing more in order is definitely taking time. to be present everywhere. Head of Strategy By 2020, some thirty-four billion devices will Global Pharmaceuticals be online,3 a number equivalent to almost four Content Survey connections for every man, woman, and child on the planet. Enterprises prepared to engage 24/7 are poised to seize a historic opportunity.
The average Content is the next big chasm that American 34 BILLION 250M 2X marketers have to face and overcome. In 2014 the number of mobile Enterprises spend The percentage The pain point that all marketers are struggling with now is, where do I compresses users surpassed those between 150M and of companies thirty-one hours accessing the internet on their 250M on content producing large get the content engine? In a much desktops related activities amounts of content of activity into more dynamic and hyper-targeted per year has doubled since world—where personalization is key— By 2020, some 34 billion our previous survey how do I create hundreds of different installations of content and maintain a single day devices will be online relevancy? Head of Digital Content Home Repair To be present everywhere, all the time, starts The operational hurdles confounding executives At a pivotal moment when the competition with unprecedented investments in content. prevent many from seeing the proverbial to engage consumers through content has Our 2017 survey shows that the percentage of forest through the trees. Only 40 percent of intensified, key decision-makers should be organizations producing enormous volumes of these leaders strongly agree that they clearly focused on articulating a larger sense of content has doubled since our previous study. understand the goals of their content; thus, purpose and connecting with people on a On average, major companies are creating fewer than half believe that their investments personal basis. Instead, these leaders are over one million digital assets per year. The truly match those goals. To achieve efficient preoccupied with the minutiae required executives we spoke with collectively control production at the necessary scale, it is critical for simply to keep up with the necessary levels marketing budgets totaling more than 500 organizations to align their investments with a of production. million dollars, and they are allocating up to half clear understanding of desired outcomes. of those resources to build relationships with consumers through content. In the absence of such a strong sense of purpose, content becomes an operational grind. In 2016, more than half of the survey participants said they spend the majority of their time on operational details associated with content. The number of respondents who reported that such administrative functions were demanding 13 12 most of their time increased this year, with more than two-thirds now feeling burdened. Overall, executives in the field feel even less prepared to Accenture Interactive 1 Business Insider, http://www.businessinsider.com/google- manage enormous amounts of content than in search-engine-facts-2016-3/#first-a-trip-down-memory-lane- the previous year. heres-what-googles-search-page-looked-like-back-in-1997-1b Content Survey 2 Activate Inc, https://www.slideshare.net/ActivateInc/ activate-tech-and-media-outlook-2016 3 Business Insider, http://www.businessinsider.com/34-billion- devices-will-be-connected-to-the-internet-by-2020-2016-1
2 Identity and Culture Content revolutionized marketing, now it's reinventing everything else As we continue to probe content issues with business leaders, the notion of identity arises again and again. Perhaps the phenomenon is It’s no longer about promotion, best illustrated at the level of the individual: it’s about expressing your entering your name into a search engine might identity, and building reveal a rich portrait, a record of past and present, preferences and associations, even relationships. In a world that is intimate thoughts and feelings. In a flash, digital not push anymore—it’s all about content can create the richest representation of the pull of attraction and being self imaginable–and so, as individuals, we have your best self. Companies have learned to be thoughtful about what we post and to get real about what that means share digitally. Simply put: to know my content is to them. to know me. 14 15 Donna Tuths Some organizations embody themselves so vividly in the content they produce that their Accenture Interactive audience develops a true affinity with them. These are the companies we call Content-First, Content Survey and they are redefining the consumer relationship and driving disruption with content-led business models. Such a content-led approach comes from the very top, and requires commitment to key capabilities.
nearly 80% more than 3/4 of those we surveyed of respondents recognize believe that the content that the success of their they produce must content depends on the convey everything they quality of the initial creative want people to know brief, yet fewer than one about their businesses quarter feel accountable for ensuring that quality Content-First Companies Own Your Voice Evolution in the use of content is enabling entirely and purpose of content, nearly 80 percent of Content-led organizations have discovered You have to create the capability in new business models. Content-first companies those we surveyed believe that the content they must own the most essential aspects of yourself to be able to produce your are disrupting industries from travel to eyewear they produce must convey everything they their content; they cannot entrust them to own voice. It has to be your own, a and athletics to entertainment. Virtualized want people to know about their businesses. transient agency partners. The rise of the experiences of a product or a service provide Another factor keeping content at the center of in-house studio model points to the need to reflection of the organization’s true a novel means of differentiation, and a flexible organizational concern is the continued decline build and control a company’s voice internally. self. So, this is creating challenges testing ground for new offerings. Organizations of brick-and-mortar activity, and a corresponding It can’t be provided by an agency; it has to for many companies that relied on first identified the power of a content-led increase in digital commerce. Accenture come from within. When asked to explain the agencies in the past to provide that approach to enable marketers. Once a fringe research states nearly half of eTailers (46%) are reason they are able to create high quality content. Today you are in danger of movement, now over 76 percent of companies we seeing their online sales growing more than 11%, content, respondents consistently cited talent: sounding promotional, inauthentic, surveyed are exploring Content Marketing. A rule- and 86% will be expanding their eCommerce having both the right level of creative talent of-thumb: what separates content marketing from activities over the next 12 months.4 Content is aligned to content creation, and having that and uninviting. traditional advertising is a shift from transactional the new brick-and-mortar, the setting where so talent reside in-house. What did respondents topics of product and service to topics of much customer experience takes place. cite as the #1 barrier to creating high quality Donna Tuths interest and audience delight. The goal is not content? Lack of in-house talent. In past driving sales, but growing deeper relationships. years’ business leaders could be expected Reflecting a growing awareness of the power to cite barriers of budget or technology. Today, creating effective content requires investing in an internal team. 76 percent of 16 17 respondents said they will be increasingly leveraging in-house talent in the next two years. Successful content is most often rooted in a Accenture Interactive common culture that can only be lived by an organization’s members. Content Survey
2X Nearly all of the CEOs Where do new CEOs were twice as that we surveyed believe that their companies are ideas originate? likely as members already representing of their senior themselves well through Traditionally, the weight has fallen heavily on marketing management teams their content to generate new creative ideas. In order for a to find that content company's content to fully represent its voice, mission, meets their goals and vision, that dependence on marketing should lessen, and employees elsewhere in the organization, who live those core values every day, should be called upon to offer input. Genuine content can be difficult to attain. Companies should utilize every resource at their disposal, engaging the entire organization to tell the right stories with messages that matter. CEO Imperative Last year we reported that a major shift was Why are CEOs so focused on content? Content underway in marketing culture, with 90 percent is bigger than marketing; it’s the voice of the of respondents stating that a chief executive company’s mission; it can alter the fate of an should be responsible for content strategy. enterprise. According to Accenture Research, More than a third of those surveyed said that “CEOs are on the hot seat to show shareholders the CEO should have direct oversight. This year, new sources of revenue. And as traditional we specifically surveyed CEOs to understand their attitudes. Nearly all who participated in our sources of revenue become ever more elusive, CEOs are increasingly seeking disruptive growth. Where do 62% Marketing study reaffirmed their commitment to content, In fact, 44 percent of CEOs surveyed feel that you look for seeing it as the primary way to articulate their organization’s missions. disruptive growth is very important to the overall growth agenda.”5 The ongoing innovation in the next big 51% Product Development content is disruptive, and disruption itself has idea for your While this revolution in content leadership is progressing, some players lag behind. Many organizations still rely too heavily on traditional emerged as critical profit source. content? 50% Users/Consumers/Customers marketing departments to generate creative ideas and outside agencies to develop content strategy. Our study also revealed differing perceptions 33% Agency or Partner at different levels within organizations. CEO 29% 19 18 respondents offered far more optimistic Sales assessments of content than those elsewhere in a company. For example, CEOs were twice as likely Accenture Interactive 4 as members of their senior management teams Accenture, “Differentiating Delivery: How to win the eCommerce battle,” https://www.accenture.com/us-en/_acnmedia/Accenture/ to find that content meets their goals. Meanwhile, Content Survey next-gen-2/insight-post-parcel-etailer-research/pdf/Accenture- fewer than a third of employees strongly agree Differentiating-Delivery-How-Win-eCommmerce-Battle.pdf that the content their organizations produce 5 Accenture, “CMO Insights” https://www.accenture.com/ accurately reflects the culture and character of t20170124T041545__w__/us-en/_acnmedia/PDF-33/Accenture- their organizations. CMO-INSIGHTS-POV-FINAL.pdf
3 Think Distribution In today’s decentralized media space, issues of distribution are more complex, and more important, than ever. These are uncharted waters. Our clients’ needs have shifted as digital becomes dominant and social becomes an imperative—they struggle as their traditional agency partners do It’s hard to imagine, less than 20 years ago not have the digital and technical DNA there were a few nationally broadcast television to keep up in this rush of innovation. stations, enough monthly magazines to fill a Clients are looking for more partners newsstand, and a dwindling number of radio who are willing and able to master stations and newspapers, constrained to a largely these new formats quickly and help 20 21 regional focus. Today, the old players have either brands to experiment and learn. There struggled to reinvent themselves, or perished. In their place an incredible living network has is no 'wait and see' in these markets Accenture Interactive emerged. Social platforms have democratized today. content; truly anybody can be a channel. Content Survey Donna Tuths Snapchat launched less than five years ago and Periscope isn’t even two years old. We’re on the cusp of the VR (virtual reality) era. Strange new media formats have sprung to life, and the path to audience engagement is no longer a straight line.
2/3 80% 24% of high performing businesses are believe it feel "very" working toward integrated plans necessary to prepared to that balance investments in content master new engage new production with smart distribution platforms platforms approaches that activate a range of channels, both free (social media) and costly (network television). It’s no surprise then, 82% of respondents describe Some technologies will be a fleeting memory. placement as key to driving business outcomes. Others will change the world. New platforms, In fact, almost three-quarters of organizations channels and formats require significant invest the majority of their budgets (100–250M), investment and new types of mastery—what up to 70%, on paid placement. But in the complex drives engagement on one, might flop on landscape, only 24% of organizations feel very another. It’s not practical, nor desirable, to prepared to activate new distribution points as commit equally to every innovation. Determining they arise. Large sums mean risk, and only a the right distribution models requires third of the leaders we spoke with feel capable experimentation, and knowing your audience— of making critical distribution-related decisions but most importantly, an effective approach without consulting an external partner to help to distribution must be informed by a content navigate strategic and operational challenges. program defined by a clear and consistent sense of purpose and identity. More than just posing new challenges, the radical possibilities presented by digital technology means distribution itself has become an important area of creative innovation. Organizations can stay relevant by meeting audiences on emergent platforms, or even 23 22 leading them to new ones. Worldwide, 26 percent of marketers report the inclusion of VR in their marketing mix in 2017.6 Today, where you are, is Accenture Interactive who you are. Content Survey 6 eMarketer, https://www.emarketer.com/Chart/Technologies- that-Marketers-Select-Countries-Plan-Include-Their-Marketing- Strategies-2017-of-respondents/203493
In a fiercely competitive environment where every Our study efficiency matters, such a high percentage point could be alarming. found that 20% of all However, it also reflects a content commitment to experimentation, a willingness to go out on a produced limb in an attempt to reach consumers in new ways. One organization’s waste is another’s is never rough draft for content that may be ahead of its time. distributed. 24 Accenture Interactive
4 Commanding An Audience In a content-rich world, only true relevance earns attention and drives business outcomes. You can be dismissed by the mere tap of a finger. In a pull world, reaching your audience becomes a battle of attraction. There is a saying that the The average person is exposed to 577 marketing mind will rationalize what the heart messages every day.7 In Accenture’s recent desires. Understanding the heart is survey of consumers, we found that more than at the core of architecting attraction. 80 percent either ignore traditional ads or block That is a very complex thing. It is them out while browsing online.8 Despite the 26 27 about subtle human connections, increasing proliferation of marketing messages, consumers effectively filter out all but the most accessibility and openness—which compelling content—and then consume the seem to relate to authenticity—being Accenture Interactive material they love obsessively. Indeed, more than real. That is what brands now have 70 percent of our consumer survey participants to achieve if they want to reach their Content Survey reported feeling open to more content, especially audience. if it was tailored to their tastes. Donna Tuths
Quality of content is not defined on my 577 Authenticity and credibility are the 3/4 84% terms . . . Quality of content as tested The average person top drivers of quality of those who affirmed the importance and interpreted by the consumer . . . is exposed to 577 participated in our of content in delivering helping enable them to go from where marketing messages study agree that the experiences to those that they are to where they want to go. That single most important come into contact with every day is quality. driver of brand their brand engagement is quality Head of Ecommerce, Digital Marketing and Channel Innovation Strategy Retail Company This openness extends to content produced by Three-quarters of those who participated in brands. 84 percent of the executives we surveyed our leadership study recognize that the single affirmed the importance of content in shaping most important driver of brand engagement the brand experience—and consumers don’t is quality. What is quality? It’s not necessarily discriminate against sponsored experiences, about production value. It can’t be purchased provided they pertain to their interests and satisfy and it can’t be faked. Consumers know it expectations of quality. The qualities which earn when they see it. It’s a trait that exists across credibility in the eyes of consumers include: platforms and channels, in digital formats demonstrated expertise, ethical transparency and in analogue space. While “Quality” defies and innovation. Brands have huge opportunities universal definitions, our research shows to connect with consumers, but the quality bar that relevance, authenticity, and credibility is high. are the top drivers. Questions of authenticity and credibility, in particular, speak to the importance of trust. A loud noise may attract attention, but only trust sustains an audience, and builds relationships. 29 28 Accenture Interactive Content Survey 7 Johnson, Nicholas, The Future of Marketing. Pearson Education, Inc. (New Jersey 2015). 8 Accenture, “Lights. Camera. Action.” https://www.slideshare.net/ AccentureDigital/lights-camera-action-69376990
Practical and concise content Presentation of idealized presented simply, targets habit-forming behavior. Entertainment experience, targets an emotional response. Content Engagement EXAMPLE It delights me. EXAMPLE Framework A lighthearted video with A highly produced, national instructions for creating simple campaign that inspired indulgent treats is an example girls to challenge limited While the varieties of content are of content that's both delightful gender-based expectations. limitless, in our quest to understand and informative. what makes content work, we’ve developed a matrix view to help Accenture research showed In our Video Consumer survey, that entertaining content describe the essential relationship between content and consumer. participants listed Education as ranked second in the types The best content meets complex the second most valued type of of content consumers were needs, thus it can be mapped to content, followed closely most likely to share with quadrant intersections. by Entertainment. friends and family. This analytical framework was created based on our consumer Usefulness Aspirational research and sentiment to provide useful perspective in developing content goals. It helps me. It elevates me. Informative content Expression of that empowers, targets similar values, functional value. targets connection. EXAMPLE EXAMPLE A tenured media company who Lifestyle bloggers and YouTube objectively presents information like stars who share their lives and world news and current events. experiences in their own voice. 30 Accenture research showed Our Video Consumer 57 percent said that expertise Survey respondents Trust Accenture Interactive was the most important driver reported being drawn to of a brand's credibility. brands that advocate for I can believe in this. causes they believe in.
New Questions, New Answers Reasons why How are Companies #1 say they are increasingly leveraging in-house talent to create content in the The virtualized world is Responding? companies are able next 2 years presenting opportunities to consistently create for alternative models High-performing companies are high-quality content: #2 say they have the right level of creative talent aligned to content creation transforming themselves, looking for new sources, inspiration, and partners to address the transforming landscape. Content-led Models Taking Back the Message Seeking New Forms The burgeoning demand for content has led it to be identified as having potential to of Creation be the “great limiter” in the next phase of 77% agree that the most innovative companies 76% say they are increasingly leveraging in-house talent 74% Leverage Existing Content digital transformation, unless companies are investing in to create content in the can find a way to solve for their staggering 72% Content Templates content-rich activities next 2 years need, while reducing complexity along with 62% User Generated Content associated costs and quality and delivery issues. The demand side is clear. At the 62% consider themselves to be a content-driven 77% believe the quality of their content is directly correlated 55% Content Automation same time, digital technology has been organization to their creative brief 47% Crowdsourcing disrupting the supply side. Agencies which were already struggling to address the 19% Robo-writers technical demands of web development and online media, have been stymied by the technical intricacies of social platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which are adding new features all the time, as well as new channels like Periscope and Snapchat. Driving Adoption Strategy & Governance What Challenges Remain? Donna Tuths With new models come 1/4 Only one quarter of respondents are committed to change 27% Only 27% strongly agree that their organization has a fully functioning challenges that organizations will management, education, and governance model with forums, have to overcome over time. gaining buy-in when rolling out policies, and procedures under transformational changes to which all content activities and content creation resources are managed 33 32 1/3 Less than 1/3 strongly agree that their Accountability content strategy is inclusive of both marketing and non-marketing content Accenture Interactive 25% Less than 25% feel accountable for the quality (i.e., sales, customer service, learning, communication, collaboration) Content Survey of the creative brief 29% Only 29% strongly agree that their content is consistent in style and tone across channels
5 You Are Your Content Our relationship to content has been Ubiquity is the new normal. Sites and transformed. So many aspects of our lives, microsites, apps, social platforms, the big and small, are lived online. We use digital blogosphere, an unrecognizable media tools for practical tasks, like shopping and landscape, an internet of things—to be banking, but also for more personal matters, everywhere is expensive and complicated, like starting relationships or looking for but getting content right could not be more 34 35 answers to questions we are too shy to ask our critical. With the virtualization of nearly doctors. From education to recreation, one is everything, your audience’s primary exposure hard-pressed to identify aspects of modern to your organization is now through the Accenture Interactive life not changed by digital content. This content you share. This applies to customers, study continues our efforts to understand this and prospects, and also, critically, to Content Survey shifting paradigm, and to help organizations employees and recruits. respond.
Audiences are no longer crowded around Content must be a vital expression of an a handful of channels. The web is radically organization’s purpose, and true to its decentralized, and new platforms regularly lifeblood. Content is how the organization displace incumbents. Distributing content is expresses itself. In this hyper-connected age, not just an operational challenge, but an area You Are Your Content, it is literally the voice where the most competitive companies are of your organization. And so, it is no surprise innovating, following their audiences closely, that organizations are beginning to want to and even leading them to new channels. own that voice, rather than entrust it to others, Keeping up with all of these changes is building new capabilities within the enterprise, exhausting at best, and impossible for some. and establishing stewardship at the most senior levels of the organization. Technology has brought the end of passive viewing habits, allowing audiences to deftly avoid irrelevant content. Yet audiences have an insatiable appetite for content that matters, and are deeply passionate about the content that matters most. While there is no universal path to relevance, it begins by 36 37 connecting content to an organization’s most essential goals, kneading into the culture, and prizing the trust of an audience as a precious Accenture Interactive resource. Content Survey
Contact Accenture Interactive To learn more, please contact: Content Studio Donna Tuths We believe a content studio should reflect the Content Lead best aspects of an organization, and the most Accenture Interactive human. In our home studio we stay focused on donna.m.tuths@accenture.com innovation, research, creative strategy, product core_content@accenture.com development and emerging best practices in the field. We are focused on helping our clients work Donna Tuths, the author of this study, runs through their own specific content challenges. Accenture Interactive’s content business with Our facility supports full multimedia production, nearly 10,000 practitioners worldwide. She and new, collaborative models for delivering is a recognized thought leader in the field, a content in an omni-channel world—honoring frequent public speaker, and the founder of our commitment to the role of content within Accenture’s Content Studio based in the Soho the enterprise. Annually, we publish the State neighborhood of New York City. of Content Survey, bringing insights from over 1000 senior executives, from 18 countries across 14 industries. Throughout the year we conduct About Accenture Interactive and share with the pubic research on varied topics of interest to us. Accenture Interactive, part of Accenture Digital, helps the world’s leading brands drive superior marketing performance across the full About Accenture omni-channel customer experience. Accenture Interactive offers integrated, industrialized Accenture is a leading global professional and industry-driven digital transformation and services company, providing a broad range of marketing solutions. services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills Follow us at @AccentureSocial across more than 40 industries and all business Visit us at www.accenture.com/interactive functions—underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network—Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 373,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com. Copyright © 2017 Accenture. All rights reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture.
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