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July 05, 2005
Fascinating facts
At least once a day, a fact comes across my desk that offers a glimpse into how people experience communication—and therefore leads to insights about how to make communication more compelling. This information is readily available—in the business media, from companies that advise advertisers, even from several non-profit organizations—you just need to be on the lookout. Here are four quick examples:
Fact #1: Radio is a preferred source of information for two important demographic groups in the United States. On average, Americans spent almost 20 hours a week listening to radio in 2004, according to Arbitron. Men 35 to 44 years old represent the largest share of listeners; this group is likely to listen at work or away from home. The largest share of female listeners is also in the 35- to 44-year-old age group; women are more likely to listen while at home. The demographic group that listens the least to radio? Teenagers, especially young men.
Implication: If you need to communicate to these groups, rather than only relying on the written word, consider an audio format.
Fact #2: It’s a myth that only teenagers play video games. The average age of game-console players (like Xbox and PlayStation) is 24; if you add in people who play games on computers, the average age rises to 29, according to NPD Group, a market research firm.
Implication: You don’t have to create a new video game to appeal to 20-somethings, but consider the fact that video game players come to expect a high level of interaction and control from all their communication experiences.
Fact #3: People under 30 are getting their news from places other than mainstream news media. For example, 21% of people under 30 said they learned about the 2004 Presidential campaign from satirical sources like “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart and late-night television talk show monologues, according to a Pew Research Center study.
According to cultural critic Neal Gabler, “Young people get the attitude, the deflationary truth-telling attitude of these shows because they can’t find it anywhere else.” And former “Daily Show” correspondent Mo Rocca adds, “They premise of any joke delivered by oddball newscasters is that they’re making fun of the media’s treatment of news as much as they are the subjects of the news.”
Implication: If your communication has an official “journalistic” tone, it may well be a turn-off to 20-somethings.
Fact #4: Major newspapers are increasingly converting their format to tabloid, which was once the province only of low-end media. For example, in October The Wall Street Journal will convert its European and Asian editions to tabloid formats. The Journal is following the lead of many European newspapers, which have converted from broadsheets to tabloids in order to attract younger readers. “The readers of The Wall Street Journal are smart and savvy and impatient, with less and less time for reading,” said Mario Garcia, a media consultant. “They want the quick read, and at the same time, they want the depth.”
Implication: Format plays a big role in how accessible people find your communication—in print, but in other venues as well. If your vehicle seems hard to digest, people may opt out before they even pick it up.
Want to know where you can find more information like this? Send me an e-mail at alison.davis@davisandco.com and I’d be glad to tell you which e-newsletters I’m subscribing to and which web sites I visit most often.
Posted by Alison Davis at July 5, 2005 12:58 PM