The media marketplace’s shifting dynamics have reached tectonic proportion with reshuffles at emergent platforms and the effects of union strikes shaking up media’s Grand Dame – Hollywood. Despite the myriad instabilities, the coming year may be defined by a single Disruptor: AI. AI doesn’t live in a channel; it’s an industry disruptor across search, publishing, and more. Gartner research predicts more than 80% of tech service providers plan to use or consider using generative AI by the end of 2023. As AI-fueled advancements push the industry forward, here are other forces at play in 2024.
Sports is the #1 draft pick for media
Monday night football, March Madness, the Indy 500. Sports are among the last live TV must see events and as such, command both a high number of viewers and are in high demand from advertisers; media spend is up 62% from 2021. But sports is undergoing a disruption unique to this category – a move away from network TV to new terrain: streaming.
The NFL’s Thursday Night Football is now exclusive to Amazon Prime Video, MLS matches and Friday night baseball will be exclusive to a new streaming service within Apple TV and Roku, along with CBS Sports, will become the exclusive home of Formula E racing. Apple, in fact, is so aggressive in its courtship of live sports that its new mixed reality headset is said to have immersive features designed to augment the viewing of sporting events; they offered soccer great Lionel Messi revenue sharing to facilitate his move to Miami and MLS (it worked)!
These new contracts around broadcast rights aren’t just shifting viewing from sports’ traditional linear platform, but also speak to potential fragmentation among fan bases, the effects of which are as of yet unknown. Considering the constricted supply across scripted TV due to halted productions during the actors’ and writers’ strikes, live sports will continue to be a powerful presence in the media marketplace.
Post-strikes, brands emerge as storytellers
The impact of the writers’ and actors’ strikes will continue to be felt in the months to come, far beyond the momentarily reduced volume of new scripted content. Just as the last such strike in 2007-2008 launched reality TV from fringe to mainstream, this year’s disruption could have a lasting impact.
It’s possible that consumers will turn to other outlets, including creator-led platforms such as YouTube and TikTok – and stay there once scripted content is back on the lineup. Consumers are already connecting with creators on these platforms, but the potential for a more extreme and permanent shift grows daily – the fragmented nature of media consumption is set to splinter even further. What’s clear is that brands can no longer rely as heavily on adjacency to traditional, professionally produced content as before. Instead, they need to start thinking like a publisher.
For health marketing, this could spell a paradigm shift for content creation. According to a recent peer-reviewed study, patient satisfaction can be greatly improved by relationship-oriented marketing powered by storytelling.
The healthcare industry can, and should, tell compelling human stories with cultural relevance, which in turn could foster greater connections with patients, a difference-maker leading to potentially improved outcomes. Whether by working with creators and publishers or by creating impactful content themselves, brands have the opportunity to develop narratives that communicate holistically with empathy and humanity – an oft missing connection when advertising adjacent to scripted content.
The retail-ization of healthcare
Retail media networks have been gaining in importance for some time, growing at more than 18% annually, but RMNs have evolved beyond their digital advertising roots, now offering brands a way to connect with consumers in stores with cohesive and immersive experiences to drive engagement.
We’ve seen some of the country’s biggest retailers, from Walmart to Costco to Best Buy, heavily invest in and stake their futures on primary care services; this retail-ization of healthcare is poised to disrupt the entire supply chain as retailers move from media partner to a voice of authority, one with influence over consumers and their health decisions. A recent survey indicated three out of five American health consumers (61%) can envision receiving most primary care services at pharmacies, retail clinics and/or pharmacy clinics instead of going to a PCP – this number jumps to 70% when considering Millennials only.
This evolving point of care has enormous implications on the overall patient journey and how and where we can speak with consumers.
Health brands are looking to integrate with customer experiences and relationships — and retail offers a powerful solution.
For health, retail represents an opportunity for more than just conversion. It’s a chance for education and acquisition. It also yields a wealth of first-party data – unique consumer health and wellness insights allow brands to better tailor campaigns and create the kinds of personalized experiences so important in health. Data insights ensure more accurate targeting, helping messaging reach the right audience. As linear TV inventory continues to constrict, retail could very well disrupt all media with powerful results for health brands.
Social upheaval primes channel for change
Platform changes, user migration and evolving privacy regulations have plagued social media this year and prompted brands to take a long look at not just where, but if they invest with certain platforms. But where there is chaos, there is also opportunity.
While leadership changes have been in the spotlight, consumers also indicated an openness to derivative new platforms—a prime example is the surge of 100 million people flocking to Threads in its first week. The dominant social platforms have long been accused of sameness, debuting new features that seem to replicate what works at a competitor. Platforms have played off each other for years, mimicking popular features and working ad formats—trying to stay if not a step ahead, at least not risk getting left behind. While the influx of users to something new is notable, retention remains a challenge.
Another moving mark is the ongoing privacy regulation changes impacting this channel. In recent years, user expectations have become decidedly more demanding when it comes to controlling the collection and use of their data.
Given the scale and volume of data collection at play on social platforms, they’ve come under intense scrutiny with additional regulations from state and federal governments. As a result, social platforms will need to align with FTC rulings, potentially yielding more restrictions and fewer opportunities for health marketers.
As we see these changes roll out, we’re also watching platforms develop new offerings, such as Pinterest’s health features, as well as eyeing potential acquisitions which could shift the dynamics among power players and offer opportunity for sleeper platforms to emerge. One thing is clear—while the creator economy continues to snowball, social will only gain further fuel as a media powerhouse.
Data partnership: a brave new world
An oft quoted figure in our industry is that 1/3 of the world’s data can be considered health data, a nearly unfathomable ocean of information for marketers to navigate. Compounding this challenge is a stark lack of data collaboration; too often, data kept in disconnected silos or pre-packaged data solutions lacks true differentiation, yielding notable overlap and inefficiencies with an inability to connect across all channels with accuracy and ease.
However, the data deluge is entering its crucible moment. Due to the forthcoming dissolution of third-party cookies, resolving for identity will be paramount to effective marketing. As a result, data across organizations, be they brands, agencies or data providers, needs to be reconciled through collaboration.
As a first step, within organizations, data needs to be freed from silos and legacy systems—leading to greater access and eventual data democratization. This will allow for greater connectivity, especially when said data is hydrated by other sources, such as collaborative partners.
Though this level of transparency and partnership would be unheard of several years ago, it is becoming crucial to collaborate across data sets—choosing not to do so will rend disconnected data sets to be of limited value in the future state of marketing. As we approach the precipice of the cookieless future, those who are resolved to collaborate for better data outcomes are sure to be the ones building efficiencies at scale.