A million things to watch

21 Jun 2011 | 0 Comments | Direct Response TV , IPTV , Media Strategy , TV Advertising

The logic is straight forward: some choice is good, therefore more choice is better. But there’s a point at which too much choice can be crippling.

There are ample studies that have shown if we’re offered a constrained list of options, we make our choices more readily, with greater confidence and less buyers’ remorse. Give us a wider range of options and instead of being greeted with woots of joy, we pause, second guess and eventually buckle under uncertainty.

In a famous study, researchers set up a stand in a supermarket and put 24 varieties of jam on display for shoppers to sample. After tasting their way through as many as they liked, they received a discount voucher to buy any of that same brand. People flocked to the stand, but surprisingly, less people followed through with a purchase using their voucher compared to the next day when the researchers only displayed six types of jam.

It was a paragon example of the paradox of choice: more options allows us to hone in on our unique preferences, but it also increases the load in discovering the optimal choice. The danger is you walk away wondering if you picked the best option, or whether there was something you missed.

The same issue applies to the future of television. We’ve already entered an age where our media options are more expansive and diverse than ever before. And this trend is only going to continue.

Besides broadcast television and DVDs, we also have our PVRs, downloadable content, the web, YouTube and a burgeoning universe of IPTV. In the not too distant future we could find ourselves sitting down on our couch and contemplating what to watch out of nothing less than a million options.

How does one manage that kind of cognitive load? How can we be sure we’re watching the best thing at any one time? How do we know we’re not missing something?

Choice is a double edged sword.

It’s also a challenge for advertisers. Particularly the big brands. Back when everybody watched one of three commercial stations of a night, the slices of the audience pie were nice and chunky. Now the pie has been fragmented into thousands of slices. This makes it harder for them to achieve the reach they seek.

However, the sword cuts both ways. Fragmentation is a great thing for those with niche interests; it wasn’t easy to get one’s fill of Texas Hold’em poker or Chinese opera back when there were only five TV stations on offer.

And this raises opportunities for advertisers who want to reach audiences with niche interests. Instead of the old shotgun approach, fragmentation means you can operate more like a sniper, targeting specific consumer segments over a slew of environments rather than blasting the masses and hoping someone paid attention.

And when you do, those consumers will actually be better equipped to make a choice, as you’re offering them something that is targeted directly at their interests.

Choice is a paradoxical thing. For all the challenges that come with the new era of media fragmentation, there are also tremendous opportunities. It just depends on how you choose to look at it.