It’s 2024. That alone means that with technological advancements zooming forward at warp speed, the future seems to arrive faster than ever.
That proclamation particularly applies, in this case, to digital media, with fast forward icons getting pressed more often in these earlier days of concepts such as artificial intelligence.
On that note, how fast is the digital media landscape changing? Ask Matt Coleman, CEO with Las Vegas-based FansXR.
“It’s been undergoing a transformative change for the last decade but really fast-forwarded during the last 12 months,” said Coleman, “with AI playing a pivotal role, particularly in the shape of the creation of digital twins, avatars and in advertising and sponsorship within over-the-top and streaming applications.”
Repeated Cycle
Indeed, said Coleman, emerging technologies “are poised to revolutionize the industry,” as he pointed to advancements in virtual reality and augmented reality, which enhance the user experience by providing immersive, interactive viewing opportunities.
Furthermore, he said, new technological solutions are streamlining content access.
“The Big Three media companies are collaborating to consolidate their sports content under a single application. This innovation means subscribers no longer need separate subscriptions to ESPN, Fox Sports or Warner Brothers,” said Coleman. “The unified platform (the name is yet to be announced) will simplify access to a broad range of sports content.”
He then commented on the AI effect on viewing opportunities. “In a surprising turn of events,” he said, Apple recently announced a partnership with ChatGPT. “Traditionally, Apple leads technological innovation by developing proprietary products,” but on this occasion “Apple is going all-in with AI, announcing several new AI features and a partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.”
Then comes the impact of another huge player in the industry, chip manufacturer Nvidia, which has “exploded during the last 12 months, hitting a whopping $3.2 trillion market capitalization off the back of its chips and technology,” Coleman said. “It has made significant strides in the AI sector with its groundbreaking computing solutions.”
Nvidia’s market dominance is reflected in its skyrocketing stock price, which has reached an unprecedented stock price of about $130 a share.
Another development is the continuance of consumers “cutting the cord” as they use different avenues to access content, often via streaming services. “With more than 50% of North America now cutting the cord and cable at its lowest [point], the traditional broadcasters are lagging behind Netflix in the subscription war,” said Coleman.
“During the past decade, the traditional broadcasters have ceded significant ground to streaming giants,” he said, like Netflix, which boasts more than 260 million subscribers; and Disney+ (150 million) and Paramount+ (64 million).
With these streaming platforms having leveraged content from traditional networks to build vast global databases while also producing original content,” Coleman said, “the scenario mirrors the past, when cable networks disrupted the market more than 40 years ago, a cycle that is repeating with streaming services today.”
Capital Investments
The recent NBA playoffs offered Coleman yet another opportunity to point to the changes in the digital media industry. “They aired on ABC and ESPN, and attracted a record 5.47 million viewers per game,” he said.
“However, the major sponsor for the NBA playoffs was YouTube TV ― a streaming service ― with more than 2.7 billion active users globally and estimated to have 15 million paid subscribers,” he said. “This sponsorship underscores the shift in the industry, as traditional broadcasters inadvertently drive subscriptions to their streaming competitors, ultimately affecting their subscription numbers. That’s a short-term gain, but not a long-term gain.”
Hearing Coleman’s perspective on digital media might easily give one the idea that there are good investments to be had and there’s no argument on that point from Ani Matson, co-founder of the CMO Syndicate, Washington, D.C., and adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University. Matson conducts an annual report, Global Digital Marketing Trends, and noted that capital investment is up this year with advances in the market.
“Chipmaker was no. 6 last year in the list of Top 10 market capitalization leaders and now they’ve jumped to no. 3,” said Matson, also noting that Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia, “which is the chip behind everything, is in high demand and is helping to fuel the AI revolution” posted high on the list.
However, that rise for Nvidia didn’t come without some concerns: the sales in large numbers of its chips around the globe is leading to security issues, “and the U.S. doesn’t want that,” she said.
Content Spike
Another topic addressed in the report concerns how the rise of digital media is also spurring growth in the ever-expanding data center arena, which is in turn heightening the overall demand for clean energy. “[Data centers are] everywhere and the increase in numbers is audacious,” said Matson.
“It’s a good thing that the U.S. is a leader in this part of the industry, but everyone else is catching up. Domestically, this is fueling the need for more solar farms,” she said, as well as overall infrastructure improvements spurred by various tangents in the world of digital media.”
The rise is coming from so many directions that it seems like it’s just part of a general blur.
“There’s so much happening with AI, and it’s happening so fast, that it’s hard to say what’s next,” said Matson. “It makes life easier, but it’s replacing some jobs, most notably tedious tasks in marketing and customer service. Automation is making processes more efficient and scientific. Some jobs will be obsolete and I think there will be more jobs in the future that will go to people who can work within the AI infrastructure.”
Another angle with AI concerns how much ChatGPT is really helping users. “If you’re smart on your own you know what you need to know, you’ve already got your basic information,” said Matson. “That’s a matter of demand and can actually lead to more sophisticated thinking by humans who are using their analytical brain.”
Then there’s another tangent, what Matson referred to as “the usual tension between marketing and sales.”
“With AI, you can do predictive analytics,” she said, “but the analytics should point to the right prospects.” The leads need to be marketing-qualified before they get transferred to sales. With AI, the process of qualifying leads is more scientific and it takes away the finger-pointing that happens in organizations.
“I see it over and over,” Matson said. ‘When the error level can be reduced, teams are better collaborators.”
Concerning the growth of the creator economy, she said the numbers are “are larger than I imagined. The trends are that the influencers ― who have followings of more than 1 million ― are the ones who are spurring the spike in the content.” That’s meant “that companies can use influencers to tell stories because they can share personal experiences.”
Matson said that market is also expanding for the benefit of the smaller influencers, who have followings in the 15,000-25,000 range, for selling niche products. “Micro-influencers can be the right fit for some brands and they’re getting better and better,” Matson said, “but they have to deal with the pressure of constantly generating interesting content.”
On that note, Matson said the number of followers for influencers has leveled. “There are about two million influencers (or creators) with a one million-plus followers, but the point here is that this is about quality of content.” If it’s not interesting, “they lose people.”
Take writing about concerts, for example. “They can write about them,” she said, “but what is new about an influencer’s content that other people don’t offer? It’s not like throwing spaghetti on the wall and hoping something sticks; you have to learn your right balance, then watch the behavior and respond. And it’s different with everyone.”
Under Influencers
While there is still no substitute for the human brain when it comes to creating content, one way to climb out of the noise is the advent of Generative AI, said P.K. Kannan, associate dean for strategic initiatives and dean’s chair in marketing science for the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park, who called that scene one of “three trends.”
Generative AI “helps to create content for websites and videos that are personalized for a certain audience, one profile and/or even one person,” said Kannan, “that will motivate them to take action, such as going to a website or store to buy a product.”
“That’s important,” he said, “because Generative AI can play a big role in the effectiveness of virtual and augmented reality and provide what people are really looking for, such as visualizing themselves sitting a couch in their living room as they shop for furniture.”
Kannan’s second trend harkens to Matson’s observations about the rise of influencers and the size of their audiences.
“There are micro, nano and mega influencers, and they’ve grown in numbers to the point that they’re clearly drawing ad money away from TV advertising,” he said. “They’re live streaming and, in fact, in China that has become a very big avenue to sell products such as cosmetics, clothing,” etc., “that people tend to buy on impulse.”
Another part of that appeal is that consumers can chat with influencers and exchange information. “That’s also being done by Amazon and Walmart,” said Kannan, “and will eventually become a global trend.”
His third trend stems from AI using an ever-widening array of images and content ― which come hand-in-hand, some might say finally, with a significant rise in intellectual property issues.
“The organizations that create and distribute genuine content will sue people who use AI to distribute knock-offs,” he said, “and the copycats won’t be able to hide anymore.” That’s critical because the line of demarcation between what’s true intellectual property and what isn’t is harder to identify than ever due to AI technologies that morph content. So expect that there will be many lawsuits.
That’s another reason why influencers “are becoming the go-to sources,” Kannan said. “The audiences trust them. However, they must be very careful that their information is correct.”
Another issue that isn’t really new is that viewer’s attention spans are becoming shorter and shorter, which has led to the rise of such media as TikTok. “When people are on the move during the day and want information, they want it in short, quick form,” he said. “They don’t want to waste time.”
That said, there are other times they want to watch a movie, binge-watch a series or get in-depth on a news item. “So there are two markets consuming video,” he said, that concerns the time of day. “That’s why people are moving away from TV. They can skip the ads.”
While broadcasters are obviously feeling that hurt, the streaming companies are feeling likewise.
“Netflix is having a hard time filling their ad slots, so research is being done on when it’s easier to interrupt content for that purpose. But all told, short form has come to the fore and is here to stay in our multitasking world.”
Watch ’n Buy
Getting those short messages to consumers is job one at the Baltimore-based Gable Company, which was founded four-plus decades ago as a signmaking shop and, fueled by the revolution, has evolved to points unimagined.
“We’ve become much more of a media company in our digital age,” said Senior Vice President Steve Gottlich, “because we can tell stories in a unique way.”
For instance, just a few years ago “we would see the big video screens mainly in Las Vegas or other entertainment meccas, but you’re now seeing them in your local grocery store,” said Gottlich, “and in every shopping area near your home. It’s on-screen and even on-shelf digital — to the point that every shelf edge is moving toward being a dynamic spot in the store.”
More of today’s retailers are using what’s known as e-ink, “which is like a digital notepad,” he said. “What used to be black and white, like the old shingles, is now in full color. That allows stores, fast food restaurants, pharmacies,” etc. “to have dynamic pricing that can be changed at any second. For instance, any Aldi grocery store has shelf labels that are all digital with batteries that can last 10 years.”
So huge amounts of labels that for decades required manual labor to apply can be updated with the click of a button. “It’s that easy,” said Gottlich. “That’s the first part of the enormous, swift changes to in-store media.”
Of late, Gable has been working with convenience stores. “A printed sign is often left in place for six weeks and never changes,” he said, “but our signs can change for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
Why is that a big deal? Because research from the National Association of Convenience Stores that [indicates] “up to 60% of customers who pull up for gas don’t go inside,” said Gottlich, “so we have to give them a good reason or an invitation to do so ― which gets back to the media side of our business. We have to canvass and tell good stories, even in that condensed form.”
Once customers come inside, there are more opportunities to “talk” to them, visually at the shelf edge or at the end cap, where retailers usually present specials or product information.
“That gives us,” he said, “we have our new way to reach them.”
Retail Networks
That method of approach extends to larger retailers, too. “Grocery stores can use this approach to sell wines and use a touch screen on the end cap,” said Gottlich, “so the customer can research the wine so they can find one that suits their tastes.”
So all of this information leads to another revolution within a revolution in in-store media: retail media networks.
“What’s happened is that since all of these screens are proliferating inside the stores, advertisers can reach their market via the RMNs. It’s a new revenue opportunity,” he said, noting Walmart’s Connect is one of the largest networks in the world, “as far as any comparison with a TV network goes.”
On top of that is the advancement of software and the variety of new capabilities that have added to the excitement. “We’re working with Geenee, an AR platform,” said Gottlich, “where viewers and people can interact with a screen and try on clothes, sunglasses, make-up,” etc.
Or as Kannan noted, sit on a couch. At Gable, it’s just the latest step into the future.
The advancement of technology in the digital world “has become so ubiquitous,” said Gottlich, “that it’s an ever-expanding choice for RMNs in the built (the physical world) environment.”
Odenton, Maryland-based Mark R. Smith joined Expansion Solutions after having written about site selection among the vast number of topics he has covered in the 
business universe. That part of his career began in 1993 when he joined The Daily Record, a Baltimore business and legal publication, where he delved into the worlds of economic development and commercial real estate, among numerous other industries; in 2003, he was named editor-in-chief of The Business Monthly, another Maryland publication that covers the scene in the Baltimore-Washington Corridor counties.
