Memo to Stephen Burke: Hooked Up | Communication Frontiers

TO: Stephen Burke, CEO, NBCUniversal

FROM: Merin Pasternak, Digital Strategist

RE: Hooked Up

DATE: March 18, 2013

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Part One: NBCUniversal Insights

NBCUniversal is a leader in development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and content for a global audience. The NBC Television Network has a unified national persona that is evident through its unique programming, made possible by over 200 of its affiliate stations across the United States. NBCUniversal also has a strong commitment to its digital properties. Its new aggressive digital strategy emphasizes multiplatform programming and marketing initiatives. Jack Myers’, Hooked Up is a great tool that illustrates the changing roles of consumers that can allow
NBC to fully capitalize on collaboration between content, consumer outreach and digital media interfaces. NBC’s current digital strategies fall under DailyCandy, Fandango, Hulu, iVillage, NBC.com, CNBC Digital, social media, mobile, applications, connected devices, multi-platform programming, product development, digital media business development and digital marketing. “Digital media is an essential component of NBC’s programming, marketing and monetization strategies,” says Len Fogge, President, NBC Entertainment Marketing & Digital. He emphasizes NBC’s new strategic approach to digital as NBC welcomes Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment, who has “demonstrated success as a creative digital media executive who understands the intersection between consumer behavior and emerging technologies mak[ing] him ideal to lead our initiatives in this area” (NBC Press Release, 6/12).

Part Two: Defining Internet Pioneers

Jack Myers takes a close look at a subsection of the Generation Y: Internet Pioneers. This is the 21.2 million Americans born from 1991 to 1995, the first generation to grow up with the Internet browser and mobile connectivity as an integral part of daily life; the same 18-22 year old demographic that NBC is looking to capture. As Internet Pioneers are “more aware than any generation” with constant access to information at a moments notice and instant gratification when media is concerned, NBC must be on the forefront of their digital fingertips (Hooked Up, 7). They rank the Internet as one of their highest priorities, with the expectation that they will have constant connectivity and access to family, information, shopping, music, movies and TV. All NBC content available on TV must also be easily accessible to this demo via mobile connectivity in order to heighten NBC’s viewership. While NBC is already aware that this younger generation is “cord-cutting,” they need to figure out a way to capitalize on this trend in order to compete in the future “a la carte programming” environment.

Internet Pioneers are constantly in motion, actively engaged and tapped into their surroundings. Myers claims that most do not spend any waking hours doing ‘nothing.’ This trend can be defined as mobile and social synergies, as social networking

applications already make up 39% of mobile usage.
Therefore it should not be a surprise that Internet Pioneers are always socializing, whether in person or via a media platform. Myers goes so far as to state “communication is as much a part of their routines as brushing their teeth” (Hooked Up, 16). In this way connectivity is viewed by some as an intrusion.

The plethora of rich content available across an ever-increasing number of social media platforms assures that Internet Pioneers are natural experts at navigating facts and figures relating to researching their family and friends to acquaintances and complete strangers. Proactive behavior allows Internet Pioneers to “peer into each other’s lives” via social media outlets. At the same time Internet Pioneers are extremely cautious about their privacy and actively monitor what information is available to the general public, Facebook friends and family. Myers discusses how “College students consider themselves … in a committed relationship only when both partners make the relationship ‘Facebook Official’” (Hooked Up, 29). Some might interpret this as an exaggeration, as the majority of Internet Pioneers cater all of their social media profiles to fit specific needs and wants depending on specific life circumstances. At the some time the notion of privacy has greatly shifted. For Internet Pioneers their willingness to give up privacy in order to share with others is on the rise. For NBC this is crucial, as content consumers are more willing to give up personalized information in order to consume free content, which can later be used for strategically targeted advertisements that more accurately apply to each specific media consumer.

Part Three: Consumer Outreach

In order to reach this “bridge generation” NBC needs to package and present concise content. This generation is not captivated by longwinded speeches and sifting lengthy documents. Internet Pioneers have a large base of knowledge allowing them to form individual opinions, whether of not they are voiced loudly, and can draw their own conclusions. They are widely successful at multitasking, which feeds into their ability to be in constant contact with a variety of resources. This is key for NBC’s ability to advertise and engage with this new breed of media consumer, who is constantly seeking a lean-forward media experience as opposed to the tradition lean-back media experience.

Similarly, receiving recommendations from friends is the most effective way for Internet Pioneers to interact with content, followed by accessing social media feeds and actively seeking out information on the Internet. As far as Internet Pioneers are concerned, celebrity endorsements are not a valuable or reliable source of information, as there is a heavy mistrust and dose of skepticism for big business and curated content. For NBC to truly interact with Internet Pioneers they must find new channels of conversation between viewers and developers.

While many Internet Pioneers will have financial trouble maintaining their current lifestyles and may return to live at home (with their parents) after college, they view themselves as global citizens. Their perception of the world is “one without time and space limitations,” giving them the ability to create global relationships. Groups of friend are becoming more diverse with multi-national and lingual individuals coming together. The old model of targeting based on demographics and physical appearance must be replaced by a new set of behavioral data. This is a key component to capitalizing on a sense of individualism allowing Internet Pioneers to belong to a range of different groups and have the intellectual capacity to compete with adults who in the past were viewed as their superiors. In order for NBC to remain a leader in development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and content for a global audience they must continue to constantly shift their digital strategies to remain ahead of the needs and wants of the rapidly advancing Internet Pioneers.

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