TO: Mark A. Cooblitz, Senior VP of Strategic Planning, Comcast
FROM: Nicholas Pulis, Strategic Planning Team
RE: Hooked Up Implications for Comcast’s Future
DATE: March 17, 2013
Hooked Up is a book that takes a futuristic look on society while providing crucial information to reel in the current generation of young people, our future consumers. Jack Myers does an outstanding job in describing the trends, likes, and dislikes of the new and upcoming generation of consumers. This new generation, branded as Internet Pioneers, will likely determine the future of our company and its success in the entertainment business. That being said, the information below reviews Myers’ take on the Internet Pioneers, and just how they are affecting the media industry.
Jack Myers describes these Internet Pioneers as the generation raised during the age of the Internet. Born between 1991 and 1995 many of these Internet Pioneers are college students. In fact, more than 95% of them have become dependent on the Internet for managing their lives. Without Internet their lives would simply be unstable. All forms of social media, from Facebook to twitter, heavily influence those in this younger generation. They are active every minute of the day, multitasking every minute of the day, fitting 36 hours of work in a 24-hour day. The below graphic provides information on how much the average person in 2012 would multitask while watching television.
Thriving off social media and the Internet, this new generation is going to determine the future of our company. The average Internet Pioneer is an undershot consumer, meaning that they want the next best thing as soon as it comes out. That being said Comcast must not be late to the media race. Most technology innovators are aware of the fact that new product designs must be interactive. That has already been determined. What has not been successfully created is a highly functional interactive television that can be easily accessed by homes all over the world. An interactive television is able to satisfy the need to multitask, which is a must when trying to please the Internet Pioneers. If Comcast is able to develop a television platform that is related to this they will be a frontrunner in the media race.
Despite being heavily involved with their technology, this generation has been overloaded according to Myers. Having gone through a variety of events from 9/11 to the economic crash in 2008, the Internet Pioneers have gone through a vast amount of emotions and thus have become wary of taking a side and voicing their opinions. Consequently, many of them do not choose to take a side in arguments but will try to find a common ground between the two. In his later chapters, Myers describes how the Internet Pioneer generation is more concerned with shaping the world into a better place rather than becoming more successful and wealthy. Many of them would rather keep their work flexible and have different jobs that could benefit the community rather than staying at one particular high paying job. Their desires to help better the world, shape their thoughts on important issues politically, economically, and socially. This information is vital when trying to determine the content of future productions.
NBC has productions that are broadcasted all over the world each and everyday. From the daily news to sitcoms like “Parks and Recreation” there are many areas for the Internet Pioneers to stay on task. Myers explains that one of the major influences the Internet Pioneers had occurred during their childhood. Famous old cartoons such as “Hey Arnold”, “Rugrats”, and “Pokemon” had influences over this generation straight from childhood. If television shows had such a dramatic impact on this generation, imagine what they could do for future generations. Since the NBC network broadcasts to a variety of ages, they would not only be influencing the generations after them but potentially the older audience too. Not only would this help influence future generations, but would give the Internet Pioneer’s a sense of accomplishment since they are giving back to the community in some form.
Many of the televisions shows that influence the Internet Pioneer generation all have one theme in common: many of them could relate to or show the desired lives of the generation. Shows such as “Pretty Little Liars” and “Family Guy” appeal to this generation because it engages the audience. While “Family Guy” pertains to the male audience and “Pretty Little Liars” to the female crowd both share a common theme: both audiences can relate to the shows. Many of the males in the Internet Pioneer generation list “Family Guy” as their top show because it incorporates present political/social topics in a humorous way, which many of them try to reciprocate. On the other hand many females in this generation have “Pretty Little Liars” at the top of their list because they can relate to the characters in the show. Creating shows similar to these for our network will not only help bring in this generation as our new consumers, but also potentially bring them into our company.
As you already know, NBC has not had a problem creating content that appeals to any generation. However, what you may not be aware of is that the way the above shows are being viewed is drastically changing. This generation does not view “television” content the way generations before them did. Consumers within the Internet Pioneer generation watch productions wherever they are. They watch on their technological devices such as their iPhones and laptops. This has been relatively known for sometime. Once this change began it was up to technology innovators to discover the most efficient way to watch “To-Go” TV. After viewing the material provided by Myers anyone could see that a new innovation is going to provide the Internet Pioneers just what they have been asking for, and many believe it is already here. It is pivotal that Comcast looks further into how their productions can be moved away from the traditional TV and directly into the eyes of this younger generation.
Although they may not be the most influential generation as of now, the Internet Pioneers will continue to grow and become valuable assets in the near future. Their future decisions will not only shape our world, but also help shape future generations to come. They are more than just valuable customers, this generation could become our employees or business partners. Myers gives us very detailed explanations of how to handle this new generation, we must let his knowledge guide us to both our future consumers and the success of the company.
Work Cited
Derickson. “Content-Related TV Multitasking [CHART] – e-Strategy Marketing Trends.” e-Strategy Trends – Marketing, Advertising, Communications & PR Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2013. <http://trends.e-strategyblog.com/2012/05/18/content-related-tv-multitasking-chart/265>.
Myers, Jack. Hooked Up: A New Generation’s Surprising Take on Sex, Politics and Saving the World. Connecticut: York House Press, 2012. Print