Innovation is something that every organization needs today. This need is doubly assured for the domain of media, communication and entertainment. No content of media or its delivery etc can survive with the audiences without constant innovations.
Major innovations in contemporary media hover around CONVERGENCE in every sphere of media functioning: consumption, ownership, content creation, marketing and delivery.
People consuming media are doing it through all vehicles: offline, on-air, on-ground, and very fast online. People advertising in media are asking for integrated media solutions, with their ads or advertorial messages appearing across all media vehicles. People owning media are now becoming multi-media barons to have synergy at the work-place and market-place, both. Technologies are converging on one platform. Alongside, skill-sets are also converging within the top media professionals. Good examples are Washington Post, Zee Group, BBC or the Times of India Group.
The second innovation, also emanating from the first, is about DIGITIZATION of media and entertainment. The metamorphosis of the Digital Dawn has just started in Asian media markets, whereas it is in a matured stage in the Western markets.
For example, in the Indian context, the three iconic media moments of 2011 were the victory in the World Cup Cricket, the Anna Hazare led anti corruption movement, and the Kolaveri Di song went viral overnight. All three were aided and abetted by a fast expanding media going digital.
Registering a growth of 12% in 2011, the USD 16 billion Indian M&E industry is now digitizing at every level: digital television distribution, print media putting in place new media content and digital delivery platforms, cinema production and exhibition going digital in one-third of the screens, animating/VFX/gaming gaining sharp growth, and digital advertising and PR recording high growth this year.
The third innovation we need to look at is the ENGAGEMENT strategy as opposed to interactive and entertainment strategy. The ever younger evolved media consumer today needs to be engaged, and not merely entertained, informed or interacted with. It is the age of user generated content, user friendly devices (tablets and gaming devices), more touch points to engage the audiences, going regional, and getting more niche content across multiple platforms. Ra.One versus Paan Singh Tomar/ Kahaani is a good case-study.
