Dramatic shifts in media consumption habits attributed to the Internet and broadband penetration have been well documented and continue to gather momentum. From Baby Boomers to Gen X and Gen Y, we’ve witnessed generational shifts from:

• leaning back, passive television watchers to leaning forward, engaged computer users
  
• reading newspapers and magazines in print to online media consumption
  
• the popularity of aggregation portals and rss feeds to those who let the news come to them
• content readers to content creators

In order to resonate with this generation, media companies have started to change and innovate. A few observations and a big opportunity:

Google rules. When this demographic wants to learn something – they Google it. To this end, publishers’ early efforts have focused on search engine optimization, along with formatting and distributing content in new ways that include brand attribution and link-backs. For example, publishers have taken advantage of sites like Digg and Reddit; and highly rated articles on these sites drive new user acquisition. And, going one step further, CNN recently made it very easy for users to embed branded and sharable video clips into their blogs and websites.

This demographic also interacts frequently in continuously expanding communities of shared interest. Not only do they expect what they share to be portable; they also want to be free to shape and use it as they see fit. We think this is a significant untapped opportunity for publishers – to not only re-package around content – but also to give users control within the content by re-imagining its form and application.

For example, we look at an article that provides advice on the steps to take for a stress free vacation and think there’s significant opportunity to help the user past the point of initial consumption. How could the publisher help the user to actually apply that advice?  And, how could the publisher provide ongoing value and re-engage the user all the way to the point of action?

Given the propensity for Google and the infinite choice that media proliferation and fragmentation provides, user retention is a major issue for media companies -  and a real opportunity for innovation.

Interested in learning more?  Contact me (jjaner at springpartners dot com) or signup for our Life Expert open beta pilot program.

*LTR = long term relationship