The Rise Of Content Indigestion

Demo season in Paris has started earlier than usual this year. Last week students took to the streets of Paris; they don't like the government's school reforms - nothing too new there. What struck me was their approach to the demo. In an interview one of the organizers having stated her gripe went on to explain that they had put some thoughts into how to be more effective. Amongst other things they had placed two dancers (did not specify if students) on a podium to animate the crown and a rapper shouting out the message to get the crowd to join in. Her justification was "...after all we are young, so our demos need to stay cool".

When the organisers of a Parisian demo (that I regarded as one of the ultimate havens for irreverence, rebellion and integrity) put some thoughts on how to create a more effective experience in a demo it's a sign of change. I start to have some sympathy with those marketers that view brand content as the most effective way to connect with consumers in a world of fragmented media.

So I was a bit perplexed when I saw that Telerama (read - TV Guide merges with Time Out and the Times Literary Supplement) concluded that while more people than ever are 'consumers of culture', the constant multiplication of cultural products is diluting people's passion for it. For a nation that believes that culture in all its definitions is sacred, this is serious. For planners believing that brand content is key to connect with consumers, it's also worrying.  

In a two parts enquiry on 'la culture jetable' (the throwaway culture) Telerama followed a hypothetical French 'culture consumer'.  At the FNAC (read 'WHSmith on steroids') Manu - as they called him - is constantly offered more films, more music, more games, more books and this hyperchoice is starting to affect him. The real risk is that rather than help steer his choice towards a specific brand, any targeted content might just add further blurring.

The 661 fiction books that were offered to him in September for the 'rentree' have now being joined by the 517 titles of the newly created January 'rentree'.  In total publishers brought out over 60,000 new books in France in 2004 - twice more than twenty year ago.  

On the 26th of January - an average evening - Manu was offered 80 different films on TV. If he opted for the cinema 16 new films were released that week. In 2004 poor old Manu - or is he lucky? - had to decide which of the 554 new releases to go see at the cinema - it was only 396 in 1993. However, as today there are 5 times more movies which are distributed with over 500 copies or more compared to 1996, the movies appear and disappear faster - a greater number of film have a life of less than 3 weeks.  

Going through other cultural media like music and games, the article feels 'cultural content' becomes even more 'jetable'; the chances of Manu noticing any content is decreasing. When he does notice it, the time between Manu deciding to download a track he likes and him forgetting or deleting it to make space for a new one is getting shorter. The multiplication of cultural opportunities has a darker side; a larger number of content is ignored than ever before. Like most products categories, at least 80% of music or books launched fail.  

With the hyperchoice there has also been an increase in the number of reviews designed to help, but this has created another issue: a clear lack of authority. Who do you go to for help in choosing? Pariscope; Zurban, Telerama, Le Figaro or the three or more websites that lets you compare the view of up to 10 reputable critics? Predictably these views rarely agree which leaves Manu none the wiser. The authorities are cancelling themselves out and poor Manu is left alone stranded in a rising sea of cultural products. So far brands seem too busy finding ways to add to the choice rather than trying to bridge this authority gap.    

An area of potential brand content that's surprisingly not yet very crowded is the bande dessinee or BD as it's know (cartoon strip). In France (and Italy and Spain) this is not a thing for teenage male geeks, but it's a growing type of cultural product.  

According to Elle magazine - who last week dedicated one of its main feature articles to the rising number of women cartoonists; it stated that 52% of buyers of BD are women; half of the mangas in Japan are designed by women for women. The 32nd Festival of Angouleme - the Cannes festival of the comic strip - just closed its doors last weekend. The winner of best album - out of the over 3000 that came out in 2004 - was 'poulet aux prunes' (chicken with prunes) by an Iranian woman, Marjane Satrapi. Like most of the female authors interviewed in the article, she sees this medium as a way to comment on the different experiences of contemporary society.    

Looking for examples of brands that are doing a good job in creating an experience I found it impossible not to notice the Parisian campaign for the 2012 Olympic. As the IOC chiefs are currently flying into London and Paris to decide who to award the games in 2012, the Parisian campaign has been gaining momentum. The TV campaign was forgettable, but a few other components are turning the campaign theme 'L'Amour des Jeux' into an experience.  

One of its components is a satin bracelet. It comes in different colours and it has written 'Je voeux les Jeux à Paris en 2012' (I want the games in Paris in 2012). Not subtle but not a cheap piece of merchandise either. Somehow they got it into Colette - the temple of the latest must have accessories - and it received instant 'must have' cool status. At the same time it made any wearer an active disciple of the movement.   

Similarly this St Valentine's Day Parisians were able to write their message of love for the Olympic Games on one of 170 electronic boards around the city. Other initiatives have turned different parts of the city into a 'fan' experience.  

Whilst looking desperately for ways to end this article, I have just fallen upon what must be the place with the biggest potential for creating memorable brand experiences: 'Dans le noir' (In the Dark) a relativey new restaurant.  While restaurants in Paris are definitely a crowded cultural products, dans le noir is different. As its website explains  

You are going to live an unbelievable experience: eating or having a drink in the complete darkness&..by suppressing the dominant sense of the sight, each person naturally starts a deep self-questioning. With the help of our blinded guides you are going to completely re-evaluate the notion of taste and smelling through our gastronomic and pedagogical process  

Brands, where are you? Where is the Pepsi Challenge when you need it?          

Filippo dell'Osso Regional Planning Director  Saatchi&Saatchi Paris  filippo.dellosso@saatchi.fr

EDITORIAL NOTE - The APG web division would like to Filippo and the entire Francophone world for the lack of appropriate accents in this article. Can't seem to make them work properly in HTML. If you'd like Filippo's word version with all the accents in place please click here.