There’s an insightful moment in the Oscar-winning film No Country For Old Men where the sheriff, played by Tommy Lee Jones, discusses the nature of Javier Bardem’s violence with another member of Texas law enforcement. The officer says to him:
“He shoots the desk clerk one day, and walks right back in the next and shoots a retired army colonel. Strolls right back into a crime scene. Who would do such a thing? How do you defend against it?
When the logistics of your everyday reality begin to change beyond any sort of traditional pattern or framework, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed—even scared!
As a retailer, how do you defend against a whiskey shortage today? By purchasing more whiskey to bolster that demand, right?
Wrong.
Because as soon as you stock up on supplies, the demand changes to hard seltzer. As soon as you buffer your store with hard seltzer, the demand changes from alcohol over to cannabis. Then from cannabis to something else.
The hard truth is this: today’s younger generations are not following any sort of traditional pattern that traditional marketers can defend against. Need more proof? Today’s LA Times spells it out:
A new study, based on a February online survey of more than 2,000 consumers, showed that preferences are changing rapidly between millennials and the younger generation when it comes to how they want to spend their leisure time.
That spells serious trouble for Hollywood because it’s no longer about finding the right kind of TV show or movie—superheroes, or stoner comedies, etc—rather, it’s a complete shift in preference of media:
Twenty six percent of Gen Zers in the survey cited playing video games as their favorite entertainment activity, compared to 14% for listening to music, 12% for browsing the internet and 11% for engaging on social media. Only 10% said they would rather watch a movie or TV show at home.
That compares to millennials (born 1983 to 1996), 18% of whom chose watching movies and TV shows as their preferred mode of entertainment. Video games were the entertainment option of choice for 16% of millennials.
If these trends stick, it could mean that video will become less important to consumers.
Not only are traditional mediums becoming less important to young consumers, traditional markers of quality are out the window.
How do I know this? Because I see it every single day in the booze world, as brands with horrible-tasting products become media sensations overnight.
But I also see it everywhere around me.
Let’s look at sports. Traditional boxing viewership is on the decline, as younger fight fans have moved over to MMA. But, this past weekend, YouTuber Jake Paul was able to draw plenty of fans over to his amateur boxing sideshow, complete with mediocre boxing on display.
The point: today more young people would rather watch a terrible boxer square off against another inexperienced boxer because he’s a famous social media star, rather than watch two experienced professionals duel in a serious fight.
What does that mean for competition?
Look at what Europe’s elite soccer teams are attempting to pull off: a rogue super league comprised of only the most famous clubs, competing against each other for huge ratings. Who cares about the constricting paradigm of traditional sports anymore? Let’s just cash in while we can and give people what they want to see, even if it means nothing in the grand scope of national competition.
-David Driscoll