Some three to five years ago, the term “three screens† was coined to describe what has by now become a reality: media users access the contents relevant to them over the TV set (screen 1), the personal computer (screen 2) and their cell phones (screen 3). What comes next, now that “three screens† has become a reality? †It is time to get ready for six screens†, writes Judy Shapiro, author of the blog Trench Wars and chief brand strategist at CloudLinux, in an article published by the marketing journal Advertising Age.
Shapiro’s vision of the (near) future: the “Pull† principle replaces the “Push† principle: Three new screens, which the media consumers increasingly use to actively get the content they want, complement the current three screens through which the audience uses media mostly passively. The TV set, the PC and the mobile phone are thus complemented and to some extent cannibalised by mobile computing (screen 4), location aware digital TV (screen 5) and the infinite “pull† screen of convergence (screen 6).
The latter – mobile, too, of course – will not just deliver contents. Being an intelligent companion, it will learn from usage behaviour, location and “Opt In† settings in order to provide precisely the right content, social network contacts and connections that the user is looking for at that moment. Screens 4 and 5 are almost here - with bandwidths increasing to 100 Mbps any moment nothing else stands in the way of true mobile computing and mobile TV. However, not even Judy Shapiro is prepared to venture when screen 6 is to become a part of our everyday lives. The further development of network capacities and other technological hurdles are still too uncertain.
Regardless of one’s views on the specifics of the model: the predicted paradigm shift from “Push† to “Pull† and “Opt In† is a very useful model; even today, consumers want to be in control of the media content they use. But Shapiro also underlines another point inherent to the “Opt In† model: the media users of the future will only accept content on their screens that they trust.
Building confidence to stay relevant: for communicators – be it private persons, enterprises or media companies – being and remaining trustworthy is a long-term task with a high ROI in the future.
Source:
Remember Three-Screen Marketing Plans? So 2007. Time to Get Ready For Six Screens (Advertising Age - August 2010)