The habits of media consumers are changing dramatically — driven by technological developments. Last but not least, the self-determination of media consumers is increasing with new technologies and higher bandwidths. The current push model of media is being replaced by the pull model - consumers alone determine what else they leave on their devices. Trust in senders and their content is becoming more important than ever.
Three to five years ago, the term “three screens” predicted what is reality today: media users consume the content relevant to them via the television (Screen 1), the personal computer (Screen 2) and their mobile phone (Screen 3).
But what comes now that the “Three Screens” have become reality? It's time to get ready for six screens, writes Judy Shapiro, brand strategist at CloudLinux and author of the blog Trench Wars, in the trade journal Advertising Age.
Shapiro's vision of the near future: The push principle is followed by the pull principle. In addition to the previous three screens, via which users can passively deliver their media content, there are three more, which are being used more and more to actively collect media content. TV, PC and mobile are therefore supplemented and partly replaced by mobile computing (Screen 4), digital mobile television (Screen 5) and the intelligent, converged pull screen (Screen 6).
The latter, of course also mobile, will not only deliver content. As an intelligent companion, it will provide exactly the content, contacts from social networks and connections that the user needs right now, based on user habits, location and the user's opt-in requirements.
Screen four and five are almost a reality. With the imminent increase in bandwidth in mobile networks to over 100 Mbps, there is hardly anything standing in the way of true mobile computing and mobile TV. Even Judy Shapiro doesn't want to predict when screen six will become part of everyday life. The development of network capacities and other technical issues are still too unclear.
Regardless of what you think of the model in detail today: The predicted paradigm shift from push to pull and opt-in is a very useful model. Even today, media users want to determine for themselves what they consume.
However, Shapiro highlights something else in connection with the opt-in principle: The media users of the future will only accept content on their screens that they trust. Creating trust in order to remain relevant is a long-term task with high ROI in the future for communicators, whether private individuals, companies or media companies.
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Remember Three-Screen Marketing Plans? So 2007. Time to Get Ready For Six Screens (Advertising Age, August 2010, text in English)