The attention economy is about eyeballs. This is nothing new. In fact, the entertainment industry was well aware of this for decades. Its entire premise was based upon the concept of being able to get people to pay attention. Metrics such as the Nielson ratings were developed to chart this.
Of course, for television this translated into advertising dollars. This was the simple model. For films, it was obviously ticket sales although that did later convert to other revenue streams as post cinema option sarose.
As noted on many occasions, the entire industry is shifting. A lot of what we discuss is only the first phase. The major hit comes when ad money starts to move around. It looks like we are embarking upon that era.
In this article we will discuss how ad revenue is moving away from the traditional realm and how this could be an opportunity for Web 3.0.
Television Ad Revenue On The Decline
Cord cutting is really impacting the entire television spectrum. streaming was suppose to be the grand solution yet that has been nothing but a money pit for most of the studios.
The idea of cutting back on ad revenue was unthinkable just a few years ago.
Take a look at this:
When Mondelez sought to promote a limited edition of its Oreo cookie earlier this year, it did something that would have been unthinkable not that long ago: It didn’t spend a dime advertising on TV.
The snack company had a simple reason for that decision. The people it was looking to reach—Gen Z members, multicultural audiences and households with children—aren’t watching enough television.
A new product launched with zero money spent on television advertising.
It looks like this is going to be the new normal.
Here is the total advertising revenue spent on US advertisings. We can see how the peak was a couple years ago. digital TV includes the like of YouTube and streaming.
As we can see, both are heading for decline. It is true that the drop in traditional television is expected to outpace digital TV, yet both are heading down.
It is believe this is a trend that will continue.
“A lot of people think streaming might be a salvation,” said ad analyst Brian Wieser. “But no, all of TV is in secular decline.”
This is what disruption looks like and it present an opportunity for Web 3.0.
The Web 3.0 Opportunity
Advertising is not going away anytime soon. Promotion is something that all companies require. It is impossible to sell a product or service unless people know about it.
That said, the approach changes over time. Television advertising coming to an end is no different than Yellow Page ads. There was a time when most companies advertised in this local book.
We saw that come to an end a couple decades back, at least in print form.
Web 3.0 can capture these dollars. Companies are interested in putting themselves in front of people. This means understanding how the landscape is changing.
Fragmentation was the disruptor of the past couple decades. This will continue. Even digital television is going to take on a different means as video appears on many platforms. Getting in front of these people will be the primary focus of these advertisers.
YouTube and Meta are the two major online advertising platforms. With the traffic they receive, this is no surprise. However, will that be the case as Web 3.0 starts to emerge. Networks will be abundant. Why would people still turn to YouTube?
If a network or digital platform has 10 million users, that is something that advertisers want to access. When compared to the major players, this is a rounding error. Both Google and Meta have over a billion users. Nevertheless, there could be hundreds of networks with this type of userbase.
Retail Media
Web 3.0 can truly benefit from the rise of retail media.
This is a realm that is opening up that is pulling the ad money away from traditional broadcast channels. Here is where advertisers are able to use a variety of techniques that allow for direct contact with the customers, via 3rd party data.
For example, Walmart and Amazon can provide the information which allows companies to better target the consumers. This is done the retailers sites, putting the advertisers in front of the potential buyers. It is a system that is integrated into social media.
As we can see, the shift in dollars is happening at a rapid pace.
Web 3.0 is the combination of social media, payments, currency, wallets, and commerce. The building of stores containing the basics of all online commercial activity can step in to grab some of the billions being shifted. We can easily see how a network based ecosystem can keep adding layers that create an even greater feedback cycle which is attractive to advertisers.
The combination of all these components begin to add up over time. We see how they can leverage each other in ways Web 2.0 cannot. As the value of the network grows, the ownership model begins to take over. Here we see the prosumer turned onto something completely different.
Where do companies fit into this? That remains to be seen yet they can add in another layer to their commitment.
For example, what is Walmart invested money to get stake in a network. Would that gain favor with the others on that network? Could this company assert itself in a way that made it stand out as a member of that community? It certainly could get them a bit more business as compared to their competition.
Of course, Walmart is unlikely to think in this manner. It is a different story for smaller retailers. Those who have their own products or service to sell could find themselves in the situation of attracting "owners" instead of just advertisers. Certainly, the money would still flow but the mindset is altered.
These are just a couple of the way things could unfold.
Web 3.0 is a multi-layered system that offers potential in many ways. It is time people start thinking in this direction.