Content Or Context?
It used to be said that content was king and I certainly subscribed to that side of the debate when the question was whether content or distribution channels would be the killer app in the convergence wars. But now things may be changing - one of the talking points of this weekend's Edinburgh Television Conference was the emergent primacy of context over content.
There is so much content now that the key problem is how people search for it across multiple channels in multiple media. Media people no longer think in terms of television but in terms of screens, be that a TV monitor, a PC screen or a phone screen. This raises a new set of issues for media but they apply to all businesses.
It's all very well having good content but if the context in which it appears is no good - be that technically deficient, be that failing to fit in with your users' needs or be that in terms of brand reputation - then you have a problem.
posted by john dodds @ 2:08 AM
5 Comments:
No you should consume however you choose, but context will affect your decisions and that's the suppliers' problem not yours. All hail the mighty consumer!
Context with lousy content isn't going to satisfy the consumer either. Maybe the "kingdom" is transforming into another form of government where we need to do many things well - and there is no king!
I had thought of writing that good content was an essential - but I'm not so sure - it only has to be good as far as the user is concerned. Sadly.
Ah-- but that's one reason why marketers have jobs, isn't it?
They need to help figure out what is good enough for the customer - and the "quality" of good enough may not be up to the content producer's standards - but if it is good enough for the customer the content provider's standards are not very meaningful (from a profit perspective), are they!?!
So it gets back to what's the mix of "features" you need - content, context, etc....
I agree with this post (obviously and I think that content at the expense of context is dangerous.
I don't think this post is referring to great context with lousy content. I think it's calling for a healthy balance and I am all for that!
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