Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

With more consumers of all ages turning to smart phones for information, communication and entertainment, video game console manufacturers and retailers have good reason to wonder where their market is headed. For nearly a decade, the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360 have commanded impressive market share. And then the Wii came along and captured huge interest from the younger boy and young women demographic groups.

After experiencing an average 7.7% drop in sales between 2008-2009 (from $178.6 billion to $164.9 billion), consumer electronics retailers now have a good reason to cheer. The early figures from the Consumer Electronics Association projected a 0.6% rise in sales in 2010. The better news is that the association expects spending on accessories to increase by 5% this year.

Transmedia storytelling has proven successful in media formats such as traditional books and videogames. Now entertainment marketers are moving to use this strategy to keep their audiences engaged as they promote new movies or TV shows. A report in Entertainment Marketing indicates that television and film studios are incorporating “transmedia” elements into their marketing — “developing interactive narratives that unfold online, via text messages and social network profiles, and even sometimes via real world interaction.”

The way that CapGemini analysts see the home entertainment industry, business models are due to change significantly between now and 2013. During the shift, some traditional players may lose market share or go out of business. For example, the annual value of DVD sales is predicted to drop from $13.3 billion in 2008 to $3 billion in 2013. Similarly, the annual rental value of disc rentals is predicted to fall from $6.558 billion to $4.6 billion during the same time period. While these are grim statistics for operators in those specific industries, the technology driving the digital transition across the U.S. is generating opportunity for other business types.

Sales in the paid recorded music industry continue to struggle
but many marketers believe in the connection between branding and sponsoring music festivals. Companies plan to spend $1.09 billion sponsoring musicians, festivals and tours this year.

For some marketers, reaching specific demographic groups means sponsoring televised sporting events. The most recent analysis of sports advertisers, done annually by Sports Business Journal, shows that Anheuser-Busch was king in 2009 when it came to televised events. The company spent over $300 million last year on TV sporting events, which accounted for 75% of its total ad spending.