AudiencScapes

InterMedia COO Susan Gigli and Dr. Ali Fisher, who directs their Networked Communication Research, advise media organizations on how to embrace and benefit from new digital platforms through their 10 New Rules of Engagement.

by Susan Gigli and Dr. Ali Fisher

"Because things are the way they are, they will not stay the way they are."
-Bertolt Brecht

The words of the late German poet-playwright apply to the challenge facing international broadcasters since InterMedia began helping many of them to gauge reach, engagement and impact 15 years ago. The need to engage with audiences through relevant content and appealing formats is unchanged, but the terrain of engagement has transformed as digital and mobile technologies proliferate and evolve. Strategies and research must adapt to this shifting landscape while still focusing on broadcasters' core activities.

How much have things changed digitally? In the past two decades, personal mobile devices have gone from 1G phones to 3G and 4G "smart devices". Between 2000 and 2008, Google's reach expanded from one billion indexed pages to one trillion. In the past seven years, Facebook amassed half a billion active users who spend roughly 700 billion minutes combined on the site each month. Twenty-four hours of video are added to Youtube servers every hour; Twitter users tally more than 5 billion friendship relationships. Phew.

The challenge for all media organizations is to embrace and benefit from these new platforms, where the keys to effective engagement are understanding how users behave and cluster within these networks, and how users are shaping their own news and information environments.

 Click here for our 10 New Rules of Engagement

 This article is to be published shortly by The Channel magazine (Association of International Broadcasters).

Susan Gigli, InterMedia Chief Operating Officer and Head of Strategy, is responsible for overall company management, strategic planning and development. As one of the founding members of InterMedia, she has been instrumental in expanding the geographic scope, methodological approaches and strategic application of the company’s research and evaluation expertise in international communications.

Dr. Ali Fisher a strategic communications consultant who directs InterMedia's networked communications research efforts in both online and offline environments. He is currently managing director of MappaMundi Consulting and a former director of Counterpoint, the cultural relations think-tank of the British Council.