Audience Engagement and Monetisation of Creative Content in Digital Environments
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Audience Engagement and Monetisation of Creative Content in Digital Environments A creative SME Perspective Jake Hobbs Centre for Digital Entertainment Bournemouth University ProfD Student: Jake Hobbs Academic Supervisor: Dr Mike Molesworth Industry Supervisor: Dr Vicky Brophy Copyright Statement This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognize that its copyright rests with its author and due acknowledgement must always be made of the use of any material contained in, or derived from, this thesis. Acknowledgements I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who have helped and supported me during this research, without whom this project would not have been possible. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for funding this research under their Digital Economy programme, and The Centre For Digital Entertainment where this research was completed. My Supervisor Mike Molesworth, whose advice, guidance and encouragement has been invaluable, and for giving me the confidence to believe completing it was possible. Everyone at WONKY Films, the host company for this research. Particular thanks are dedicated to Vicky and Miki for their continued guidance and support during this research. Thanks also go to Maria and Tom whose projects play a key role in this research. My partner Roz, for keeping me sane and smiling during the ups and inevitable downs of the doctorate process, and her continued encouragement to get me through the last few long nights and weekends. My family for listening to my ramblings, even if they were with puzzled looks. Final thanks go to Dan Cox at the CDE for his advice and continued response to countless emails and requests. 3 Abstract Creative SMEs face a number of limitations that can hamper their ability to develop and establish original content in digital environments. These limitations include a lack of resources, struggles for visibility, limits of engagement, audience pressures and free culture. The constant pressures from growing competition and fragmented audiences across digital environments amplify these limitations, which means SMEs can struggle in these highly competitive, information rich platforms. Research sought to explore how creative SMEs may circumvent these limitations to strengthen their positioning in digital environments. Two areas of focus are proposed to address these issues; firstly a study and development of audience engagement, and secondly an analysis of the monetisation options available for digital content and their links to engagement. With a focus on audience engagement the theoretical grounding of this work is based within the engagement literature. Through this work a new Dynamic Shaping of Engagement is developed and used as a foundation of analysis, which informs the development of practical work in this study. Findings present insight into the methods and practices that can help creative SMEs circumvent their limitations and strengthen their positioning within digital environments. However, the findings continue to emphasise the difficulties faced by creative SMEs. These companies are hampered by paradoxes that arise due to their resource limitations that limit their ability to gain finances, develop audiences and produce content. It is shown that those with the ‘key’ to audience attention are the ones best positioned to succeed in these environments, often at the expense of the original content creators themselves. Therefore, visions of a democratic environment, which levels the playing field for SMEs to compete, are diminished and it is argued digital environments may act to amplify the positioning of established media. Therefore, greater support is required to aid these companies, which must look beyond short-term solutions that focus on one-off projects, towards broader, more long-term support. This support can then enhance creative SMEs ability to not only deliver, but also establish and potentially monetise content in digital environments, which in turn can make continued production more sustainable. 4 Table of Contents COPYRIGHT STATEMENT 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 3 ABSTRACT 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 ACRONYMS / ABBREVIATIONS 9 LIST OF FIGURES 11 1. INTRODUCTION 13 RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT 13 PROBLEM AREA 16 WÖNKY FILMS 21 2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 24 OVERVIEW 24 A SHIFT IN BEHAVIOUR 24 RELATIONSHIP MARKETING 25 COMMUNITY 28 VALUE 32 USES AND GRATIFICATIONS 34 ENGAGEMENT 36 MONETISATION 50 MONETISATION AND ENGAGEMENT 56 SUMMARY 63 3. METHODOLOGY 65 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 65 RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES 65 OVERVIEW OF PROJECTS 70 PRACTICAL PROJECTS 70 PRACTICAL PROJECT METHODS 72 CRITICAL REFLECTION 75 5 RESEARCH STUDIES 76 LIMITATIONS 82 STATEMENT OF CONTRIBUTION 83 FINDINGS OVERVIEW 84 4. INDUSTRY CULTURE AND SME LIMITATIONS 86 EVIDENCE FROM THE COMPANY 86 SUMMARY 97 5. AUDIENCES AND ENGAGEMENT 98 THE ENGAGEMENT PARADOX 98 CONTENT CURATION 101 AUDIENCE FOUNDATIONS AND SOCIAL MEDIA 110 USER GENERATED CONTENT 117 PARTNERSHIPS 127 CROWDED AND COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENTS 131 6. MONETISATION 141 OVERVIEW 141 CROWDFUNDING 142 PAY WHAT YOU WANT AND WILLINGNESS TO PAY 149 ADVERTISING 157 MONETISATION LIMITS 160 7. CONCLUDING DISCUSSION 163 SUMMARY 163 IMPLICATIONS 174 FUTURE RESEARCH 175 REFERENCES 176 THESIS PORTFOLIO 200 INTRODUCTION 201 PROJECT OVERVIEW 201 TIMELINE OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES 214 6 A. LAUGH YOUR HEAD OFF 218 OVERVIEW 218 PROJECT DEVELOPMENT 220 PROJECT REVIEW 221 CONCLUSIONS 231 REFERENCES 232 B. ILAND 234 ILAND DEVELOPMENT 236 ILAND PROJECT ABANDONMENT 237 C. SHORT FILM DIGITAL DELIVERY 239 CONTEXTUAL INSIGHT 241 SHORT FILM PRODUCTION 246 ONLINE DELIVERY 265 PYWY ATTEMPTS 272 CONCLUSION 275 REFERENCES 277 D. ACE DISCOVERY 281 PROJECT CONTEXT 283 LEX/DEX CONTENT APPROACH 284 ACE DISCOVERY DELIVERY 297 CROWDFUNDING 304 CONCLUSIONS 305 REFERENCES 307 E. SHOW ME THE ANIMATION 310 OVERVIEW 310 ONLINE DEVELOPMENT 312 ENGAGEMENT 316 SOCIAL MEDIA 327 MONETISATION 334 IOS APP 336 VALUE FOR WONKY 347 CONCLUSIONS 350 7 REFERENCES 351 F. SUCCESS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF CROWDFUNDING PROJECTS IN THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES 360 ABSTRACT 360 INTRODUCTION 361 METHODS AND DATA ANALYSIS 367 NETWORK MANAGEMENT 371 CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT 372 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 378 REFERENCES 382 G. ENGAGEMENT AND WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR SHORT FORM ANIMATION CONTENT ONLINE 399 ABSTRACT 399 INTRODUCTION 400 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 401 METHODOLOGY 407 RESULTS 409 DISCUSSION 417 CONCLUSIONS 422 APPENDIX 425 REFERENCES 426 H. SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE AMONG CREATIVE SMES AND INDIVIDUAL CREATIVES 431 ABSTRACT 431 I. CONTEXT FROM THE WIDER ANIMATION INDUSTRY: INTERVIEW STUDY 432 ABSTRACT 432 8 Acronyms / Abbreviations 2D Two-Dimensional 3D Three-Dimensional AR Action Research ARF Advertising Research Foundation AS3 ActionScript 3.0 BAFTA British Academy of Film and Television Arts BBC British Broadcasting Corporation CBBC Children’s British Broadcasting Corporation CDE Centre for Digital Entertainment CPM Cost Per Thousand Impressions CSS Cascading Style Sheets DE Deep Engagement DEB Deep Engagement Behaviour DEX Deep Engagement Experience DNS Direct Network Size eCPM Effective Cost Per Thousand Impressions GDP Gross Domestic Product GIF Graphics Interchange Format GMT Greenwich Mean Time GO Gratifications Obtained GS Gratifications Sought GV Geographic Vulnerability 9 HTML HyperText Markup Language IP Intellectual Property LE Light Engagement LEB Light Engagement Behaviour LEX Light Engagement Experience LYHO Laugh Your Head Off NABC Needs Approach Benefits Competition PHP PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor PLR Practice-Led Research ProfD Professional Doctorate PWYW Pay What You Want RM Relationship Marketing RPM Revenue Per Thousand Impressions SDL Service Dominant Logic SM Social Media SME Small to Medium Sized Enterprise SMTA Show Me The Animation U&G Uses and Gratifications UGC User Generated Content VCOnE Vicious Circle of (non) Engagement VFX Visual Effects WDTCCTR Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road WOM Word of Mouth 10 List of Figures Figure 1: Dynamic Process of Engagement 39 Figure 2: A Process of Engagement 45 Figure 3: Engagement Stacking Process 49 Figure 4: Strengths and weaknesses of Monetisation Models 58 Figure 5: Links between Engagement & Monetisation 59 Figure 6: Professional Doctorate Hybrid (Adapted from Lee et al. 2000, p127) 66 Figure 7: Action-Reflection cycle (McNiff and Whitehead 2011, p9) 68 Figure 9: Analytical Data Sources 75 Figure 10: Amount allocated to SM 96 Figure 11: SMTA vs. WÖNKY Audience Comparison 103 Figure 12: ‘Student Showcase’ post shared by original creator on Facebook 104 Figure 13: Enso Student Showcase Facebook post comparison. 105 Figure 14: Writers' Block Top URL Embeds 107 Figure 15: Writers’ Block and Nether Regions Pre/Post ‘Staff Pick’ Views 107 Figure 16: Writers' Block on Future Shorts YouTube 109 Figure 17: Writers' Block on Future Shorts Facebook Page 109 Figure 18: WÖNKY SM growth. 110 Figure 19: Cartoon Hangover Audience 111 Figure 20: Writers’ Block background artist aiding online promotion 112 Figure 21: SMTA percentage of active Twitter followers per hour (GMT) 114 Figure 22: SMTA number of Facebook fans active per hour (GMT) 114 Figure 23: SMTA Pick of the Day Facebook Post Engagement 116 Figure 24: Ace Discovery costume challenge call to action 118 Figure 25: Ace Discovery costume challenge voting call to action 120 Figure 26: Ace Discovery GIF competition call to action. 120 Figure 27: SMTA online platform increase during AniJam activity 122 Figure 28: SMTA online platform increase