Buen día War & Peaceniks! Ready for a Spanish lesson?
This week, I gave the opening keynote at Iberseries (a conference for the global Spanish-speaking content community) in Madrid.
Pina Mezzera of Cveintiuno wrote a wonderful synopsis of my presentation, but our browsers can lose the intent in translation, so below is an english version, along with a GIF of some of the most pertinent slides from my deck…
With his disruptive and unconventional ideas for the traditional media industry, American analyst Evan Shapiro captured the interest of a packed auditorium during the opening of Iberseries in Madrid.
“In 2019 when Disney Streaming went direct to consumer, chasing Netflix and its flawed ad-free business model, we left the era where media was in control and entered the user-centric era,” he said.
This era has different rules. In it, content is still king, “but data is the bloodline,” added Shapiro in a session, fittingly filled with data. He said data is “the voice of consumers.” And that should be the focus of every strategy for those in media.
“If you’re an independent producer and you’re not building community, if you don’t have a community manager, if you’re not thinking about how to build your own audience, and you ONLY rely on selling to the gatekeepers, the next decade won’t be very promising for you. Because selling a show to Netflix will become less & less profitable as the decade progresses. I assure you.”
Shapiro emphasized that there are opportunities in the creator economy, but they require a shift in mindset, starting with paying attention to what young consumers want.
“If you’re not on TikTok, get on TikTok. If your decision-making team doesn’t include people from the generation you’re trying to reach, those under 35, you’re going to lose the market. It’s far more important to have a passionate community than a massive audience. Once you build that passionate audience, the gatekeepers will come looking for you.”
Shapiro addressed how this impacts Latin America & Spain, recognizing the difficulty in treating them as a single region.
“They are very different demographically & economically,” he said. His advice is to appreciate what makes each territory unique, rather than looking to the US as an example.
“There are advantages you that will allow you to be better than the US market. Spend a day in Hollywood and you’ll see everyone running around with their hair on fire. We’re no longer the model to follow. Build your own model in your own market.”
Finally, the analyst called on attendees to strengthen and expand public broadcasters.
“If we can resist the temptation to dismantle public media they will only gain relevance. As a society on Earth, we need public service media to save democracy. Period.”
Here is the Television business in Spain and Latin America as a GIF…
Muchas Gracias to Kantar Media, Ampere Analysis & GWI for the wonderful data!
Salud!
ESHAP