Ever imagined why does a housewife tune into a particular show
everyday despite her overloaded schedule? Or why does a teenager or say a metro
professional, wait eagerly for the next episode of his/ her favorite web
series?
The answer is that content not just entertains but transports us in
to a different world where we all are living a second life subconsciously.
Traditionally content has been
classified under various heads like fiction, non-fiction, mythos, reality shows, singing reality show, musicals.. etc.
However, I would like to re-categorize all of the above in to 3
simple audience reactions. And having dealt with Hindi shows and Hindi speaking
audience for a large part of my career I am capturing these reactions in Hindi
(with English versions)
R1. Oh! Aisa bhi hota hai (I
am curious/ I am shocked/ Wow!!!)
R2. Haan! Aisa hota hai (This is true, I empathize)
R3. Kaash! Ke aisa hota (I wish this was true)
The important thing is that no single piece of content will ever have
the same reaction from everyone. And there is no reason why everyone should
respond in a similar way.
Ever imagined, why two different individuals who are in different
geographies, having a different socio economic and education level end up loving
the same piece of content? – The reason is that their reactions are different
and the way they have connected with the show is totally different. For one it
might generate curiosity but for the other it can be empathy. We have seen this
happening on television and I won’t be surprised to see a similar trend on web content
also as we continue to evolve in that space.
It’s important to know your
audience segment very well and the role that your content is going to play in
their lives. And this applies to all genres of the shows. We just need to break
every show in smaller elements to understand this. Let me illustrate this with
some examples where the 3 ‘R’s come into the picture.
Take any popular daily soap –Some people have fallen in love with
the protagonist and somewhere deep inside their hearts they are saying “I wish
I had a husband/wife like that” (R3 – Kaash! ………)
Some people identify with a character on the show and see the person
going through similar situations in everyday life (R2 - Haan! …). Once this is
established then this audience will never leave the show and would want this
character to achieve something that they haven’t been able to in real life.
Similarly there are situations in the show that generate curiosity
(R1 – Oh…). For example when a small town audience looks at the lifestyle of
people from metros or other countries they get attracted and want to know more.
Now all the above can happen in a single show for different
audiences.
Lets take some other genres.
A non-fiction reality show – Music lovers fall in love with a show
and its performers as someone is seeing himself/herself in those performers on
stage (R3… Kaash!!!).
But when there is an underdog story of a contestant then there is
another set of audiences who start empathizing (R2…. Haan! …..).
And when you see a performance that you never thought would be
possible then the feeling of shock/surprise comes in (R1… Oh!!!). Just think of
a stunning dance act, or singing performance or even a mind-boggling recipe on
the cookery show and think about your first reaction to it.
Similarly a chat show can
generates curiosity for some and aspiration for someone else. Crime shows
largely generate R1 and R2- curiosity and empathy, as they reflect what is
happening in the world around us. Mythogicals/ period dramas talk about things
which we have somewhat heard of but are not fully aware; again generating
curiosity.
Even horror shows/ thrillers need to have some connect. In fact they
work the best when you bring in the power of supernatural in day-to-day
situations that people can relate to. While the audience may or may not believe
in the power of super natural, they will still connect to the situations that
are shown.
The clutter in the content and media space is growing by the day.
And creating a content that connects with your consumer is very challenging.
These 3 reactions can be a good guiding principle for people in the content
space.
By no means I am discounting the power of the other elements in
terms of the production quality, celebrities, execution, music, editing… All
these elements come together to create a blockbuster show. However, I just feel
that human emotions are at the core of any success story.
If we know our audiences really well, then the only question that
one should ask himself is – Will I get one of the above 3 reactions to my
content from a majority of the audiences? If the answer is “YES” then we have a
potential winner on our hands.
