One might wonder, how much gold is on Mars? What we understand as having value changes based on the environment in which we operate. There might be lots of gold on Mars, or none at all- but it might not even matter. From where we’re all currently located, it seems that that oxygen will be more valuable than gold in that new environment.
The way that global society consumes media has quickly evolved over the past decade. We were headed for the ‘streaming wars’ before the pandemic hit with multiple services set to launch.
The way that global society consumes media has quickly evolved over the past decade. We were headed for the ‘streaming wars’ before the pandemic hit with multiple services set to launch.
The landscape is now further developed with the past two years of streaming behavior showcasing exaggerated ends. As we come down off of a streaming high, our collective next behavior is coming into light.
Virtual reality had been in development for decades and was gaining traction. That traction led to the term metaverse as true environments were being created. Blockchain had already become the foundation for that ecosystem and the onset of NFTs broadened the environment to a whole new world wide web; Web3. The past two years have shed light on how the Web3 economy might behave.
In each environment- streaming and Web3, it’s still not clear how to quantify value. When speaking of either, Warner Bros.’ Theresa Pepe says, “it’s all about measurement. Currency needs to be acted upon.” It makes it difficult to act without a measurement tool. And so, the next best thing to utilize as currency, is behavior.
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Pepe’s comment reminded me of a conversation I had with Beyond Ventures’ David Orban before the pandemic. When discussing what was then (and still is!) Bitcoin’s kinetic price movement, Orban noted the movement suggested a market “not understanding the full power of a technology,” meaning blockchain. His point being that, the advantage would and will go to those that understand the technology and that the, “unit of exchange is not linked to the historical accidents of how we’ve built economies in the past.”
Woodward & Bernstein’s informant suggested for them to, “follow the money.” But if the currency value is not yet understood, the only way forward is to ‘follow the behavior.’ So there was a spike in streaming consumption which is subsiding but not rhyming with pre-pandemic consumption. And there is still very foggy activity happening in Web3. What current actions can be taken based on patterns of behavior?
Pepe notes, “we’re considering things that hadn’t been considered before,” which must occur. The danger is in focusing on the current construct of the product as opposed to the value the product provides. On this point Orban remembered that, “the question was how would women be able to drive a car if they weren’t strong enough to turn the crank-handle,” on the model of the day. We’re experiencing the ‘crank-handle days’ of both streaming and Web3. Realizing this Pepe’s current point of view is that, “your content/IP has to be everywhere there is a measurable fanbase.”
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The conversations dovetail in one final construct. Pepe suggests a two pronged approach, “monetize but also build affinity.” And Orban suggests to focus on “how your current system is unprepared for what’s next” and to build solutions for the inefficiencies inherent in the new environment.” They both seem to think that the current cogent action is to follow the behavior within but also of a new environment.
