Just Saying: Screens and The Bahu
With so much apparent buzz going on about the delivery of entertainment across multiple platforms and formats, along with the Gen Z factor, one may be excused for thinking that the content of the entertainment itself may also be under radical transformation. But actually it is not. The formats have changed, the platforms not so much and the content even less so. The audience? Yes, Gen Z is an important factor but if they are driving change, it is more in terms of the format rather than the content.
Let’s unpack this a bit and start with Gen Z – the audience every content creator and brand aspires to own – and about whom many assumptions are made.
Looking at it from a global perspective, Pakistan’s Gen Z population has two things broadly in common. One, born in a digital world; they take digital capability and capacity for granted, even if they don’t all have the same degree of access. Two, the spread of information is both quasi-instant and tangible. We not only hear of something happening; we see it on our screens almost instantly, leading to an information overload, along with heightened anxieties and insecurities.
So yes, Gen Z does come with a few striking differences in their mindset and in their lifestyle choices and aspirations compared to the preceding generations.
This said, Gen Z also lives in the context of their times and the values of their culture and traditions. Sure, their humour may be quirkier – a fine example of this is Crumble’s wacky off-the-wall TikTok ads. But we should not be surprised by the fact that they also love the classic Pakistani TV dramas, the ones that uphold family values, religious observance and a patriotic outlook. The notion that Gen Z is somehow part of a separate but homogeneous global culture – and for some strange reason loves rap – is a misconception. As is the idea that brands need to target them significantly and differently. Much is made of the notion of authenticity, as if previous generations desired to be approached in an inauthentic way. The reality is more straightforward; people generally (from Boomers to Gen Z-ers) have become more aware and demanding in terms of what they expect from the products and services they buy. No one wants to be sold shoddy merchandise and in today’s competitive market environment, we are all better placed than ever before to make choices about what we will and will not buy according to our own individualistic preferences.
Returning to entertainment. Pakistani dramas are doing well across national demographics and successfully reaching audiences worldwide. The genre may be predictable, and there is a case for something different (crime or sci-fi, for example) and a little more experimentation, but Pakistani TV channels and producers are still not big risk-takers, a state of affairs that may be as much a function of mindsets as of financial uncertainty. What is changing is that made-for-TV programming (dramas, news, cooking and talk shows) is increasingly watched on different platforms and screens. Change is also happening at the level of the short formats developed by brands in search of audiences or by amateur creators – and they are ‘shorts’ because of the nature of their narrative structure rather than the attention span of the audience. If the entire ‘story’ can be fully told in two minutes, why stretch it to six? And if you don’t much care for the story, then even three minutes is too long.
Although attention spans may be getting shorter, this is another overegging of the Gen Z esotericism and the need for everything to be ‘snackable’ and ‘bite-sized.’
However, content creators and brands both need to do better. For brands, the challenge is the fragmentation of audiences across platforms and screens – and the fact that short or long, people don’t really want to watch ads and will always try to find ways to avoid them unless they really engage – and this applies to all audiences and not just to Gen Z. As for the entertainment industry, people will always watch or listen to a good story but if a heads-up is required… the big change will come with gaming. And that may turn out to be the best bet yet to engage Gen Z.
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This said, Gen Z also lives in the context of their times and the values of their culture and traditions. Sure, their humour may be quirkier – a fine example of this is Crumble’s wacky off-the-wall TikTok ads. But we should not be surprised by the fact that they also love the classic Pakistani TV dramas, the ones that uphold family values, religious observance and a patriotic outlook. The notion that Gen Z is somehow part of a separate but homogeneous global culture – and for some strange reason loves rap – is a misconception. As is the idea that brands need to target them significantly and differently. Much is made of the notion of authenticity, as if previous generations desired to be approached in an inauthentic way. The reality is more straightforward; people generally (from Boomers to Gen Z-ers) have become more aware and demanding in terms of what they expect from the products and services they buy. No one wants to be sold shoddy merchandise and in today’s competitive market environment, we are all better placed than ever before to make choices about what we will and will not buy according to our own individualistic preferences.
Returning to entertainment. Pakistani dramas are doing well across national demographics and successfully reaching audiences worldwide. The genre may be predictable, and there is a case for something different (crime or sci-fi, for example) and a little more experimentation, but Pakistani TV channels and producers are still not big risk-takers, a state of affairs that may be as much a function of mindsets as of financial uncertainty. What is changing is that made-for-TV programming (dramas, news, cooking and talk shows) is increasingly watched on different platforms and screens. Change is also happening at the level of the short formats developed by brands in search of audiences or by amateur creators – and they are ‘shorts’ because of the nature of their narrative structure rather than the attention span of the audience. If the entire ‘story’ can be fully told in two minutes, why stretch it to six? And if you don’t much care for the story, then even three minutes is too long.
Although attention spans may be getting shorter, this is another overegging of the Gen Z esotericism and the need for everything to be ‘snackable’ and ‘bite-sized.’
However, content creators and brands both need to do better. For brands, the challenge is the fragmentation of audiences across platforms and screens – and the fact that short or long, people don’t really want to watch ads and will always try to find ways to avoid them unless they really engage – and this applies to all audiences and not just to Gen Z. As for the entertainment industry, people will always watch or listen to a good story but if a heads-up is required… the big change will come with gaming. And that may turn out to be the best bet yet to engage Gen Z.
Read Comments
However, content creators and brands both need to do better. For brands, the challenge is the fragmentation of audiences across platforms and screens – and the fact that short or long, people don’t really want to watch ads and will always try to find ways to avoid them unless they really engage – and this applies to all audiences and not just to Gen Z. As for the entertainment industry, people will always watch or listen to a good story but if a heads-up is required… the big change will come with gaming. And that may turn out to be the best bet yet to engage Gen Z.