The following is an excerpt from a soon to be released whitepaper by LnUP on From Noise to Noteworthy: Leveraging NIL for Brand Distinction in the Attention Economy.
The Evolution of Distribution and Discovery
The transformation of how products, services, and messages reach consumers has been evolving and far reaching over the past decades. This journey, from traditional to digital platforms, has significantly reshaped the dynamics of distribution and discovery. To comprehend the current challenges of the attention economy, it's essential to trace this evolution.
Traditional Distribution Channels: A Controlled Landscape
In the pre-digital era, distribution channels were primarily limited to print media, radio, and television. These channels operated under significant gatekeeping, with only a select few having the means and access to distribute content broadly within an market and community. Brands had to negotiate and often pay hefty sums to ensure their products or messages reached their target audiences. The funnel was narrow, but once accessed, the reach and engagement was almost guaranteed.
Digital Revolution: Democratization of Distribution
The advent of the internet and, subsequently, platforms like social media, blogs, and streaming services, marked a seismic shift. Suddenly, distribution was democratized. Anyone with an internet connection could publish content, launch products, or share messages with potentially vast audiences. This democratization led to an explosion of content, with brands, individuals, and everyone in between vying for attention.
The Rise of Discovery Costs
While distribution became more accessible, it ironically made discovery far more challenging. The digital landscape became saturated. With billions of web pages, social media posts, videos, and more created daily, the noise became deafening. Brands found that while they could distribute content more easily and cheaply than ever, ensuring that their target audiences discovered this content became the bigger, more expensive challenge.
Algorithm-driven platforms, like social media sites and search engines, began dictating what content reached which users. To stand out, brands had to either invest significantly in advertising spend, perfect their search engine optimization, or hope for the ever-elusive virality.
Attention: The New Currency
As the digital age matured, it became clear that in this vast sea of content, attention was the most prized commodity. In the past, having a product on a shelf or an ad in a magazine almost guaranteed some level of visibility. But in the digital realm, visibility is never guaranteed. Every brand, influencer, and content creator competes in real-time for the limited attention spans of consumers.
In conclusion, while the shift from traditional to digital platforms democratized distribution, it brought forth a new challenge: the costly endeavor of discovery. In this attention economy, where consumers are constantly bombarded with stimuli, ensuring your brand's message not only reaches them but also resonates, has become the paramount challenge. This context sets the stage for the potential of NIL and athletes as invaluable allies in the quest for authentic, impactful discovery.
Item of Related Interest:
Another piece, highlighting the reality that in todays saturated digital marketplace creators are being viewed as vital to engage audiences who have new sports viewing habits and interests.
Paramount Wants a Piece of the Sports Creator Economy
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