Earlier this month, the startup Showrunner made a splash by introducing itself as “the Netflix of AI,” allowing users to generate original episodes and expand on stories in established universes at whim.
Will these be the Sunday-killing binge-watches of tomorrow? That’s another story, AI-generated or otherwise. But people on social media seem to be excited, and it got us thinking about what our unrelenting cultural appetite for personalization could mean for branded content moving forward.
The public expects more unconventional marketing catered precisely to their wants, needs, and tastes. No small ask! But we have some tips to help as we barrel onward into a weird (in a good way) future:
- Know where to find your kind: The Slow Internet is alive and well. Develop a real understanding of your audience, then create the kind of content they’d want to get lost in. Instead of chasing mass appeal, think about the little subcultural places your audience knows and loves, and show up there. Depth beats breadth when the people you’re reaching feel spoken to in a meaningful way, so don’t be afraid to get niche.
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Embrace the weird: We live in an era of memes, inside jokes, and shitposts that would make the Dadaists tear up with pride. Leaning into the bizarro language of your community keeps you from getting all “how do you do, fellow kids?” about it. Film-logging site Letterboxd has septupled its user base over the past five years by encouraging cinephiles to let their freak flags fly. Example: Their X feed compares Kate Winslet spreading her arms aboard the Titanic to the demonic little rascals from Weapons. Get a sense of the “if you know, you know” stuff that your kindred are into, then show you know.
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Make the algorithm your ally: In no small part, the growing expectation for personalized media experiences is downstream from the algorithms that meticulously curate our feeds to our tastes, however particular. (Thank you, Instagram, for all the tapir videos from zoos across the globe.) That doesn’t have to be a hurdle for your marketing, as long as you treat it as a way in. The better you can pinpoint the nooks and crannies of what your target audience actually enjoys consuming, the more likely it is to earn attention, engagement, and trust. In short, don’t just pop up in your audience’s feed. Win your place there.
They say nobody knows anything in show business, but in marketing, audience-first always wins — and expectations have never been higher. But hey, that’s what we’re here for.