University News Last updated 27 March 2014
Media professionals from across the country gathered in Birmingham this week for the second annual Rethink Media conference, highlighting the latest trends in digital media and how organisations can generate engaging content to meet the rapidly-changing expectations of today’s audiences.
With an impressive line-up of industry speakers including Buzzfeed’s Jonathan Perelman and Ben Cooper, Controller at BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra, the event organised by Birmingham City University, looked at the digital landscape of multi-platform content provision as well as ways of developing new models of content creation to drive creative economies.
Main topics of discussion at Rethink Media focused on how to best create sharable content and increase online engagement. “The emotional quota matters more than the intelligence quota”, said Jonathan Perelman, GM of Video and VP of Agency Strategy at Buzzfeed.
“Even very specific content can reach a giant audience through the emotional force of sharing. We need to think about content not just for consumption, but also for communication. We want to create something that speaks to people”, added Jonathan.
Panel debates led by Inderpreet Sahota, Editor at BBC Asian Network and Stacey Barnfield, Editor at Birmingham Post, posed questions on the challenges facing organisations with audiences and consumers now creating content themselves and running their own digital channels. “There are a lot of ‘random acts of digital’ happening”, said Ben Cooper, Controller at BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. “I think it’s important to avoid ‘carpet bombing’ and take a targeted, strategic approach to online content”, added Ben.
The event also saw the launch of the Media Power 20 (MP20), which aims to recognise those people having the biggest impact on the changing media landscape.
For more information and to see the Rethink Media live blog, visit www.rethinkmedia.biz/blog.