[Use Case] Revolutionizing Entertainment Research: Brox's 52 Micro-Genres Unlock Deeper Viewer Insights

Oct 17, 2024

The Challenge: Overcoming Limited Insights from Broad Genre Categories

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In today's dynamic streaming and entertainment landscape, understanding viewer preferences is both crucial and increasingly complex. Many syndicated research tools struggle to provide nuanced genre understanding, often limiting insights to broad categories without context. This approach fails to offer marketing, business, and programming teams the depth needed to inform strategy effectively.

Within each broad category like "Comedy," numerous micro-genres exist, each with distinct drivers, fans, and elements that are frequently overgeneralized. Additionally, quantitative survey tools often don't capture unaided title association, and respondents may feel "forced" into particular genre boxes based on limited options.

The Brox Solution: 52 Micro-Genres for Unparalleled Insight

To address these limitations, Brox.AI used their technology to develop a groundbreaking approach to discover 52 micro-genres, offering unparalleled insight for streaming and entertainment clients. This innovative methodology allows for a more realistic and nuanced understanding of customer preferences.

Key Features of Brox's Micro-Genre Approach:

  1. 52 Diverse Genre Descriptors: Ranging from broad categories like comedy or drama to niche categories such as psychological thrillers, docu-soap reality, and talent show reality.

  2. Non-Mutually Exclusive Categories: Viewers can be associated with multiple genres, reflecting the complexity of real-world preferences.

  3. Detailed Descriptors: Each genre includes examples, a short description, keywords, and tone/mood words.

  4. Qualitative Focus: Our methodology allows for more authentic customer understanding without forcing respondents to "check a box".

Example Micro-Genre: Psychological (Scripted)

  • Examples: Black Swan, Mindhunter, The Silence of the Lambs

  • Description: Psychological genres delve into the complexities of the human mind, often involving mental illness and internal conflict.

  • Keywords: Mental Illness, Perception, Internal Conflict, Psychological Tension

  • Tone/Mood Words: Introspective, Haunting, Unsettling, Tense

The Brox Methodology: From Data Collection to Insights

  1. Data Collection: We conduct open-ended, long-form AI-moderated interviews with a diverse panel of viewers.

  2. Genre Categorization: Based on their responses, viewers are associated with relevant micro-genres.

  3. AI-Powered Analysis: Our advanced tools analyze this rich data to provide insights on viewer preferences and behaviors.

  4. Shadow Panel Creation: We use this data to create a "Shadow Panel" that can predict viewer responses to new content.

Example outputs from a respondent and how they were categorized.

Leveraging the Omni Query Bar™ for Deeper Understanding

Brox's Omni Query Bar™ allows for instant, deep dives into genre fandoms. Users can quickly understand viewer preferences within specific micro-genres, providing valuable insights for content creators and marketers.

Case Study: Predicting Scripted Show Interest Among Reality TV Fans

To demonstrate the power of our micro-genre approach and Shadow Panel capability, we conducted a study focused on Reality TV fans' interest in scripted shows.

Methodology:

  • We surveyed our Shadow Panel of Reality TV fans.

  • Participants were asked to choose a "must-watch" show from a list of 20 scripted show concepts.

Key Findings:

  1. Top choices among Reality TV fans:

    • "The Continental: From the World of John Wick"

    • "The Last of Us (Season 2)"

  2. These results provide valuable insights for media placement and marketing strategies.

Chart showing top scripted show choices among Reality TV fans

Shadow Panelist Responses:

"I'd go for The Continental. The movies are always action-packed and full of tension, and I love how all these different characters' lives intersect in such dramatic ways. It's like watching a high-stakes reality show, but with assassins and a lot more action."

"As someone who enjoys a variety of streaming shows and sometimes plays video games, I'm particularly drawn to The Last of Us."

"I always gravitate towards shows grounded in real events and real lives. The Narrow Road to the Deep North seems like it offers an intense and dramatic portrayal of something that actually happened during WWII."

Optimizing Media Placements with the Shadow Panel

For media agencies or entertainment companies with broadcast TV inventory, our Shadow Panel can provide strategic insights for media placement. By surveying Shadow Panelists, we can understand which upcoming series would resonate most with specific audience segments, even when synergies aren't immediately obvious.

Enhancing Marketing Strategies: The Étoile Series Analysis

We extended our analysis to demonstrate how the Shadow Panel can act as a preliminary focus group for marketing teams. Using the upcoming series "Étoile" as an example, we provided Drama, Romantic Drama, and Biographical Drama Shadow Panelists with a detailed description of the show.

Qualitative Insights:

  • Shadow Panelists were intrigued by the "competitive world of ballet"

  • They emphasized the importance of mixing wit with drama

  • Behind-the-scenes looks at production were highly valued

  • High-quality production values were seen as crucial

Quantified Drivers of Interest:

  1. Watching the dancers' ambition and sacrifice

  2. Dramatic and tense tone

  3. Complex lives of dancers

  4. Watching the dancers' rivalries

Chart showing quantified drivers of interest for "Étoile" among Drama, Romantic Drama, and Biographical Drama fans

This analysis revealed that while elements like the Paris setting and cast members were mentioned in qualitative responses, they were not ultimately prioritized as the most crucial drivers for drama viewers.

The Impact: Transforming Entertainment Strategy

  1. By understanding viewer preferences at this granular level, entertainment companies can:

  2. Create more accurate content recommendations

  3. Develop targeted marketing strategies

  4. Make informed programming decisions

  5. Optimize media placements

Our micro-genre approach isn't just about categorization—it's about understanding the complex, multi-faceted tastes of modern viewers and using that understanding to create better entertainment experiences.

The Future of Genre-Based Insights with Brox

For streaming and entertainment clients, the ability to filter responses by genre interest is essential. Brox offers:

  • Entertainment dashboards equipped with genre filters for ongoing brand metric comparisons across genre groups

  • Tools for programming and marketing teams to understand pre-greenlight and post-greenlight title interest

  • Data-backed Shadow Panelist insights for media teams to preview placements, big ideas, and partners

  • Weekly updated video responses from customers, ensuring rich and real-time insights based on nuanced genre interests

By redefining genre analysis, Brox offers streaming services, entertainment companies, and media agencies an unprecedented level of insight into viewer preferences and behaviors.

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