The rise of the lean-through superfan Post-Covid trends of UGC creation and entertainment

20,000 foot view:  The Covid-driven entertainment boom is over, with ‘in real life’ activities taking back ground from the            of additional time freed by lockdown measures. The attention crunch is compounded by a cost-of-living crisis, driving consumers to make savvy choices about how much they spend, and on what. Entertainment companies must thus become better attuned to the changing behaviours of fans. Fortunately, some key trends hold true: the greater the fandom, the more they engage, and the more they spend. 

Key insights 

• The increased            of creative and promotional tools            exacerbated by lockdown measures that            consumers and creators alike more            to experiment with and learn            to use them 
• During the                       of independent artists spent more            writing or making music,            used            time for marketing, and            released            music 
• Many consumers            up instruments, and still more            engage with creative behaviour on            with            using it to create            music, videos, filters), rising to                      
• While only            consumers, as of            2022, were            to play an instrument,            spend            one and five hours per            creating / producing content, meaning            the addressable audience is more            double for broader content creation
• A crisis            measurement is happening as creative            becomes more common, illustrated by            Morbius flop, which assumed consumer            would translate into box office           
           of consumers interact with friends about a TV show or film they are watching, while            stream music they have heard in TV shows / films, indicating greater fandom
• Year-on-year, consumers            upped their monthly attendance of            from            in            2020 and            2021                       in            2022, with lockdown habits            despite rising costs 
• Purchases of            merchandise from favoured artists also            from            in            2020 and            2021                       in            2022 
• Only            of            video viewers did not spend            on games, compared to the            average of            and they were            more likely to spend on            items 
• The more            consumers are, the more likely            are to spend;            of high-content            spend more than            on subscriptions            other creators’ platforms, compared to            all consumers
• With the            importance of fandom and creation            indicators of sentiment and spend,            are seeing, at their convergence,            rise of the lean-through superfan

Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Instagram, Morbius , OnlyFans, Patreon, Shorts, TikTok, Twitch