Digiday previews Omnicom’s 2025 Cannes news series focusing on live content, conversation, and commerce with a look at the new research from OMG Intelligence that explores the consumer behaviors and cultural shifts that are driving a new definition of “live.”
“There is truly this kind of rebound toward shared experiences,” said Joanna O’Connell, Chief Intelligence Officer, Omnicom Media Group North America. “Even as we’ve moved in a direction of so much personalization and so much…time spent alone on screens, people crave togetherness, they crave community, they crave connection. So, ‘live’ in that sense, is even more important than ever, because it’s kind of creating moments that bring people together, and they’re drawn to that.”
As the research reveals, consumers’ concept of “live” has expanded far beyond traditional live TV events like the Super Bowl or awards programs into live-streaming, live shopping on a number of platforms (such as Amazon), second-screen experiences (such as conversations on X) while watching something live. For one, the study revealed that 75% of Gen Z watch social media live-streams while only 57% watch live TV content, and that means expanding opportunities for brands.
“This is more about questioning traditional notions than it is saying don’t do it anymore,” said O’Connell. “Because a live strategy needs to be a lot more expansive and sophisticated. You’ve got to be much more prepared to make real-time decisions. Your budgeting has to be more flexible. You need to be paying attention to social listening so you can get involved in conversation if it’s happening. There’s so much more depth and breadth to it.”
Download the research here.