The Potential of "Rare Footage"

〈 Publication Date: May 21, 2013 〉

Have you ever heard the term "rare footage"?
It refers to "precious videos that are rarely seen" or "footage of rare (non-everyday) scenes," though it may not yet be considered a common term. This time, "rare footage" is our theme.

DENTSU SOKEN INC. has conducted numerous group interviews with consumers. During one session targeting middle-aged participants, when asked, "What kind of videos do you often watch on online video sites?", one respondent stated, "There are tons of videos uploaded to video sites showing scenes of water being released from huge dams, which happens very rarely. I love them and watch them often." Searching for such rare footage reveals various types on video-sharing sites.

For example: - Intense crimson "sunset sky footage" that looks like the heavens have gone mad, - "Magical Clouds" where clouds passing Tokyo Skytree get caught on the tower due to air currents, high-tech footage of "divine pen spinning" (the game of spinning a pen between your fingers), and "astonishing aerial jump rope" that looks like it defies gravity and floats in mid-air.

Therefore, in a survey conducted jointly by DENTSU SOKEN INC. and Professor Yoshiaki Hashimoto of the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, we included the question: "Do you consider yourself strongly drawn to rare footage that cannot be seen elsewhere?" The results showed that the percentage of respondents who answered "Strongly agree" or "Somewhat agree" was particularly high among middle-aged individuals, centered around those in their 40s. This quantifies the preference for rare footage among middle-aged viewers. (Figure 1)

Do you strongly feel drawn to rare footage you can't see anywhere else?

Middle-aged office workers form the core workforce in companies, constantly chasing after the dizzying array of tasks they must handle daily. Could it be that they seek to watch rare footage to experience, even briefly, a world outside their daily routine and refresh their mood?

Regarding the aforementioned "giant dam footage," commercially available DVDs have already appeared. Furthermore, a certain internet company has launched a paid streaming service offering "exclusive, hard-to-find comedy sketches by a popular idol group." This demonstrates that rare footage can indeed connect to the content business.

For example, footage of so-called "secret live performances" by music artists might be something their die-hard fans would pay to see. Rare footage certainly seems to hold potential within the content business.