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Entertainment Technology Trends

Entertainment trends dominate June's online chatter with Wonder Woman, Nintendo and Xbox Leading the Pack

By Amit Avner, CEO

June 30, 2017 | 7 min read

Last month seemed to be all about politics and controversy, but this month’s online conversations shifted towards escapism with buzz for the latest blockbuster hit, Wonder Woman, and new video games and console releases at E3.

wonder woman

Comic book-related movies have either been a huge success, like Dark Knight, or a big miss, like Suicide Squad. However, the excitement surrounding Wonder Woman made it clear that the movie would be a huge hit.

Likewise, E3 is always a big event for gamers, with the promise of new console technology and hit game releases. This year, we saw the big platforms vying for attention. Specifically, announcements surrounding new games for Nintendo’s recently released Switch console competed with Microsoft’s Xbox One X announcement to own the E3 conversation.

Wonder Woman soars beyond other comic book movies

One of the key markers for success for Wonder Woman is that it appeals to a broader audience than the typical superhero movie. For example, ‘Batman v Superman’ attracted the typical superhero movie audience, 13-34 year olds. However, ‘Wonder Woman’ has been extremely popular with ages 25-44, enticing the allusive 35-44 demographic. Having a larger audience appeal is one of the many reasons Wonder Woman has reached nearly $600m in box office sales.

Another important fact about the Wonder Woman audience is that the gender distribution is nearly split 50-50 among men and women. Although an outdated belief, there is still a looming fear that a female-led superhero movie might not pique the interests of male and female viewers alike. However, the gender composition for Wonder Woman’s audience seems on par with ‘Batman v Superman’, but is clearly performing better among critics and audiences.

Positive Sentiment for Wonder Woman Was a Key to Success

The positive buzz surrounding Wonder Woman from even before it was released presumably helped boost ticket sales. When compared to recent superhero movies, like Suicide Squad, Batman V Superman, Doctor Strange, and Deadpool, Wonder Woman was significantly more positive than these movies even before the release date.

There were many reasons so many people were excited about Wonder Woman’s release, but one of them was Gal Gadot’s portrayal of the famous hero. Gadot, an Israeli born actress, was fairly unknown to most Americans, although she made the late night circuit and charmed her way to a victory on Jimmy Fallon’s “Box of Lies.”

Similarly, Gadot’s co-star and director have been generating significant conversation volume and positive sentiment as well. Early positive discussions surrounding movies is often a good indicator of a movie’s future success.

E3: The Platform Wars Play Out Between Nintendo And Xbox

Arguably the two most anticipated moments of E3 were Nintendo’s and Xbox’s press conferences where they finally announced what they’ve been working on and what we can expect from them in the upcoming year. While video game fans knew Nintendo was announcing new games, the sheer amount of online conversation volume that Nintendo’s press conference generated was 108% more than Xbox. In fact, Sony’s press conference generated 12.5% more online conversations than Xbox’s press conference.

So, what were the key differences between these companies press conferences?

Xbox showcased its latest game console the Xbox One X. While this was a huge hardware announcement, it was only one announcement that had to sustain buzz over the three-day event. Whereas, Nintendo released several fan favorite games, including Metroid Prime 4, Super Mario Odyssey, and Zelda.

In other words, Nintendo perhaps generated more buzz because there were so many games that fans were excited about and could interact with. Xbox put all of its faith in one large announcement, whereas Nintendo produced many small, yet significant game releases, following-up on its new console announcement in March.

Xbox One X vs. Nintendo Switch

Although Nintendo generated more conversation volume than Xbox, when it came to conversations surrounding the Xbox One X versus Nintendo Switch, the E3 audience viewed the Xbox One X more positively. Interestingly, the Xbox One X was mentioned only 1% more than the Nintendo Switch during E3, which means this audience was equally discussing and perhaps comparing both consoles.

However, 57% of the conversations about Xbox One X were positive compared to only 45% for Nintendo Switch.

It appears the E3 audience was more excited about the newest Xbox, which bodes well for the game console brand. It’s hard to say which company did better since they both had vastly different approaches to this year’s event. However, it’s clear that both companies upped their game since Sony’s PS4 managed to dominate E3 conversations in 2016.

Top five trends that went viral

Beyond Wonder Woman and E3, June also featured other buzzworthy moments that you may have missed. Here’s a list of some trends that went viral this month, including a Craigslist ad, the Bat-signal, the NBA MVP, and more.

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Amit Avner is chief executive and founder of Taykey

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