Access vs Accessibility

Has accessibility overthrown the allure of access? Does the answer lie in curating a “select” digital audience, chosen carefully, emulating the exclusivity of a show, collection or media event? Or is it in a brands’ best interests to use the New Normal, socially distant, digital space to improve general accessibility, exposing the most amount of people to your brand as much as possible?

The actual answer is a little bit of both. The irony is that whilst users do want access to shows, and are aware brands are doing more to reach a larger online audience, engagement across all forms of media has proven not to be as high as when it’s shown through an influencer, press or a buyer’s perspective. Statistics show that viewing shows through the lens of traditional, established press and trusted influencers makes it more interesting, builds exclusivity and, in fact, seemingly grants that full access engagement sought by audiences.

An example of how one company has approached this access/accessibility challenge is Warner Music, who last week staged a virtual festival for their UK employees. This unique style of “access” not only generated positive brand advocacy from the employees, but showcased activities, poetry and talks, building interest beyond the brand and gigs-via-screen.

The virtual festival map had stages with pre-recorded sets from Griff, Birdy, The Vamps, Jay 1 and The Music Gang as well as a performance by James Massiah who wrote a bespoke poem about the importance of music during lock down.

You can watch James’ incredible performance below: