BBC Studios: The Future of Soaps
How will Soap Operas need to change to appeal to future audiences?
Winner of MRS' Virginia Valentine Award for Cultural Insights in 2023.
Soap Operas (EastEnders, Emmerdale, Corrie…) are a British cultural phenomenon. But today, the proliferation of content available, across so many platforms, leaves Soap Opera views waning (-15% year-on-year). From Love Island to Game of Thrones – we’re getting our fix of drama elsewhere.
We combined cultural analysis (how consumer life and trending content is shifting), commercial semiotics (in-depth analysis of soaps and parallel ‘winning’ content), with in-home and auto-ethnography (delving deeply and emotionally into consumer lives to see what Soaps & broadly Entertainment means to them).
We synthesised into a detailed blueprint to the brand on what they need to do to make soaps relevant to future audiences, with detailed recommendations on everything from scheduling through to set design, character creation and plot.