Video ≠ App: Turn Video into a Digital Product that Builds Culture not “Content”

Digital transformation stands as a common topic which people discuss frequently. People discuss digital transformation at conferences and strategy meetings but most fail to recognize that digital transformation now extends beyond applications and systems and online services. Video has evolved into a digital product through an unobtrusive transformation. Video served as an additional resource for advertising and entertainment purposes during the past years. The modern video industry operates as a complete product which receives design attention and development support and performance evaluation and generates measurable effects on human conduct and economic systems. The measurement of app growth depends on user numbers whereas video growth depends on viewer statistics. The distinction between these two elements stems from their fundamental characteristics. Users must return to an app content but video content requires viewers to remember it. The system requires users to stay engaged while video content establishes emotional bonds with viewers. Both systems have the potential to expand yet they operate through distinct mechanisms. Video growth depends on storytelling elements rather than technological infrastructure which apps require. The creation of an app results in tool development but video production establishes cultural foundations.

Video content served as a supplementary element during the previous decade. The percentage of global internet traffic handled by video content exceeds 82% at present. People dedicate more than 17 hours weekly to watching content through mobile devices while mobile screens represent 78% of their total viewing time. Video creators now function as product developers who use algorithms and analytics to create content for mobile screens which serve as the global window. Video content development focuses on expanding its reach through influence instead of user acquisition like apps do. Each time someone watches a video it counts as an active user session. Every time viewers engage with content it represents a product enhancement.

The world has undergone a fundamental transformation. The number of active creators worldwide has surpassed 200 million.The creator economy is valued around $127B, and the digital content creation market is on track toward $70B by 2030.

The numbers don’t lie: video is now an industry, an economy, and a language. Content has become a new kind of human software.

How we see it at Media Turtles

At Media Turtles, we draw no hard line between code that’s written and stories that are told. Both are digital products built with human imagination and measured by real outcomes. One delivers function; the other delivers meaning.

So the real value isn’t the technology itself it’s the imagination that moves it, and the person who knows how to use it to leave a mark. Video is the new “app.” It isn’t installed on a phone; it’s installed in memory. It isn’t updated from a store; it’s updated by emotion. Understand that, and you understand the next wave of digital transformation: it won’t be led by code alone, but by stories that shape behavior and ideas that build culture before profit.

In the end, build an app and you can control behavior. Craft a video that truly lands—and you shape awareness. That’s where the real story of the creative economy begins.