Getting a Grip on AI and Metadata Madness at the MESA Smart Content Summit

Data and its think/speak has become so ubiquitous in the industry now that it's reference in any context - sales, content creation, marketing and branding - is not only commonplace but also becoming de rigeur. But as with anything that permeates the ecosystem, there is a time for it to be standardized with a common language, protocol and usage pattern. All of that is beginning to gel as evidenced by the panels at the third annual Media and Entertainment Day conference held at the Microsoft center in NYC. 

Monetization

Moviepass, where subscribers pay $10 a month to be able to see one movie a day for the month has proven to be extremely popular. But if Moviepass based their revenue success strictly on subscribership fees, they would fall short. Instead, Ted Farnsworth, chairman and CEO, Helios and Matheson analytics, seeks to turn Moviepass's data into the main revenue stream. While not selling their data to clients, Moviepass instead sells insights from their data to interested parties such as film producers. Moviepass also uses their data for recommendation engines that “push people to the theatrical experience,” and assist the company in acquisitions and “develop films based on the data we have.” Farnsworth explained that data also helps detect fraud including, “sharing passwords, subscribers selling their tickets or giving their tickets away or detecting unfair trade by theaters.” According to Farnsworth, Moviepass is helping to bolster attendance especially at smaller theaters, encouraging Millennials to go out to the movies and showcasing more independent films that may not have large marketing budgets. 

Content Tracking

There is a vast amount of metadata that is currently available and new sources are increasing every day. The challenge is not only capturing all of this data but also tracking it within a company and across companies in the industry. Various forms of data labeling, such as being able to distinguish specific ads and specific programming, ascertain which regions of the country and the world and even what subset of language (such as Latin American Spanish or Castilian Spanish)  is being spoken in the content must all be identified and properly labeled in an agreed industry standard. Efforts by companies such as HBO and organizations such as CIMM have begun the heavy lifting work in content labeling for the industry. “The challenge to these IDs is having people register and embed throughout their practice,” stated Jane Clarke, CEO and Managing Director, CIMM. However, according to Brian Hughes, Senior Vice President, Audience Intelligence and Strategy, MAGNA, agency clients are already using Ad-ID. “On the ad side we are generating use. In terms of how we sell it though, we say this is how we can tell where an ad goes, how it performs and what the results are,” he noted.

Storytelling

“From inception, data can ride along with the piece of content and enrich that piece of content,” noted Guy Findley, Executive Director, MESA. From a content perspective, there is so much data being created and collected that it can be challenging to present it in a form that makes it flexible to use and manipulate. Matt Turner, Chief Technology Officer, Media and Manufacturing, Mark Logic, spoke about smart content and the digital files created from content inception to pre-production, post production, distribution -both primary and secondary - to archiving and ultimately into future infinite uses. But the “traditional data approach makes looking at metadata difficult today,” noted Turner because it creates data silos.  He advocated a new approach using flexible schemas that link together in an operational data hub for media. “ This makes the data available across all parts of the business and interacts with all systems,” he explained. An example of this is NBCU’s Saturday Night Live which can now search for concepts using the data hub and “Disney’s creative genome project that collects data from all around the show.”

Conclusion

As Daniel Goss, Vice President of Innovation and Experience, LiveTiles, stated, “Data and analytics are embedded with everything you do.” From the media industry’s viewpoint, data is touching all aspects of the business from creative content creation to financial impact of our business decisions. Locking into industry standards for labeling, data framework and measurement will enable us to derive the maximum benefit of this growing and powerful resource.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com
 

Future of Marketing Forum with Neustar

Who would have thought that a forum on marketing would have so much discussion about data, research and analytics? So it was at the recent Future of Marketing Forum by Neustar. Steve Wolfe Pereira, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Neustar, painted a dire picture of the state of marketing in his conference introduction. "Over trillion dollars is currently spent in marketing but many companies experienced revenue decline," he began. "The medium tenure for a CMO is now down from 33 to 27 months. This is not a lot of time to achieve impact." And, he continued, "There are challenges from bots, to fraud to even hurricanes. Is this the end of marketing as we know it?"

Here is where marketing is going:

Preparing Content for Sales

There is an increasing viewer backlash to ad loads. Suzanne Vranica, advertising editor at the Wall Street Journal called it the "rise of anti-advertising" where "ad blocking has become a problem." The answer may be to reduce the ad load. But how does that impact revenue? Donna Speciale, President Ad Sales at Turner, explained why her company made it a strategy to reduce the ad loads on their networks. "We are focusing on the consumer," she stated, "Viewer behavior is changing. So, reducing ad loads for us was part of the equation. The messaging has to change and storytelling within pods had to change. We wanted to make the experience better." And, the reduced ad load withtruTV, had “a huge upside with ratings" and revenue-wise, the network "made more money," she added.

Forging Connection

Brands need to reinforce their connection to their customer. But how can we best do that in the cacophony of platform and content choices? Some companies like HBO have a business model based on opt-in subscriptions and a brand promise that has withstood the test of time. Lucinda Martinez, Senior Vice President, Multicultural and International Marketing, HBO, explained, "We deliver an experience that is specific and on brand. We market to a multicultural audience and we are really careful about designing the campaign." It is all about storytelling at HBO where content is designed so that "the story is bigger than the characters," she added.

To insure the connection between content, audience and branding, companies have to have inner connection.  At HBO, department silos have been broken down between marketing and the creators. Marketer Martinez noted that, "We sit in same room as creators so we know when the plot surprise is coming." in this way, marketing messages can be released to coincide with program climaxes that can come in the middle of the series' run. this can create more watercooler moments.

Messaging and Bots

Challenges to marketing and branding seem to abound. So, it is vital that marketers keep up with change. According to Michael J. Wolf, Founder and Partner, Activate, "The stakes are high in the messaging wars. But messaging will not be a winner-take-all. The battle will be fought by bots. People will get more comfortable using chat bots and integrating into their purchasing and personal lives." What this means is an evolution to more sophisticated AI, easier discovery tools, better payment integration and greater cross-platform portability.

The Future of Marketing

The future is a more connected world where there will continue to be great opportunities and vexing challenges. The secret to success is, as Pereira concluded, to get back to basics with a twist. It’s still product, price, promotion and place, in a radically transformed way, and, he noted: “Product becomes all about experience, price becomes the exchange of value, promotion becomes evangelists and place becomes everywhere. We need to focus on the things that matter.”

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

The State of the Art in On Demand

Last week’s B&C Multichannel New On Demand Summit gave a great overview of the state of the art in the on demand world. From content creators and distributors to measurement companies to marketers, the growth and appeal of on demand for both business and consumers is growing and transforming the business of television.  Here are the takeaways:

Make the Viewing Ecosystem Simple and Unified …

With the myriad of programming options available to viewers, there is the risk of making content choices, delivery options and payment processes too complicated and time consuming. Different programs originating from different apps and requiring different subscriptions processes and options might stall adoption and growth for certain content providers. But some companies, such as Amazon, are focusing on streamlining their processes and collecting them into one simple ecosystem.

Michael Paull, VP Digital Video for Amazon, described his company’s strategy of “getting more sources of programming and keep building on programming” offerings and enabling third party content owners to access. Amazon has created an environment of “streaming, billing and audience to create a unified experience, instead of going from app to app.” He continued, “We have aggregated all of these functions in the viewer experience.” According to Paull, “We can help other programmers unify transactional and program ecosystems and the strategy is paying off.”

… But Give the Viewer Options When and How to View

Understanding viewing trends and preferences is key to effectively responding in a competitive and strategic manner. Sofia Chang, EVP Worldwide Digital Distribution at HBO, follows their subscribers’ viewing patterns. “We saw the trend of time shifted viewing a while ago and launched the first premium service, introducing HBO on demand through our MVPD partners in 2001. In 2008 we launched HBO GO. Last year we saw the trend of broadband only homes so we launched our standalone digital app HBO Now. But even with time shifting, some programming is viewed live like our Game of Thrones. Live programming is not dead,” she asserted, “but it depends on the program.”

Programming Craftsmanship Rules

The old chestnut that Content is King continues to be true. But the old rules regarding programming are shifting. It is no longer vital to target to a broad based audience. And older programs, even those out of the market for more than a decade, can attract a younger Millennial audience.

 Paull noted that going niche, rather than broad based, is a viable programming strategy for his video service. He stated, “We are creating a lot of original programming. We want to create shows people love. And we don't need to have every show that appeals to every consumer.”

Older inventory can have a new life as younger audiences suddenly discover the gems of yesteryear. Chang noted that “Sex in City ended in 1996 and now we are picking up new audiences who were too young to watch at that time. That is what the on demand platforms have done. You can discover shows from over 10 years ago and can view them now.”

The Data Shows That Consumers Are in Control

It bears repeating that data has become the golden key to understanding the viewer experience.

Brian Hughes, SVP Audience Intelligence and Strategy, MAGNA, shared some of his agency’s findings about viewing habits. The trends, according to Hughes, are that viewing is becoming “less linear, more snacking which reveal an underlying behavior shift. Even live event sports are seeing on demand impacting them as well. For example, the Olympics offered more coverage but there was less live viewing than London.” He listed three major points: 1. In the digital age, video is everywhere and consumers like it that way. 2. Millennials are not only ones changing habits and 3. Viewers want TV experiences to be more like mobile - App based and on demand.

Conclusion

What this all means to creators, distributors, marketers and advertisers is that the brave new world of on demand is fast becoming a standard way for viewers to enjoy and consume content. Old theories about viewing habits are evolving as even live event programming cannot guarantee exact minute consumption on a reliable screen. My advice is to follow the data and respond accordingly. As Paull concluded, “We have an enormous amount of data so we can bring the right show to the right people at the right time. We are customer centric as a company.”

This article first appeared in www.MediaBizBloggers.com