Media companies — whether new entrants or traditional player in the publishing, broadcast and film space — are in a full-on war for consumer attention. Winners have been successful by doubling down on creating personalization strategies that drive relevance, monetizing assets across channels that unlock the full value of content, and driving organizational agility centered on putting business data in the hands of business users to lead to faster decision making. The mantra of personalize, monetize, and innovate continues to resonate across media companies of all sizes and geographies as they pivot their businesses around today’s consumers who are bombarded with content and experiences across all channels.
Companies are taking unprecedented steps to capture attention. Disney, NBC Universal, and Warner Media have all started down the path of launching their own OTT (over the top) products and are focusing on a direct-to-consumer strategy. Mergers and acquisitions continue to take the headlines as companies look to unlock value through scale. Publishers are building unique advertising partnerships to differentiate themselves in a competitive ad market. With these examples, we see the entire industry shifting rapidly in order to compete. The emphasis on execution, experience, and enrichment is paramount to thrive in this digital-first world.
Let’s take a deeper dive into why I believe these three E’s that will shape media this year, and beyond:
Execution
Generating new and innovative ideas is a great start, but how do companies put that into action and actually execute? Media companies are constantly looking for ways to quickly and successfully bring their visions to life. To execute swiftly, companies will need the tools and processes that will bring speed, organization, and collaboration to their teams. Agility is now the currency of the industry and finding platforms that allow teams to move fast, while simultaneously pivoting to consumers and advertisers, will be a critical success factor as companies are exploring new revenue models.
Experience
Consumers care about the experience that companies provide. How do they feel starting from the moment they download the media application to actually streaming their favorite show on their mobile phone? Every touchpoint of the customer journey is important. Companies like Hulu are providing the ultimate experience with 1-to-1 customer journeys by proactively addressing customer needs, intelligently recommending content to each of their users, and ensuring a seamless experience no matter the device. We’re continuing to see direct to consumer products that will provide these better experiences and differentiate the company in the overall marketplace.
Enrichment
Driving an effective strategy around data is at the core of what it takes to be successful in this market. Being able to operationalize and enrich this data to drive better outcomes for consumers and advertisers is separating winners and losers in the marketplace. Making data smarter for media organizations is a crucial focus area across the industry and is more critical than ever as more companies focus on building their direct to consumer channel and more focus on driving revenue across both advertising and B2C businesses.
With NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) Show around the corner, Salesforce is thrilled to join the conversation around the future of media. We believe that broadcasters, programmers and media companies across the industry are at a tipping point in how they engage with their consumers and advertisers. Media companies are ready to win the war for attention and consumers will only benefit as more and more companies look to drive better-personalized experiences driven by innovative, agile companies. We’ve proudly been a key part of how media companies have digitally transformed and entered the direct to consumer market — that all really excites us when we ourselves focus on innovation and thrive when we see our customers interacting with their end consumers using Salesforce solutions. We are honored to be the platform of choice for broadcasters and studios, and we look forward to helping drive innovation, simplicity and agility in the media space.
We’re excited for what is in store for the industry and look forward to continuing the conversation with our industry peers at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, April 6-11, 2019.
Stop by our session on April 9 from 10:40 AM – 12:00 PM in the North Hall, at booth N234-236 to learn more about Salesforce’s POV on the war for attention. We hope to see you there!
