In this blog, Tim Pearson reflects on the recent ANGA COM tradeshow in Cologne. An event with pace, bustle and a fair amount of Kölsch as the industry discussed the best ways to tackle today’s challenges.
The one thing that is constant in this market is change. Literally nothing stands still which is why our space is an exciting one to be in right now. Recognizing this, we decided to return to ANGA COM with a stand presence given the activity we were seeing in the local market.
And we were not disappointed! The level of energy, enthusiasm and optimism across the three days was fantastic. While always great to reconnect with colleagues and customers who are all responding to different audience demands, the themes being addressed at ANGA COM this year supported a cautious optimism as business transformation projects start to address the fragmentation of the content market.
Access to Great Content
One of the key themes arising from our discussions at ANGA COM was how to help consumers continue to get access to the content they love. With the launch of multiple D2C services and the removal of content from some content owners’ slates, consumers have tried to build their own bespoke entertainment packages. However, many of them have learnt that the total price of an aggregated set of individual subscriptions costs more than the original subscription they had with their pay-TV provider. Plus, they also must remember what content is where and then need to navigate multiple UX frameworks, all of which are presented and powered slightly differently.
All this effort to watch great content. Easy, it is not!
We were delighted to announce at ANGA COM our involvement with Tele Columbus’ new PŸUR service that seeks to address these challenges directly. Focused on making access to content as frictionless as possible so that consumers can get back to enjoying content rather than dreading the search to find it, the new service features a number of ‘under the hood’ technologies to deliver a first-class customer experience. Powered by the NAGRA OpenTV Video Platform and with security provided by the NAGRA Active Streaming Protection framework, the service is a best-in-class hybrid video platform designed to drive revenue and an exceptional user experience. Talking of which, the UX for PŸUR was provided by partner 3SS and based on their 3Ready product framework. Fully integrated with our OpenTV Video Platform, together with XRoadMedia for AI-based personalization and Simply.TV for metadata, the overall solution delivers all the hybrid features underpinned by a strong focus on QoE that you would expect from a leader in today’s market.
Behavioural-based Analysis
We had many conversations about customer engagement and how it can drive loyalty. Add to this the masses of data captured by apps, back-ends and networks designed to give us the perfect insight into the consumer, and you would think interactions with subscribers must be a breeze.
Not exactly.
The problem is that with such a sea of data, it’s very hard to separate what’s useful and what’s not. If we look at the dynamics of our industry, now more than ever, something needs to be done to really understand consumers and their associated engagement with brands – given the fragmented content landscape, a range of new players and a smorgasbord of available content.
Retention marketing has always been tricky. Where is that fine tipping point between where the consumer is happy to stay and when they’re leaving? Over discount and revenue is being lost, under discount and subscribers are lost. With many conversations focusing on this topic, it was interesting to discuss how NAGRA solutions can help address the often-fragile relationship between consumer and operator in today’s market.
All NAGRA solutions deliver behavior-focused data. Our OpenTV Video Platform focusses on viewing behavior data providing valuable insight across devices and services consumed. Our security solutions spot patterns of behavior that may indicate illicit activity, and our connected lifestyle solutions identify the types of IoT devices a consumer interacts with. All these pieces of information can help form a rounded picture not only of the consumer’s behavior but also of their motivations and likely buying intent. NAGRA Insight takes this analysis further as it simulates a variety of retention-based use cases through a digital twin model, so potential reactions to different retention methods can be identified and the optimum course of action selected.
Connected Lifestyle Security
With consumers living increasingly busy lives across multiple devices and apps, new opportunities are becoming available to network operators that go beyond video and start to include a range of new services. These can include support for aggregating IoT devices, protecting against cyber-security threats, and ranging new services such as eHealth.
Discussions at the show explored how non-video services can be aggregated into the same user experience and how new services, such as NAGRA Scout, can be used to both improve consumer digital footprint confidence alongside aggregating IoT apps and devices while at home and when on the go. Based on individual profiles, the solution enables everyone in the house to interact differently – for example, internet access times may be restricted for children’s devices, or heating/connected goods access may be limited to specific individuals. Collectively, this allows households to safely enjoy their connected lives, and for operators, this provides additional service revenues in tandem with network usage insights that may shape future growth plans.
ANGA COM provided some great opportunities to catch-up and really zoom in on some of the issues facing the industry today. If you’d like to know more about any of the featured solutions, explore more via a proof-of-concept or just continue the conversation, we’d love to talk, so do get in touch!
