I’m now travelling through the US talking to various customers and suppliers. We are all debating the ‘power of feedback’ in the future of IPTV. So many other sectors use the analysis of consumption as a critical part of their selling success. Take Tesco. They use Dunnhumby (www.dunnhumby.com) to analyse who is buying what on their loyalty card. This analysis can identify whether your wife is pregnant but all those preparatory goods she buys way in advance of the happy day or whether your teenager has left for college based on a major drop in the fast food for the household. So why don’t we understand the TV viewer as well?
It does require systems, it does require data analysis, it does require interpretation but surely if it is so importatnt in FMCG environments then it has to be the key to unlocking profitable and sustainable IPTV. So what are the hurdles?
1) Privacy concerns have to be overcome. Google is tracking everything but does that mean that web users are happy about it or are aware of it? I think you counter this by clear, open policies on privacy. Issue a code of practice, make sure that the customer is aware of the benefits and deliver that benefit in the form of a more compelling, valuable, rewarding experience. ‘Value given for value received’ is the mantra.
2) The technology has to be in place. This is not rocket science. Define what data is important in interpreting consumption – content watched, menu dwell times, quality and speed of response, viewing device etc. Then transport is back to a central software solution that matches content metadata, consumer profile and consumption stats.
3) Interpret the data and derive insight. OK so this is the hard bit. This is where the real IP sits. This is where viewers become customers and telcos become retailers. Not simple. But how else will IPTV deliver on the expectation? This is where the ‘rubber hits the road’ and the winners will step up to the plate and hit a home run (enough analogies already!!)
It is this last phase that excites me the most. This is about knowing your customer. This is about delivery a world-beating experience. This is about building an unassailable brand.
So who will get there first? I’m watching very closely and evangalising while I wait.
Seems to me that feedback has to look a bit different in IPTV than on the web or in a loyalty card application — because it’s a social medium.
We may watch alone, or with one or another member of the family, or all together.
If the system knows exactly who is watching, the personlization and segmentation will be more accurate and experience more compelling.
I remember an early incarnation of collaborative filtering (it was a movie recommendation website) used to let you ask, ‘I’m going to the movies with my wife — what’s on that we’re both likely to enjoy?”
By: Doug Kessler on October 1, 2008
at 9:37 am
Not so me thinks. Remember the social aspect exists for the loyalty card. One card purchasing multiple product for mutliple members on the family. The cleverness of Dunnhumby is to segment and filter those purchases across the predicted family members. The challenge in exactly the same fore the collective viewing experience.
The recommendation point is spot on.
By: andrewpburke on October 1, 2008
at 1:37 pm