From buying a newspaper to opening a news app on your tablet, from renting a DVD to streaming your favorite television series on a smart TV, from buying a cookbook to getting customized recipe suggestions on your smartphone, it is undeniable that the digital transformation of the media industry has already begun.

Leveraging the opportunities presented by digital video, new players are entering the market, capturing consumers’ imaginations—and their wallets. Across the content value chain, aggressive commercial bets are being placed on new business models, acquisitions, partnerships and services.

Current market trends are fundamentally changing the media and entertainment industry, among them:

• The growth of traditional revenue streams is declining as new revenue models emerge·
• Individual business models are being replaced by a complex ecosystem of industry participants from new startups to super platforms.
• Digital brands are gaining prominence, powered by an ability to deliver an engaging multi-channel customer experience.

The need to create omni-channel experiences in the media industry

The point is to provide digital experiences that go beyond just content. This includes providing it on the device of choice as well as on demand. Monetisation will also need to be made possible across different platforms, as well as devices.

Many believe that the media industry is turning into a digital collaborative ecosystem, as it is being increasingly recognised that digital experiences cannot be delivered or monetised without multi-party collaboration. As movies and television shows are gradually embracing the ‘on-demand’ mode on any digital device, books, newspapers, magazines and other forms of publications are reinventing themselves on interfaces such as smartphones and tablets.

Take for example Netflix. The company has managed to create a strong digital brand as it offers a seamless experience across devices, enabling users to start watching video on their smart TV, stop, and pick up where they left off on another device. The more engaging the digital video experience is and the more it is tailored to consumer behavior and needs, the stronger brands will grow.

Another example is BBC’s iPlayer on the iPad which is one of the most popular ways to engage with the BBC’s catch-up and on-demand digital service.

A view into the future

Predictive analytics in the near future will be a key factor and increasingly important in media companies. It can, for example, predict which reader groups will prefer which articles and to what extent. This establishes the value of an article as well as determining the true meaning of customer acquisitions which an editorial team previously had to do based off their “gut feeling”.

An innovative BI solution offers a comprehensive connection between the various sources of data in a publishing house and analyzes it as quickly as possible in order to offer reliable and relevant values for decision making. This applies in particular to the online offer, since this sector cannot yet rely on mature and economically secure structures when new parameters come into play especially in identifying economic effectiveness.

Digital technologies therefore offer the chance for individualized, tailored, accelerated and more effective approach. If you want to know about the power of digital transformation, Anglo African team can help you,  do contact Naazreen on 2331636 or via e-mail at  naazreen.ghoorun@infosystems.mu.