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Managing Content in a Converged World

Robin Daniels talks about the challenges to the ability of companies to retain customers when convergence comes around.

Robin Daniels talks about the challenges to the ability of companies to retain customers when convergence comes around.

One of the hot topics coming out of 3GSM in Barcelona was the increasing convergence of mobile and other end-user devices, such as the PC, digital set-top boxes and digital music players. For years, we seem to have been talking about 'digital convergence', but only with the increasing availability of high-speed broadband and the growing capacity of mobile networks is it now starting to become a reality. However, when it comes to delivering content to all these devices, there still seems to be a less than converged approach.

The telecoms, media and entertainment (TME) sector is looking to convergence as a major new revenue opportunity, yet many companies still seem to suffer from having a fragmented strategy towards delivering multimedia content to their customers. Many TME companies may claim to have a joined up approach towards content delivery, but in reality this simply isn't the case.

Breaking down content silos

Today's consumer now owns a number of digital devices and has access to a variety of channels. They are no longer satisfied with having consumption of a particular type of media limited to a specific device or channel. Instead, they are increasingly expecting to be able to access all types of content, such as web pages, games, music and video files, from a single device.

Until now, companies looking to take advantage of emerging convergence technologies, to create and deliver multimedia content to customers, have done so in a piecemeal fashion. This has meant that in many cases web, mobile and video operations have functioned independently at both a technological and operational level.

Managing this content in silos with different infrastructures is expensive and inherently inflexible, particularly when many TME companies are looking towards multi-channel delivery. In today's fast-moving industry, the pressure is on to deliver content much more quickly, flexibly and efficiently; otherwise companies risk losing market share.

To truly deliver the 'converged' experience, the industry needs to break down the barriers between content delivery channels - the fact is consumers are not paying attention to any one channel any more.

Converged customer experience

Customer retention is becoming increasingly key for many TME companies. For example, customer churn is a constant issue for the mobile sector - premium content and services, such as ringtones, video downloads and mobile TV are being seen as a way to attract new customers and drive revenues. Equally, cable and broadband providers are now looking towards bundled triple-play or quadruple-play packages in an attempt to strengthen their brand, reduce customer churn and increase revenues. Controlling the complete customer experience will be vital, with content and services being a true competitive differentiator.

Companies are also under immense pressure not only to retain their existing customers, but also to up sell and cross sell to them. Identifying consumer demands and trends is vital, particularly as there is now very much a shift towards offering consumers a much more personalised content experience. Again, for this to truly happen barriers between content delivery channels need to be broken down. Content can then be targeted to each individual user based on their usage behaviour, which in turn can generate other revenue opportunities.

For example, the role of advertising is changing in the digital age. This means that relevant advertising will soon be embedded in content based on what the customer is accessing at any given time, but also what they have done in the past. Also with the emergence of social networking sites, there will be opportunities to take advantage of crowd sourcing to virally promote content. It is therefore, up to many TME companies to have the flexibility to effectively harness these emerging trends.

Being 'content' in the future

BSkyB is one TME company that is showing what is possible by having a much more joined up approach towards content delivery. Traditionally a satellite broadcaster, it has started to capitalise on the new market opportunities of value-added content by adopting a multi-channel strategy.

Whether it be the latest news, sport or entertainment BSkyB is now giving its customers greater control to choose the content they want to watch, how they want to view it and when they want to watch it.

It is now up to the rest of the industry to follow suit - the content is there, it just needs to be delivered far better!

Robin Daniels is Senior Product Marketing Manager EMEA, for Vignette, a professional content-management solution company.