An Evolving Media Environment:New Approaches

John Eckman, Sr. Director

Bryan Spaulding, Sr. Director

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Some of the Challenges Facing Media Companies

Increased competition for attention

• Multiple media converging on digital • Decreasing costs of production and distribution• Global reach and local depth both competitive• Prosumer and amateur content has mass distribution capability

Pressure on advertising revenue

• Impression models (CPM) moving to action models (CPA)• Social media campaigns may disintermediate

Legacy cost structures

• “Monopoly hangover”• Existing infrastructure and approach

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The Assembled WebConceptual Framework

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Approaches to Media Challenges

Embracing Communities

Incorporating Creative

Commerce

Broadening Digital

Footprints

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Add community interaction to the online experienceEmbracing Communities

Rodale Home Remedies Finder enables community members to contribute, discover, share, rate, and comment on home remedies.

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Add community interaction to the online experience

Lifetime’s Total Beauty Makeover enables customers to see how they would look with different hair colors and styles, play with makeup and accessories – even change eye color or add a beauty mark.

Embracing Communities

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Leverage Crowdsourced ContentEmbracing Communities

CNN’s iReport taps the power of citizen journalism by enabling community members to upload their own stories and associated media. CNN is able to guide these efforts through the “Assignment Desk.”

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Leverage Crowdsourced ContentEmbracing Communities

BusinessWeek’s Business Exchange enables users to create business topics, collaboratively aggregate content from the entire Web and connect with other business focused users around these topics.

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Leverage Crowdsourced Content

HGTV has created a cross-media community experience wherein members are pick three rooms that inspire them from the Rate My Space website, identifying the objects or finishes in that space that they'd like to have in their own. Designer Angelo Surmelis uses these elements to make over their room, and the community rates the results online.

Embracing Communities

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Fan CommentaryEmbracing Communities

MTV’s Backchannel is a “competitive chat” experience that the community can play while watching the linear broadcast of The Hills.

Fox recently conducted an experiment wherein cast members from their show Glee engaged fans in Q&A via Twitter during a rerun, and incorporated those tweets into the linear broadcast. Fox called this approach a “tweet-peat.”

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Monetize content while giving readers convenient accessCreative Commerce

Through the TimesReader, the NYT provides an optimized desktop viewing experience for a monthly subscription fee – or is provided free of charge for home delivery subscribers.

The WSJ is currently allowing customers to download the Mobile Reader for free by October 24, 2009 and receive all the free content from the Journal. Plus, sample subscriber content for an additional 90-days. Customers decide in January if they want to subscribe.

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Sell merchandise featured on the show

Bravo has created a shopwherein products featured on its various shows, such as Top Chef, The Real Housewives, and The Fashion Show, can be browsed and purchased.

Creative Commerce

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Sell merchandise featured on the showCreative Commerce

NBC is leveraging its brand, celebrity relationships, and expertise in television production to create a multi-channel premium lifestyle brand that marries on-air and online broadcast of high end merchandise that can be purchased via its ShopNBC storefront.

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Make commerce socialCreative Commerce

Kaboodle is a social shopping community where people discover, recommend, and share products. The site enables members to organize their shopping through lists, discover new things from people with similar style, get discounts on popular products and find the best prices.

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Extend and monetize brand

Discovery is leveraging its brand power and familiarity to create a travel service in partnership with G.A.P. Adventures that will enable customers to visit exotic destinations that they might otherwise be too intimidated to plan on their own.

Creative Commerce

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Partner

Elle has created a channel on Elle.com with Rue La Lathat will give its readers access to limited time, private sales of designer brands.

Creative Commerce

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Embeddable fan content / updates

Through the use of Optaros’ embeddable OViewapplication syndication offering, the New England Patriots are able to stay engaged with fans through 200+ fan sites, Facebook, and Patriots.com.

Broadening Digital Footprints

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Deliver Experiences to New Platforms

The number of “touch points” though which consumers expect to be able to engage digital media is growing – from TV user interfaces like Boxeeto mobile apps like ESPN ScoreCenter to eReaderslike Kindle, and beyond.

Broadening Digital Footprints

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API enables fan-supported applications

Bestbuy’s Remix API enabled the development of the GPS Discovery Toolwithout any involvement from IT.

Within 24 hours of launching their API, a 3rd-party mobile applications developer released SmartFlix, a Blackberry app for interacting with the Netflix service.

Broadening Digital Footprints

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Some Notable Optaros Media Clients

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Connect with Us

Optaros helps media companies conceptualize, develop, and manage new approaches such as these, and other creative ways to evolve in the midst of change.

We would love to engage you in further discussion, so drop us a line and let’s have a conversation.

John Eckmanjeckman@optaros.com

Bryan Spauldingbspaulding@optaros.com