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In Part One of our post, the Evolution of Commerce in Media and Entertainment, we’ve given a brief history of walled gardens as a business strategy in the telecom industry. Now let’s look at the (R)evolution of Contextual Commerce in premium publishing and streaming.
Competition.
Media companies vie for viewers’ attention and wallets; which means a need for more compelling programming, and user experiences to insist that consumers sign up, watch, and of course, stay on the platform. In fact, this just-released report from Accenture — Streaming’s Next Act suggests that Aggregators will play a starring role in making consumers happier. It reveals that fully 60% of streaming service users are downright frustrated with the premium streaming experience.
The good news: Viewers who stream increased subscriptions to an average of 4.5 services, up from 3.9.
The not-so-good news: Netflix announced it is raising prices in U.S. and Canada markets — $1 to $2 a month across most of its plans — increasing to $19.99 a month, just as the stock price has fallen over 5% today again. That follows Friday’s 22% plunge.
Accenture report offers advice to streaming platforms: “Engage in experimentation."
While publishing and streaming companies focus on quality content to inspire us, they rely heavily on tech giants to provide them with the ad tech tools to capture and analyze consumer data and information. However, in this model, only the tech giants have a monopoly on user data and insights, the lion’s share of ad revenues, and the rules of the game in the market. As the landscape is evolving, testing new monetization tools is a must-have, not simply a nice one to have.
With many brands dedicated to pushing unique digital channels to keep up with the changing landscape, evolving tech, and new trends, it’s time for publishers and streamers to reset the rules of the game. By implementing a “mini walled-garden” strategy, to regain control with first-party data and user relationships from new monetization models on their platforms.
As it turns out viewers don't mind ads: eMarketer estimates, the total digital ad spend will reach 65.9% of total media ad spending, reaching $571.16 billion this year.
But viewers really don't like not being able to merge viewing activities as 56% of viewers wished they could take their profiles from one service to another to streamline experiences from another service.
Contextual Shoppbable for premium streaming video is the new point of sale.
The (r)evolution is expected to be televised.
The Contextual Shoppable experience is a monetization strategy for premium streaming video. It does not exist in the way it can and should on professional publishing and streaming sites. Last year, one of the noteworthy experiments in streaming was Netflix embracing commerce tied to their shows. Although Netflix has said that they are not focused on advertising models and do not accept payments for product placements, they have said that they are focused on new monetization streams and viewer retention on their platform. Tests included Gaming and adding an eCommerce store to their platform experience.
“With Netflix’s subscription model, it is understandable that its initial approach is an ancillary service. As a consumer and avid watcher of Netflix content, the experiment with an alternative revenue channel of selling show-inspired merchandise on a separate Netflix online shop for tent-pole releases, such as “Emily in Paris,” “Squid Game,” and “Stranger Things” is not the type of experience of Discover & Buy that I would expect from a leader. That's why experimentation is instrumental in the new normal” — Lori Marion, CEO,
Co-Founder of FADE.
Our take.
2022 is the year of recalibration for the media and entertainment industry. The next revolution is contextual Shoppable Video capability available in the viewing experience of premium streaming video content on curated, trusted publishing and streaming sites and apps. Brands agree. According to Nadine Young, chief executive of Starcom, “Our online habits from the pandemic will have changed us and society forever. Brands understand that the way we consume, interact, and what we value will never be the same again.” A contextual Shoppable Video experience in a “mini walled-garden world” means that:
Viewers are allowed to watch, discover, and buy products within the video experience rather than redirecting user traffic to a third-party or social site increases viewer retention.
Publishers can enable reimagined omnichannel experiences for brand partners, increasing the value of those partnerships.
By retaining viewers on the publisher’s site, it continues building brand equity with the Gen Z and Millennials (according to eMarketer, US Gen Z’s buying power is nearing $150 billion).
Revenue creation occurs on the publisher’s platform and content and licensing.
Access to unique consent-based user data and outcomes across premium content and ad placement.
It increases the utility of AVOD upper and mid-funnel premium ad placement experiences.
It makes cookie loss irrelevant.
Fade Technology is built for premium VOD across marketing, content, and advertising. It enables publishers and streaming video platforms to turn new or time capsule video content into native Shoppable experiences that can be shared across all of the users' platforms. A scalable solution that enables a single platform integration to turn any branded content, editorial, product placement, pre-roll, and mid-roll videos into a contextual Shoppable experience.
Contextual Shoppable Video for premium content is the new point of discovery for digital natives.
About
Fade Technology is building and partnering for the mini walled gardens. Publishers want an alternative to redirecting traffic away from their platform or owning a commerce business model. But not every publisher wants to own an eCommerce store. Fade is the alternative that lets media companies get back to the business of distributing content that increases retention, time on site, revenue, and reduces customer churn. FADE makes premium video shoppable everywhere viewers consume immersive content on mobile, desktop, and TV. A BIPOC and a women-owned company that thinks about contextual discovery and buying in Shoppable Video, a lot.
© 2022 Fade Technology Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.
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