How to leverage Smart TVs to boost your TV campaign

While some have discussed the demise of TV time and again thanks to the advent of the internet, the medium has proven itself resilient. TV channels and TV operators in Asia are doing very well with increasingly affluent populations willing to pay for access to premium content.

Why is TV still alive and kicking despite competitive offerings available online? It is all about a winning consumer experience. Once consumers sit down in the living room in front of the biggest and likely most expensive screen at home, they have a different mindset than when they use the PC or the phone. They want to be entertained and to share the experience with others. TV is a social medium, where the “campfire behaviour” of family and sports entertainment is still very important today, despite the rise of online individual centric video consumption. People love to share and discuss their TV experiences with friends and family, regardless of whether they watch a movie, the final of American Idol or an English Premier League game. While relaxing in front of the TV, the consumer is also still the most receptive to brand advertising.

TV has evolved significantly from the humble “radio with pictures” to today’s immersive living room experience. Over time, the medium has undergone several paradigm shifts - first was the introduction of commercial TV. This transformed the TV experience from a government-funded public service to an industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars globally.

Then came the multi-channel TV which changed the consumer’s perception of TV from a media outlet with a clearly defined five to ten channels, to one with with apparently endless choice and hundreds of channels.

Now, TV is once again experiencing a significant paradigm shift once. Smart TV, also known as Internet Connected TV, which the myriad possibilities of internet connectivity. For brands, this is tremendously interesting because it provides another way to engage with the consumer.

The following steps describe how to integrate your campaign with all the capabilities the Smart TV provides:

1. Choose your content. It’s important to choose content that lends itself well to the new world of TV interactivity. One example is sports video, which can now be augmented with match stats and match video interactivity. Another example is a library of short video clips, which can now be packaged and provided through a branded experience.
2. Design a modern user experience with consistent brand image. Apple has raised the bar as far as UI design is concerned. Today everyone expects an application to look good. Having a consistent brand image across multiple screens is also important to give a comfort factor as users switch between devices to get access to your content in different settings. Users also expect some element of social interactivity. For example posting to their Facebook feed a Like of a funny joke during a sitcom.
3. Develop, develop and develop. Supporting the major TV platforms out there and integrating to popular online services isn’t easy, but there are plenty of developer resources now provided by the TV vendors. Specialist solution providers like Accedo can also help you to deliver TV applications on multiple platforms cost effectively.
4. Monitor and update. Monitoring what is popular and what is not is vitally important for the success of the emerging TV apps industry. This involves making sure you have the analytics in place for your TV apps. It also involves keeping across what industry leaders and your competitors are doing. Constantly updating video content and application features is vital to ensure you continue to attract users back to your app again and again.

The winners in the new TV industry
It is clear that online connectivity for TVs will be as common as connectivity to the mobile phone or PC. The innovation possibilities for big brands are virtually endless, and we will see a number of successful and failed attempts to create innovative next generation TV experiences on Smart TVs.

My belief is that the winners will be the ones who consider the features that make TV the medium consumers spend several hours per day with while also making use of new technology capabilities provided by the manufacturers. Just as in PC and mobile, faster innovation cycles and numerous competitive applications will be commonplace.

One thing for sure, the TV viewing experience in your home in ten years time will be very different to the one today. The question every brand should be thinking about is how to position favorably for that future right now.