IBC 2017: Paywizard and Ostmodern to announce launch of Venue
Paywizard, a subscription, billing and customer relationship management (CRM) expert, and Ostmodern, a broadcast content and video on demand (VoD) specialist, have announced they have partnered to launch Venue, a new end to end pay-per-view (PPV) solution.
Venue reflects the shared Paywizard and Ostmodern philosophy of managing PPV TV viewers by treating them as long term customers rather than one-off buyers. Central to Venue is the relationship between the operator and the customer, enhanced by data-driven optimisation of the content journey throughout the PPV customer Decision Moments.
Venue is based on the multi-award winning Decision Moments dashboard capability and data-driven features of Paywizard Agile, combined with Ostmodern’s Skylark OTT platform and expertise in digital product design. Venue also uses the eight critical ‘Decision Moments’ in the PPV customer journey: Find, Join, Consume, Upgrade, Downgrade, Bill, Leave and Win Back.
Bhavesh Vaghela, Paywizard’s CEO, commented: “Each time a customer interacts with a PPV operator, there is a point in which timely engagement can have a massive impact on the relationship,” Vaghela explains. “Operators in pay-per-view TV can now offer personalised engagement at each key Decision Moment by proactively using customer data insight and predictive analytics to leverage a dynamic content management system that feeds captivating content to consumer devices,”
He continued: “At Paywizard, we ran our first PPV event in 2001 and a key challenge we consistently see is PPV events are traditionally dealt with in isolation. Whether operators are first venturing into PPV or are well established in the market, most tend to focus on the immediate delivery of the event and short term monetisation opportunity.”
With ad revenues declining, operators of all types are looking for new ways to monetise their sporting rights. In recent months the market has seen operators like Amazon purchasing rights for NFL Thursday night football and ATP Tennis. With demand growing and more operators entering the PPV market, it is critical to deliver a long-term, engaged and loyal customer base.
Built on nearly 20 years of experience delivering both PPV and subscription TV, the software and services solution, Venue, will allow operators to not only monetise each PPV event but build lasting relationships with customers, along with predictable and growing revenue streams.
Thomas Williams, CEO at Ostmodern, noted: “Data on each customer’s viewing and consumption profile, combined with transactional information, is leveraged to support a propensity to purchase model, aimed at dynamically personalising the content and UX. Critical to PPV success is continuing to build the customer relationship over time, leveraging both paid and free content to, engage and entice repeat purchases.”
Williams added: “With 80% of PPV registrations happening in the final hour before an event, operators must find a solution that is robust and scalable, but keeping customers engaged before and after an event is the major PPV challenge.”
Through the combination of deep experience, a proven technology infrastructure and supporting services; rights holders, sports clubs, federations and broadcasters can turn monetisation from single events into an evolved PPV service, the companies claimed. Venue ensures operators can drive loyalty and growth through data-driven actions, including targeted marketing campaigns, offers for premium extras such as VR content and merchandise, or even related deals on video on demand subscriptions for regular customers.
Demonstrations of Venue will be exhibited at IBC 2017 on the Paywizard booth, 14.F32.