Times are hard. Everyone is feeling the crunch. However, despite this, now could be a great time to invest in new technologies for your station.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Are you happy with your current technologies?
• Are they capable of offering your viewers the new-age platforms?
• Do you find that scheduling is taking up too much of your resources?
• Are you finding it difficult to maximize airtime sales revenue?
• Are the airing rights and rules giving you a headache?
• Are you interested in moving to a tapeless environment, but don’t know where to start?
• Is media management become a burden?
• Are you interested in expanding your content delivery platforms?

If you have the budget, there are quite a few good reasons to seriously think about implementing new systems, especially now.

There are some great systems out there. There are of course the major players (such as Sintecmedia, Pilat, Harris for channel management, Blue Order, Dalet for Media Asset Management, just to name a few) who offer systems for larger broadcasters, and naturally are more expensive. However, over recent years, the ‘smaller’ companies have been demonstrating again and again that they should not be taken for granted. With an ever-growing market, these companies are able to demonstrate that their capabilities do not necessary fall short of their larger counterparts, especially when dealing with small-to-medium sized broadcasters.

So why is now a good time to think about investing in new technology. Here are a few points:

1. New systems, although in need of initial capital investment, could help to save you a lot of money in the long run, as well as generate a considerable increase in revenue. Selecting the right systems can be tricky, but when done correctly, with a well managed implementation, your employees efficiency will reach new levels. With a good combination of man and machine capabilities, you will find that your resources will have more time on their hands to work on what really matters – generating more revenue. We at reddot have seen this happen over and over again. Even a simple report which may take all of two days to create, can save up to 2 man-hours a day of an employee who has been manually gathering data. Just imagine what you can do when the entire workflow is automated!  OK. Let’s not get carried away. We all know that even automated procedures don’t work smoothly without the correct input, and this in itself is time consuming. Therefore, the key is finding the right balance between what your business requirements are and how your technology can help you achieve those goals in the most effective means possible.
2. New technology can help to generate new revenue. Today, there are many ways to reach your audiences. IPTV, VOD, PPV and Cellular are just several ways in which you can deliver your content and generate new revenue, not only from subscription and viewing charges, but also from the sale of airtime. All major vendors of traffic, broadcast management and asset management systems are able to support all of these platforms as an integrated solution.
3. Get an edge over your competitors. Signs show that the current financial crisis is stabilizing, and some say that things are very slowly starting to improve. You, therefore, do not want to be caught off guard when everyone else realizes it. It is no secret that many companies are currently freezing plans for new technology until the markets take a turn for the better. When that happens, you may find that your systems are out-dated and are not capable of supporting the new technologies that have, in the meantime, become household names. By the time you do realize this and do something about it, all your competitors will also have acquired the same capabilities and will be offering their customers the same products. Therefore, if you now have the capital, investing it in ‘where you want to be’ could turn out to be a very wise move.
   
4. Vendors are feeling the crunch too. Sales and revenues are down, meaning that now is a good time to strike a good deal.

About the author

David Shapiro currently works as a broadcast management systems expert at reddot consulting (www.reddotconsulting.co.uk). He specializes in the procurement and implementation of broadcast management systems assisting broadcasters to maximize work-flows and reduce costs in the process. He can be reached at david.shapiro@reddotconsulting.co.uk

CJ Adams

http://simplexitydigital.com

cjadams@simplexitydigital.com

Now Facebook seems to be used by more business owners and companies in Japan that are not necessarily innovators in Internet marketing. 

1. What kinds of people in Japan used to use Facebook until 2010?

It was mostly people in IT/Internet industry and/or people with international background that used Facebook until 2010. 

The former, i.e. people in IT/Internet industry, are the early adaptors of new social media, and very often those who are to use social media in business and/or to do business on social media, such as web marketer, and social media/web marketing consultant. 

But since Facebook had not been popular in Japan until January 2011, it seems that they had not been truly using Facebook in business and/or doing business about Facebook, and such people had been using mostly Japan local social media such as Mixi, blogs, YouTube, and Twitter.

The latter, i.e. people with international background, are mostly those people who have started using Facebook to keep in touch with friends outside Japan.  Thus this was mostly for private use.

2. How has the Facebook users changed in Japan?

Today it is quite evident that the Facebook users cover early adopters who are not necessarily IT/Internet savvy nor of international background, just by looking at how the author’s new Facebook friends have changed in the few years.

1) Spread from English to Japanese online community

The author’s Facebook friends used to be mostly of English speaking people.  She first started to use Facebook in 2009 mostly used to use Facebook to keep in touch with her friends around the world from her childhood and university, and to share information with worldwide online friends she met on LinedIn and Twitter.  That is to say, her online network was mostly of English community.

In 2010 she connected with a Japanese independent Internet marketing consultant on Twitter then on Facebook, from which her online network started to spread to Japanese community as well.  The consultant had been looking for a Japanese marketer with high English proficiency to connect online because he believed that it would be a marketer with English proficiency that would be successful in the future.  Therefore when he found the author he immediately started to follow her (and advised some of his friend in the Internet industry to connect with her), and she followed him back.

It was then she started to connect first with the consultant’s Japanese online friends including Internet marketer at Japan IBM and founder/CEO of a Japanese social media consulting company who used to fork for Japan IBM, and her Japanese friends from her university years when she was a member of AIESEC, the world’s largest global student’s organization.  Such of her friends are mostly bilingual with international background, who were (and still are) using Facebook mostly to keep in touch with friends around the globe.

2) Spread to early adopters of the general public

From around autumn of 2010 the author started to receive friend requests from Japanese people not necessarily of international background nor from Internet industry.  This is when the author’s wall started to become bilingual (English and Japanese). 

And in 2011, her interactions in Japanese on Facebook surpassed those in English so when she started Google+ in July she changed her Facebook strategy to use it mostly for local interaction although she still uses for global interaction.  She positioned LinkedIn and Google+ as the media for worldwide interaction.  (She has 2 twitter accounts, one for English and the other for Japanese).

3. How is Facebook used in Japan today?

Today in Japan Facerbook is used both in business and private.

1) Business Use

(1) Internet/web/online marketers

Internet/web/online marketers use Facebook mostly for business.  They use Facebook (including Facebook page) mainly to share online articles of their expertise and/or their blogs which showcase their expertise and/or their business. 

They also use it to announce the seminars and other events, and share how it was successful after the seminars and events. 

They also use it to share that they are to publish a book etc.  In fact, there have been quite a few “how-to” Facebook books and seminars lately.

(2) Companies and other organizations

Some innovative companies have set up their Facebook pages for marketing and recruiting, as the author introduced in some of her previous articles.

Now, more companies started to set up their Facebook pages.  Such companies seem to be mostly of Japanese companies strong in marketing, engaged in BtoC business, or non-Japanese global companies operating in Japan strong in Internet marketing companies especially in BtoC business.  Examples of industries/businesses that such companies are engaged in are IT, retailing, automobile, and cosmetics.

In the case of Fast Retaining, their main objective of being the innovator in Facebook use in marketing is to raise their global brand awareness and expand their business globally. 

In the case of marketing of other Japanese companies, it seems that they already had been executing their web marketing and they wanted to make it social and interactive by adding social media.   

And in the case of recruiting of companies in Japan, whether Japanese or non-Japanese operating in Japan, they seem to want to make a paradigm shift in recruiting from mass-recruiting to one-on-one recruiting, to find unique talent from around the globe who are compassionate to their philosophy and values, in line with their management/corporate strategy and Diversity initiative.

2) Private Use

Many Japanese Facebook users, regardless of their background, use for private in sharing their status about their family and themselves.  They post where they (and their family) are, what they are doing, what they feel lately etc.  They also use Facebook to share online articles and other URLs that they find interesting.

Facebook is also often used to say seasonal greetings such as to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and to say Happy Birthday.  One thing the author realized is that lately photos of foods are frequently posted (similar trend in Googld+ as well).

Facebook allows their users to keep in touch with online friends regardless of change in location (home address) work etc., and therefore it is often used to send private messages to friends similarly to sending messages by e-mails.

4. What are the author’s final thoughts?

With segments (types/kinds) of Facebook users continuously expanding and diversifying together with how Facebook is used, it is critical that each Facebook user need to be clear of their objectives of using Facebook, from which their Facebook strategy is developed and executed. 

This would define who to connect on Facebook and what kind of information to post.

Otherwise, Facebook users would find too much “noise” and, not being able to benefit fully from Facebook.  This applies to all other social media as well.

This may well be the very reason why a few of the author’s Japanese Facebook friends recently said that they reviewed their Facebook friends and un-friended quite a few.  They said they un-friended “inactive users, those whose conversation and posts do not match with them, and whom they cannot understand”.

Resources:-

2011 being said as “the first Year of SNS/social media” in Japan, Facebook has become popular in Japan in the past one year.  Variety of people regardless of their background and work experience started to use Facebook both in business and private.  More companies are starting to use Facebook in business, marketing and recruiting.  This means that each Facebook user need to be clear about their objectives of using Facebook and be brave to un-friend who do not match with their objectives; otherwise they would have too much “noise” and they would not benefit fully from Facebook.  Its essence is applicable to all other social media.

1.  How was the survey executed?

1) Selecting 100 companies/brands available in Japan

Number of Facebook fans and Twitter followers of companies/brands available in Japan were added and top 100 companies were selected. 

2) Calculating “Reach Score”

“Reach Score” is defined as how many fans and followers the company/brand has.  This is calculated by the unique methodology developed by Nikkei Digital Marketing analysis, which was converted to deviation value.

3) Calculating “Consumer Behaviour Score”

“Consumer Behaviour Score” is a metric to see how much social media changed consumer behaviour to purchase products and services.  With help from a consulting department of Nikkei group, questions on how social media is used were asked to which 15,164 people answered.  The result of the questionnaire was analyzed to calculate Consumer Behaviour Score, which was converted to deviation value.

4) Calculating Total Score for ranking

Total Score was calculated by adding Reach Score and Consumer Behaviour Score, which was then converted to deviation value.  Ranking is of Total Score. 

2. What was the result of the ranking?

Companies and brands that have been successfully using social media to improve their reach and change consumer behaviour in a positive way are ranked high up.

Top 20 ranking of Total Score (# in bracket is ranking of each score)

#1 was UniQlo with Total Score as high as 81.0.  Both Reach Score and Consumer Behaviour Score were quite high.

This was because of its successful campaign leveraging Facebook held in November 2011 in addition to its strong brand, which drove over 200,000 consumers to the UniQlo shops nationwide, leading to sales generation.  With the campaign, when consumers registered their location information using Facebook, they could win discount coupon of maximum 2000 yen upon registration.

#2 with Total Score of 75.6 was Lawson, another company successfully using social coupon.  Last summer, the company held a campaign in which coupons were provided to 1.3 million consumers collaborating with special website co-developed by Tokyo FM (a FM radio station in Tokyo) and Mixi (leading social media company in Japan).  This resulted in driving 420,000 consumers to their shops throughout the nation.  Lawson also did another campaign in autumn of 2011 providing social coupons which helped generating sales.

In the next article(s), the author would like to introduce some case studies of companies and brands that were included in top 20 of the ranking.

References:-

Japan First Company/Brand Ranking that Generates Sales by Leveraging Social Media (in Japanese)

http://business.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/report/20120224/228963/?rt=nocnt

Resources:-

The Japan first ranking of companies/brands that are successfully generating sales by leveraging social media was announced.  “Reach” and “Consumer Behaviour” were the 2 metrics used for ranking.  Companies and brands (mostly of BtoC) with many fans/followers and successfully driving consumers to their shops nationwide to generate sales were ranked high up, such as UniQlo and Lawson, that held campaigns providing social coupons to drive consumers to their shops nationwide.

The first one is Muji.

1. What is the overview of the brand?

Muji is the brand of series of products of a company called Ryohin Keikaku Co., Ltd. that is engaged in business of developing, marketing and selling high quality products of non-brands i.e. not the brands of major manufacturers to consumers who visit their stores under their original brand of “Mujirushi”. 

They have been doing this business since 1980 and their products have become quite popular, Mujirushi or Muji has in fact a popular brand in Japan.

2. How Muji has been leveraging social media to drive consumers to their stores?

One good example of how Muji has been leveraging social media is their campaign they did from December 26, 2011 to January 10, 2012 to promote their retort-pouched curries. 

1) What was the campaign?

As a part of the campaign, they developed a web content linking with account of Facebook Twitter or Mixi in their web site in which the consumers can enjoy Snakes abd Ladders game.  Among web users who enjoyed the game, 10,000 people won the coupon with which they could exchange with Muji’s butter chicken curry, and 9 people won coupon with which they could exchange with 9 types of Muji’s retort-pouched curries and crockery.

In order to successfully drive people to their stores, the rule was that they could exchange with products only if they visited one of the Muji shops.  That is to say, they could not exchange with products in Muji online stores (EC site). 

2) What was the outcome of the campaign?

28,000 people enjoyed the game, and among 10,000 people who won the coupon, 9,761 visited shops to exchange with Muji product(s).

And because many of them would be uneasy to only exchange their coupons with products, they purchased some products as well.

One interesting outcome was that users of their EC site increased as well.  This was probably because the awareness of the Muji’s retort-pouched curries increased among web users and those who could not be bothered to visit Muji offline stores visited their online stores. 

As a result, even though there were no discounts, sales of their retort-pouched curries?increase by 80% from the same time of the previous year during the campaign.

3. Is there any other benefit(s) that Muji has been enjoying by leveraging social media?

Yes, there is.  It is the fact that Muji now can distinguish which products sells well from others by leveraging social media while not promoting by other media.  This made Muji to leverage social media and allocate their resources more effectively and strategically.

1) How has Muji been leveraging social media to distinguish products that sells well from others?

Muji promotes their products leveraging social media without promoting by other media such as e-newsletter, flyer, website, and magazine and TV advertising, and sees how the sales of the products changed. 

There was a case in which such social media use led to sales increase by 10% – 300% from previous day.

2) What is an example of such social media use?

One good example is in the case of promoting a pair of gloves with which consumers can use touch panels of iPhones etc.  When the products were promoted in the morning of October 14 2011 by Facebook, Twitter and Mixi, the sales on the day increase by 63% from October 13 on average in Muji stores throughout the nation.

The reason why October 14, 2011 was strategically selected as such a promotion was the fact that it was the day when iPhone 4S was launched in Japan.  Muji assumed that iPhone 4S launch in Japan would be a hot topic on the day and sales of related products would increase, which turned out to be true.

3) Does such social media use works for all products?

No, it does not.  It seems to work only for FMCG (fast moving consumer goods).  This is because after data analysis, it became evident that it did not lead to sales increase for products whose price is rather high and frequency of purchase is rather low such as consumer electronics.

In the next article, the author would like to continue introducing case studies of companies and brands that were included in top 20 of the ranking.

References:-

Japan First Company/Brand Ranking that Generates Sales by Leveraging Social Media (in Japanese)

http://business.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/report/20120224/228963/?rt=nocnt

Resources:-

Muji, an original brand of a company called Ryohin Keikaku that develops, markets and sells their high quality products in their stores, has been successfully leveraging social media to drive consumers to their stores by campaigns in which they provided social coupons to selected web users who enjoyed their Snakes and Laders game on their website.  This led to sales increase in their offline and offline stores when consumers could only exchange their coupons with products if they visited offline stores.  Also Muji now can distinguish products that sell well from other by strategically using social media.

Today’s broadcasting environment continues to offer new challenges that were simply not present a few years ago. Over the past years, a large percentage of TV broadcasters have moved from a single, linear schedule line-up to what I refer to as a Triple-M (MMM) environment – Multi-version, Multi-format and Multi-platform. The Triple-M environment means that new working practices and additional resources need to be applied. Following are the reasons:

The amount of metadata is growing at a faster rate than ever before.

• Broadcasting rights are becoming more and more complex and difficult to manage.
• Programming, scheduling and traffic have now to be managed across different platforms.
• Airtime sales need to be captured on different platforms using various pricing models.
• Media workflows are more complex, with each piece of content sometimes stored in several different formats and delivered to several different platforms.

For this reason, you may be planning to implement new technology that will help you to better manage your metadata, ease the task of scheduling and mainstream your workflows, such as Broadcast Management System (BMS) or Media Asset Management System (MAM).

Based on any assessment you have already carried out and your calculation of the ROI, it is possible that you are making the right decision. There are some great systems out there, from small to large, from cost effective to multi-million dollar systems, that can help broadcasters, regardless of size, to control all data and information in a centralized database, streamline their business workflows and increase efficiency.

However, things may not be as rosy as they seem. If implemented correctly, the new technology can definitely be a benefit to the business organization, but nevertheless there are a number of important things to which you need to pay special attention.

This is the first of a series or articles, to be published here over the coming weeks, which will shed some light on the various aspects that need to be carefully considered when implementing a new broadcast management system in your organization. Reading through these articles you may say to yourself that the issues being raised come down to nothing more than simple standard procedure and common sense. You would be right, and I am the first to admit it, because these articles will not attempt to reinvent the wheel. However, for many years, and having dealt with more than 25 broadcasters across 4 continents, I have come to the conclusion, after seeing broadcasters make the same mistakes time and time again, that you can never be too careful. The success of the implementation, adhering to deadlines and most importantly staying within budget, largely depend on some of the issues that we will be discussing. These involve not only tasks and bold decisions that you, the customer, needs to take to ensure a higher success rate, but also to gather important tips as to what to look for when searching for the software package that will best meet your needs.

The issues that will be addressed are:

Article #1  – Starting out (this article):

• Understanding what you are getting – making sure you and your staff understand the full depth of the process ahead.
• Replacement of legacy system(s) – how to make sure all aspects are covered.

Article #2 – Getting around sticky points

• Interfaces – identifying what interface you have and want, and controlling the information gathering process.
• Media Workflow – understanding your needs and defining requirements.

Article #3 – Current and future needs

• Rights Management – understanding your present and future needs, and defining requirements.
• Multi Platform support – Ensuring that the system supports your current and future broadcasting needs.

Article #4 – Flexibility

• Adaptable graphic user interface (GUI) – Having the ability to change the look and feel of your screens.
• Custom Reporting – Giving yourself the flexibility for generating your own reports.

Article #5 – Working with Users

• Working with users – getting your users involved in the process and incorporating change.

In this article, we will discuss the first two issues on the list above:

1. Understanding What you are Getting

Sounds pretty banal, no? You are probably saying to yourself that surely the right people have done their homework, and have reached an educated decision based on experience and know-how in presenting a large project for the implementation of a new and comprehensive software package. Generally, I would agree, but time after time I have run into broadcasters, especially those implementing a broadcast management system for the first time, who do not really have the full picture as to what they are getting, how it will affect their business and most importantly, what input is needed on their part in order to have a system tailored to their needs. This results in a very lengthy implementation process due to the fact that the vendor, when carrying out the initial business review and gap analysis, will not only be asking a lot of questions, but will also expect to receive substantive answers. Simply put, the vendor will be looking for hard-case answers to how the customer would like the system to be implemented. The vendor can assist in that, but it is the customer, and the customer alone, who needs to dictate the business workflows that need to be addressed. If this job is left up to the vendor, you are going to end up with a system that does not fully address all necessary issues, leading to endless, costly customizations until you get it right. In addition, this may lead to unwanted organizational changes and very unhappy users.  So how can this be avoided?

First, you need to begin by identifying your key business processes, and those areas that you are most keen to have fully covered by the new system. Is your main area of interest revenue generation (i.e. airtime sales), or do you want to put more emphasis on acquisitions and programme management?  Perhaps both are equally important.

How critical are your current business processes? Are you happy with them? How flexible are you to change?

These are questions that you need to ask yourself right at the beginning of the process, namely: What is my goal?

Second, you must implement your own research and understand what a broadcast management system can accomplish and more importantly, how it can help you to become more productive and efficient.

This is by no means an easy task. It requires time and patience, getting to know the different systems on the market and what each has to offer. Attending the major exhibitions (NAB, IBC) are great places to do this. It is essential to have a good knowledge of what the market has to offer and how the varying options will fit in with your current business requirements.

Time spent on this process will not go to waste. Familiarizing yourself with different systems will be most beneficial to you in the tender process, and will allow you to narrow your search soon after the start of the process. This in itself can save you a lot of time, money, and resources.

2. Replacing Legacy Systems

In general, when implementing a new piece of technology, or a broadcast management system in particular, it is very likely that it will be replacing several legacy systems. Undoubtedly the new system will be much more feature-rich than the current legacy systems in use. However,  this certainly does not mean that all areas in your current working methods are fully covered by the new technology.

Before you can begin the process of looking for a new system, it is recommended you first do some homework, which means fully understanding your current key features and processes, as well as the crucial data and information that need to be covered. These should include:

1. All data input and output, through all departments.
2. Internal integration and workflows.
3. External integration and workflows (workflows that include third parties).
4. All required interfaces to third party systems (Automation, CA systems, etc.).
5. Reports.

This is certainly not an easy task, but a more thorough examination of what you are doing today will give you a huge head start when dealing with a selected vendor, as we will now see.

OK.  So let’s say you have done your research. You have mapped all necessary data and features, and you have even selected the best solution for you after a lengthy tender process. Now what?

You will first need to sit with the vendor through a business review and gap analysis process. If you have done your homework correctly, this crucial stage of the project will be a success. If not, and you end up sitting with the vendor trying to determine what, why and how, then you will have started off on the wrong foot. Not only will the business review be less successful and take longer than anticipated, it will also immediately increase the cost of the project before you have even begun.

During the gap analysis process it will be easier to not only identify where the system needs to be changed in order to meet your business needs (by means of customized development), but more importantly where your own internal processes can be changed to meet the system logic and processes, thus saving additional budget in the process. Of course, changing internal processes can in itself be a painful process, but we will discuss this issue in one of the upcoming articles to be published in the coming days as described above.

Another aspect that needs to be taken into consideration when moving from a legacy system is data migration, and although this is a very important topic in its own right, we will not be discussing it in the scope of these articles.

David Shapiro is an independent consultant, specializing in the procurement and implementation of broadcast management systems at broadcasters worldwide.
Having worked with over 25 broadcasters across 4 continents, as well as for leading vendors such as SintecMedia and Pilat Media, David offers his customers the necessary expert insight to ensure a successful implementation project.

David can be contacted at:

david.shapiro@dsmediaconsult.com
www.dsmediaconsult.com
LinkedIn: http://il.linkedin.com/in/davidshapPost originally published in ThoseinMedia on 2011-10-24 01:38:22

If you missed the first article, you can read it here.

As mentioned in the previous article, the ideas mentioned are not revolutionary, and come down to standard practice and common sense. The purpose of this series of articles is simply to draw attention to some areas which, in my experience, create unnecessary obstacles during the course of the implementation phase, obstacles that could easily have been avoided.

In this article, we will discuss two further issues that require special attention when engaging in a project  to introduce a new Broadcast Management System. I refer to these issues as ‘Sticky Points’ which, in my experience, are particular areas to which not enough thought,. Too much time is then spent trying to get the issues resolved, thus leading to missed deadlines and increased costs.

The issues are:

• Interfaces – identifying what interfaces you currently have and will want in the future and how to control  the requirement gathering process.
• Media Workflow – understanding your needs and precisely defining your requirements.

1. Interfaces

It is clear that all broadcast management systems are capable of interfacing with third party systems. However, interfacing is probably one of the most challenging areas when implementing a new software system. The reasons for this vary, but there are two that are very important:

1. In-depth knowledge as to how existing interfaces actually work is often lacking, and how exactly new interfaces should operate. Even if knowledge does exist, it is still a very hard task to  remap the data against the new system, to ensure that the correct information, in the right format, is all included in the design.
2. The vendor, while working from sophisticated and complex documentation that has been written based on careful study and approved by the user, will have no indication whatsoever that the interface being developed will actually work until it has been delivered to the customer for UAT. This will inevitably cause unwanted trial and error and endless patches being sent to the customer.

In real life, the combination of the above examples turns the design, development and implementation of new interfaces into a very lengthy process. However, there are things that can be done to minimize the damage by carefully doing your homework, something that will be well worth it in the long run.

So just what can you do?

Knowing what you’ve got:  Make a checklist of the interfaces you currently have. If you are replacing a legacy system (see previous article for more information on that), you most probably already know which interfaces you currently have in place. So that is easy! Well, not really, because even existing interfaces can be troublesome during the implementation process. If you are replacing a system that has been around for a while, the interface format is probably outdated and will need to be upgraded to a more standard format such as MXF or XML.  You will need to find out as much as possible about the interface you currently have:  what it does, what information does it contain, what is critical information and what is not, etc. To gain this information means chasing-up the people who were involved in the development of the original interface in the first place, as well as speaking to the vendor of the third party system. Coming prepared to a gap analysis session with this type of information will save you a lot of time.

Knowing what you want:  Undoubtedly you will want to introduce new interfaces to third party systems when implementing your new Broadcast Management System.  It is recommended to give this careful thought, since while it is ideal to key in information into the new system, and then have that information sent out to all necessary external systems with a ‘press of a button’, you also need to carefully weigh up cost vs. benefit.  On the other hand, you may currently have some very effective business processes on different, external systems that you are quite happy to continue with.   These should nevertheless also be candidates when deciding which interfaces you want to have. Again, the key here is short-term and long-term cost vs. benefit.

Don’t play the role of the middleman:  An interface means  that you have two systems that need to ‘speak’ with each other. In order to make this happen, a lot of questions will need to be asked. If you feel that your organization does not have the necessary knowledge to supply all the answers, it is advisable to request the two vendors to speak directly to each other. Depending on your maintenance agreement, this may mean paying additional commission to the vendor of the third party system you wish the Broadcast Management System to connect to – but I see this as a sound investment. Even engaging the third-party vendor involved in the gap analysis process will considerably reduce the trial and error we mentioned earlier, shorten roll-out time, and help to keep you on track with the project’s timetable and budget.

2. Media Workflow

All Broadcast Management Systems today have media management capabilities at one level or another. Some even boast of having a built-in MAM (Media Asset Management) system. One thing is for sure; the vendors have realized that media management workflow is something that has become a crucial part of the broadcaster’s business processes. In the past, when working with tapes, everything was monitored by means of libraries and barcodes; But things have changed, and today’s digital and tapeless environment demands that the entire process be a much more automated and streamlined.

To top this up, with the introduction of additional broadcasting platforms, the workflows are constantly changing in order to keep up with the ever-changing environment.

Most vendors will offer a certain number of workflows and/or development hours in the package you buy from them. In order to maximize the efficiency of what is being offered, you need to carefully understand what your current needs are, and predict what you future workflow needs are going to be. All this information should be carefully mapped out, in a workflow diagram, in a way that will be easy for the vendor to understand.

Even though the vendor will give you the initial workflows (or will at least give you the necessary support in order to set them up), you need to also think about the future and what your requirements or objectives will be at a later date. Therefore, the workflow engine that you are looking for should have the following capabilities:

1. Customizable Workflows:  It is very important to have a workflow engine that allows you, the customer, to set up your own workflows and define you own rules and notifications. If the workflows can only be defined by means of coding, this will mean that for each new workflow you will have to commission the vendor, and this can be costly.
2. Flexibility: The new system should allow you to set up workflow rules by means of any field in the database. Beware of workflow engines that have a predefined set of fields for use, as this will mean that each field you need added will count as a customization, meaning additional cost.
3. Adaptability: Ensure that all the different ‘dynamic’ fields (that from a GUI perspective would be considered as ‘drop-down fields’), which offer a choice of values  are all completely configurable. There will most probably be some values in the value list that are mandatory, as some hard-coded logic may have been incorporated, but you must ensure that you have full flexibility to add your own values to all necessary drop-down fields.

David Shapiro is the Director of DS Media Consulting, specializing in the procurement and implementation of broadcast management systems at broadcasters worldwide.
Having worrked with over 25 broadcasters across 4 continents, as well as for leading vendors such as SintecMedia and Pilat Media, David offers his customers the necessary expert insight to ensure a successful implementation project.

David can be contacted at:

david.shapiro@dsmediaconsult.com
www.dsmediaconsult.com
LinkedIn: http://il.linkedin.com/in/davidshapPost originally published in ThoseinMedia on 2011-10-24 01:49:56

Before going any further, it is important to make very clear that getting users involved in the decision making process can have devastating consequences. The suggestions made in this article are being made only after management has laid down some very clear rules to any users participating in the procurement process, including:

1. Clearly stating that the purpose for the users participation is solely to evaluate usability and suitability of the new system.
   
2. Clearly outlining to participating users the corporate goals behind introducing the new technology in the first place.
3. Ensuring that participating users are fully aware that the introduction of any new technology will most probably mean changes to working processes and workflows. Participating users should be completely open to these.
   

If you feel that your users would not be able to accept any of the above terms, or that such a process would not be feasible within your organization, then this article is not for you.

When you select a new system you want to ensure that  it not only has all the necessary features, but that it is also easy to use. In the BMS market, there are some very feature-rich systems, but it is not until the user actually starts using his new system that he finds some unexpected deficiencies. Although it does everything that was promised and more, but straight forward, day-to-day tasks take longer to perform than the user would have expected.

Think of it like buying a new car that has all the latest features. You walk into the dealer to pick up your new car, excited with your new purchase, just dreaming of the many enjoyable hours of driving that lie ahead. However, it is only when you actually drive out of the showroom do you realize that the car does not offer a smooth drive, fuel consumption is very high and the legroom is far from generous. As the car owner, you would now be very disappointed and frustrated with your new purchase.

So too will users of a newly acquired system that does not give them the ‘smooth ride’ they had expected. Furthermore, when you sum up the time spent by multiple users performing simple tasks that instead of taking 1-2 minutes, are now taking 3-4 minutes, the extra time translates into a lot of money, leading to frustration not only on the part of the users, but also on management who will feel that perhaps their expensive investment was not so worthwhile after all.

So how to you ensure that you get the shiny features AND a smooth ride?

The actual potential users of a system should be given the chance to contribute their input when deciding on which system to choose. Following the selection of a short list of systems for consideration, hand picked users and super users, who you feel have the capability, should be involved in the process of final selection of a system. If you have gone through a tender process, leaving the final choice to ONLY management and senior staff will not ensure that the best system has been selected.

Measuring Usability

During the tender process, one of the things most difficult to measure is the usability of the systems you are evaluating. There are several reasons for this:

1. At this stage, you will not have a local installation of the system. It is therefore not possible for the users to get an accurate feel of the systems. Yes – once you have selected a vendor you will be able to request a 3-month pilot – but it is not until then that the users will actually be in a good position to test drive the system.
2. When evaluating the various systems, the main emphasis will be placed on the  functionality checklist that you will have prepared ahead of time, and less attention is paid to how that functionality was achieved using the GUI (graphical user interface). Even when the system is being displayed to you by the respective vendors, and you are ticking off your long list of items on your wish list, you will never be able to evaluate the usability because the presenter, who is fluent in the system he is running for you, will always be able to make everything look so easy.
3. You will have sat through several of these presentations, and although you can compare functionality between the different systems you are looking at, it is very difficult to measure and compare usability. On top of this, as the presentation drags on during the course of the day, you become more and more pressured to get through your function-driven checklist,

So how exactly can you measure the usability of the system, and how can the users assist in this process?

The users will already have contributed to the requirements during the requirement gathering process. They will have been interviewed, and possibly their workflows and processes would have been properly documented; but  their role should not end there. The users are, in the final analysis, the ones who will be using the system. They need to feel comfortable with the product on which a lot of money has been spent. I have seen entire projects fail, not because the system did not do what was promised, but because the users were not happy with ‘how’ it did it. This is a scenario you want to avoid.

It will therefore be sensible to request senior users to participate in the presentations of the selected, short listed vendors. I specifically say senior ‘users’, and not their bosses, because  management  will have been focusing more on features and the checklist prepared during the RFP process, whereas in contrast the users’ role will be to focus on usability and workflow.

Before attending the presentation sessions, the users should make a list of the key work processes. These should be recorded on a high level, without going into too much detail. From experience, users who are not necessarily technical will tend to get into the minor details (e.g. John will receive a tape and will prepare a bar-code, and then will send an email to Jane who will fill out a ‘New Tape Form’, etc., instead of : Tape Received, New Tape Form completed….).

On top of the current workflows, the users should also try to suggest ways in which the processes may be improved. From experience, this is easier said than done because users tend to get set in their ways. However, encouraging them to think of process improvements has several, very important benefits:

1. New ideas are presented to the vendor during the evaluation process, adding this to the list of issues that will need to be discussed during the gap analysis.
2. This will help the users to think outside the box, which is very important when implementing a new system. Users need to be open to new ideas and working methods and by receiving support from management for this initiative will help contribute to the success of the project.
3. In addition to the above, such encouragement to the users will induce creative thinking on their side.

Note:   As previously pointed out, you cannot expect users to think outside the box. However, using the right people, and by using the right methods, extra effort should be made to encourage the users to travel the extra mile. You could arrange workshops, brainstorming sessions, bring in external process consultants. Whatever you do, the effort and investment will be very worthwhile in the long run.

Once the vendors have completed their presentations, the users’ thoughts and impressions should be carefully heard and given careful consideration. As mentioned previously, it is the users who will be using the system, and the success of the project lies not only with the efficiency of any new solution that is introduced, but also very much so on the willingness of the users to accept change and ensuring that they feel comfortable with the newly implemented system. Making them a vital part of the decision making process should contribute greatly to the success of a project.

David Shapiro is the founding director of DS Media Consulting that specializes in the procurement and implementation of broadcast management systems at broadcasters worldwide.
Having worked with over 25 broadcasters across 4 continents, as well as for leading vendors such as SintecMedia and Pilat Media, David offers his customers the necessary expert insight to ensure a successful implementation project.
David can be contacted at:
david.shapiro@dsmediaconsult.com
www.dsmediaconsult.com
LinkedIn: http://il.linkedin.com/in/davidshapPost originally published in ThoseinMedia on 2011-10-26 05:24:20

1. What is “Information Value”?  How is it calculated?

“Information Value” is how much the website contributed to corporate branding.  This requires customer acquisition (driving web users to the website), retention (making visitors re-visit frequently) and engagement (interacting with online customers to develop long-term relationship).

In calculating Information Value, “Access Value” and “Behaviour Value” were calculated and then added together.

(1) Access Value

Access Value is how much the online customer’s access to view the web site information contributed to brand enhancement of the company and its products/services.

This was calculated by multiplying PV (Page View) = number of pages of web sites viewed by value coefficient (unit value of a page set).

(2) Behaviour Value

Behaviour Value is how much online customer’s behaviour other than viewing pages such as applying for a campaign and requesting for pamphlets contributed to brand enhancement of the company and its products/services.

Number of behaviours such as membership registration and reading e-newsletters were selected. 

Then for each behaviour, number of people who took such behaviour was calculated which was multiplied by value coefficient (unit value of a behaviour).

2. Which company websites are ranked high up in Information Value ranking?

They are mostly companies of frequent purchase such as beverage, transportation/leisure and financial services such as the following.

Unit: Million Yen

Information Value can be regarded as a leading indicator of sales because increase in awareness and interest of consumers is likely to lead to increase in sales; therefore, Information Value trend can be said as an index that investors are recommended to be aware of.

3. What are some possible KFS for high Information Value?

1) Strategic use of multiple online media

Strategically leveraging multiple online media increases touch points of web users therefore it increases possibility of driving web users to the website.

In the case of Suntory, which was ranked #1 for 3 consecutive years, one reason for high Information Value is many e-newsletter subscribers and people applying to campaigns, driving web users to the website.

The company also has been successful in developing relationship with online consumers through multiple online media including blogs, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

2) Continuous update of content meeting customer needs

Web visitors visit website for content (information) and they would re-visit if they are satisfied with the quality and quantity of the content and even recommend to others, meaning increasing loyalty to the website.  Thus, this approach consequently leads to creating fans of the website, the company and products/services.

By no means, this approach means increase in access to the website.  Also, regular and frequent information update is appropriate for SEO along with optimum key words and phrases.

It is for this reason that many food companies have developed recipe content, which is accessed daily by web users.  Entertainment contents such as gaming and beneficial information such as campaign related content are also contents accessed very frequently.

Communication site creating online community is another content that is visited frequently by web users.  A good example is UniQlo’s UNIQLOOKS.  Web users around the globe can post and share photos of people or themselves in UniQlo fashion (wearing UniQlo clothes).   Web users will be able to know popular fashion at a glance and purchase any items they like online.

3) Proactive roll out of mobile website/content

Proactive roll out of mobile website/content creating environment in which web users can access online contents from multiple mobile terminals such as smart phones and tablets when mobiles are drastically becoming popular is also a good approach to drive as many web users to the website.

There have been many companies rolling out websites for mobile phones but lately their challenge has shifted to rolling out contents for smart phones.

For example, in the case of mobile website of SoftBank, types of mobile terminals of the web users accessing the mobile website is automatically determined.  Then the optimum display is selected for that particular web user and displayed.  The mobile website is not optimized in terms of the display size but also designed to enhance usability such as menu easily operated by touch panels of standard smart phones.

A good approach to encourage web users to benefit from mobile website is providing them with mobile application of frequently used services.  Many airplane companies provide application for smart phones free of charge.  This enables web users making reservation anytime, anywhere with ease, leading to frequent use of their services.

4. What is the case of Information Value #1 website?

1) Overview of Suntory website initiative

Suntory is ranked #1 for Information Value for 3 consecutive years.  The company has been developing variety of contents for the website.  And lately the company has been focusing on leveraging social media to increase touch point with online customers.

Their upcoming challenge is rolling out mobile website, adapting each page to smart phones.

2) Examples of online initiatives

(1) Branding contents

Branding contents include TV commercial of products and collection of movies/web casts of the company called Suntory Channel.

There is also Suntory Café Plus in which information to help web users enjoy their life such as about party, gift and cuisine are uploaded together with introduction of related products.

(2) Mixi

Mixi is the leading SNS in Japan.  In November 2010, the company opened a Mixi app specific to Suntory including gaming introducing their products and online community to encourage interaction among web users.

(3) Facebook

The company also opened their official Facebook Page this June.  A few posts are made every day aligning with official company blog and website. 

The team members managing the Facebook Page had prepared to the opening of the Page since summer 2010 by using Facebook privately and studying official Facebook Pages of other companies.  One of the outputs of such preparation is knowhow of posting in friendly style and manner. 

5. The author’s final thoughts

The above possible KFS are mostly the same as those of Sales Value mentioned in the previous article.  After all, these together with globalization, are the focuses and challenges of the Japanese companies in enhancing their online branding and Web Equity, engagement with (online) customers, leading to sales/revenue generation.

References:-

The web site of the weekly business magazine

http://dw.diamond.ne.jp/

Japan Brand Strategy – The web site of the brand strategy consultancy

http://japanbrand.jp/

Resources:-

Japanese company websites of high Information Value are mostly of companies with products purchased frequently on a daily bases.  Some possible KFS for high Information Value include strategic use of multiple online media, continuous update of content meeting customer needs and proactive roll out of mobile website/content.  These KFS are mostly the same as those of Sales Value, and lead to customer loyalty and engagement and branding.Post originally published in Future Direction of Web 2.0 and Internet Marketing on 2011-09-18 17:58:12

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Post originally published in ThoseinMedia on 2011-06-10 14:08:15