IABM Member Blog - Simon Frost, Ericon reviews IABM 05 International Busine Conference and Awards

IABM Member Blog - Simon Frost, Ericsson reviews IABM 2015 International Business Conference and Awards 21 December 2015

IABM Member Blog - Simon Frost, Ericsson reviews IABM 2015 International Business Conference and Awards

(This blog originally appeared on the Ericsson website and can be viewed here)

It was a privilege to be invited to speak at the recent IABM International Business Conference and Awards 2015, which focused not only on technology, but the broad spectrum of challenges and opportunities facing the broadcast and media industry today. I was joined by a number of innovative and highly influential industry leaders to discuss how the growth of integrated connectivity and media will influence the future TV experience.

So what did we learn? The key outcomes from the IABM annual conference included

1) Industry players must focus on true partnerships, rather than hardware and boxes

2) 70 percent of Netflix viewers are now being generated by preferences

3) 84 percent of those polled in the IABM End User Survey are thinking about some sort of cloud based technology deployment over the next 2-3 years

4) 93 percent of vendors require interoperability (according to the IABM End User Survey)

5) Vendors still prefer best of breed' over one stop shop'

6) The relationship between customers and viewers is changing

7) TV will always have its place but having content online, on-demand and accessible when and where people want it is key

8) Good content isn't just visual, people want to engage with it

IABM International Business Conference 2015- The key takeaways

As I commented in my recent blog, industry players must integrate technologies together in order to turn their consumers into their greatest fans. That's the biggest opportunity that our industry has to offer today they must engage and excite viewers in order to retain their loyalty in the long term. Mobility and connectivity has moved from serving a few basic use cases through to transforming every industry and society. It is only just beginning. In fact, it's accelerating and it represents opportunity for all.

As we move towards the Networked Society, we have transitioned from a period of installation (such as building the infrastructure of the internet and cloud services) to a period of deployment. This is creating mass disruption for our industry and all others just look at the way Uber' has transformed the way people order taxi rides or the way Spotify' has completely altered the music landscape. These examples have one common link the business model has been tipped towards the consumer.

Delighting the TV consumer every day is central to success

The consumer is now making the key decisions as the media value chain undergoes an irrevocable and highly disruptive change. Whatever your role, the single goal will be to delight the TV consumer every day. While delighting the TV consumer has always been the founding mission statement of every industry player, to do so every day presents a genuine challenge. At present, service providers, content owners and broadcasters simply do not have the platforms, the technology, the operational models or the mentality to innovate every single day and roll out new services that meet the demands of the internet era of television.

As one of my industry colleagues mentioned during the conference, while it's all well and good making good content, consumers want to engage with the content immediately. It's vital to be actively engaged with the storytelling process, offering new and exciting features that the consumer can use to enhance their viewing experience. Although our industry is very good at coming up with new ideas, we are generally slow to deliver upon them. If you look at the new entrants to the market, they are building their business models around continual innovation and service delivery, leveraging new web methodologies and mentalities. The challenge is to incorporate the inherent benefits of pay TV (quality of service, depth and breadth of content), with the opportunities available from the OTT space (personalization, interactivity and a multi-screen experience).

The media value chain is forever disrupted and it's highly unlikely that it will ever resume its former self. We have to look at new relationships, new ways of forging partnerships, develop new strategies for success and enable all players in media to re-establish their value continually. Those who continually transform their business models will be best positioned to drive the greatest success in this future landscape.

Watch the video here to learn more about the four most critical elements that we believe will help our industry evolve and adapt to the challenging demands of a new consumer-driven TV and Media landscape.

About Simon Frost

Simon Frost is the Global Head of Media Marketing and Communications at Ericsson, playing a fundamental role in driving the company's vision of Media in the Networked Society and the emergence of the internet era of TV, television's greatest ever period of change. Frost has more than 20 years experience in the broadcast, Pay TV, internet and telecommunications sectors and is leading Ericsson's global marketing and communications strategy related to TV and Media, reinforcing the company s unique position at the convergence of the telecoms, internet and media industries.

Frost has authored thought leadership articles on the future of TV and the company's vision for media in 2020, and has driven a truly value-centric culture and outlook, turning vision into commercial performance through solution and product marketing teams. Ericsson is leading the industry transformation and driving investments that create a differential edge for its customers.

Since joining Ericsson's TV and Media division (form

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