“I still haven’t found what I’m
looking for”
The proliferation of content providers and
widening of content distribution has made
discovery one of the most important elements of
a TV experience.
The challenge for any platform is to make it
as intuitive as possible. This means surfacing
it in the right places and minimising the steps
customers need to take to get to the content
they want. Freesat has worked hard on building
its data analytics capabilities to monitor how
consumers behave en route to viewing, as well as
what they’re viewing.
That navigation has traditionally taken place
on the homescreen of a set-top box, but also now
includes any companion mobile applications a
company may have. But is navigation about to
undergo a fundamental change?
“Find me a new series to watch”
Whilst set-top boxes continue to be important,
there are also many devices that have entered the
home. None with quite the speed and aplomb of
Smart Assistants.
Over the last couple of years, a Smart
Assistant has been THE thing to have or to
gift and they have become almost ubiquitous
in every household due to their prominence,
promotion and price.
Through their intuitive and simple interface,
Smart Assistants provide improved usability
and discoverability, and they help join up and
humanise complex tech. In short, they put the
consumer in control of their experience via
Voice. The challenge for organisations is to take
all of these benefits, adapt them to TV initially
and then connect it to the rest of their homes.
Peter Simpson, Director of Technology at
Freesat believes that there is increasing rationale
for bringing Voice to STBs. “Voice can provide
an easier way for customers to navigate and find
the content they are looking for. Research we’ve
conducted at Freesat shows that our opportunity
lies in finding ways to make these interactions
feel seamless and natural. The Voice trend is
only going one way and we need to stay with it
and find the uses that will ignite customers’ use
through a great customer experience via their
STB and then beyond to their connected home,”
he advises.
Happy customers = Staying
customers
In this highly-fluid world, keeping a customer
has never been harder. These changing demands
have meant a re-evaluation of what matters to
them and which organisations are delivering on
their promises.
The complexities of ensuring a great
customer experience don’t just fall upon an
after sales department. They must be prevalent
throughout the customer journey, from the
moment they first encounter you, to the time
they first ‘talk’ to you to when they open your
product for the first time. It all builds up to
creating an unforgettable experience. If you don’t
match customers’ expectations, they will leave
you at the first opportunity.
This becomes even more important where
some of the lines are blurred in partnerships.
Operators need to be confident of the support
provided by any partner to ensure that they
benefit from the customer service provided by
their partner.
To make this structure work, you need
clearly-defined roles and responsibilities and
handoff points so that any customer interaction
is seamless. The support function also needs
to have an in-depth understanding of the
proposition and be able to support customers in
a quick, clear and concise manner.
Freesat’s continued focus on customer
experience has meant that it has been able to
achieve over 90% customer satisfaction through
a new product launch which will always have
‘teething problems’, and through lockdown.
Know thy customer
The most important element in achieving high
customer satisfaction is knowing who they are,
what they want and when they may need you
to be there for them. This, ultimately, comes
down to data. The data you have. The insights
you derive from it. And what you do with those
insights.
From a Freesat perspective, this means having
an in-depth understanding of how consumers
interact with its boxes from a feature level, but also
in terms of content. Are they more interested in
drama? Or do they love a good old soap?
This is useful for Freesat to enhance its
products further and to ensure continued high
levels of satisfaction. But there are also benefits to
other parties:
• For channel partners, Freesat can let them
know what content is resonating best with
consumers
• For advertisers, it will mean that once
targeted advertising is available, it can pinpoint
the right message to the right audience
• For network providers, it means they can
enhance their proposition through a TV
offering that drives revenue and stickiness. It
also enables them to enhance the data they
already hold on their customers and provide
more colour around their customers
Adapting to the new reality
The ultimate conundrum for many of the newer
operators lies in monetising their significant
investment in infrastructure. And whilst speeds
do have some sway in the market, it is an
offering that has been commoditised over the
last few years.
That’s why many are turning towards
additional services such as linear and On
Demand TV services. They can become a
differentiating hook and generate incremental
ARPU for providers.
With a new range of set-top boxes that
combine the best of linear and On Demand
TV, Freesat believes it can provide emerging
alternative network providers with an
enhancement to their existing proposition and
compel consumers to switch.
David Rowark, Head of B2B Sales for Freesat
summarises the opportunity: “When you add up
all the benefits of impressive network speeds,
‘owning the TV’ plus an in-depth understanding
of the customer, you create a service – or an
ecosystem if you will – that ensures sustained
customer satisfaction. This in turn will lead to
uplifts in both volume and per user value for
operators. Plus, once consumers have had a
taste, they’ll struggle to give it up.”
And none of this comes with the large outlay
that would be needed to set this up from scratch.
With an established platform and support
infrastructure, Freesat can be the partner to drive
growth for many network providers looking
to enhance their current proposition, drive
incremental revenue and reduce customer churn.
The time to take advantage of these shifting
sands is now, lest operators be left behind or
allow the traditional players, that already have a
more complete proposition, to eat their lunch.
For more information, visit freesat.co.uk
Watch an interview with Andrew
Ladbrook here.
EUROMEDIA 17