Are We Done with Personalization in Media and Entertainment?

TLDR Summary

Are we doing enough in the Media and Entertainment industry to provide truly personalized experiences, or are we just scratching the surface?

How can the industry shift focus from improving random business KPIs to creating enchanting, hyper-personalized customer experiences?

Amidst ethical concerns and the monolithic nature of the industry, how can AI and a customer-centric approach help us move closer to full personalization?

Whatever your thoughts are about #Personalization in the #Media and #Entertainment industry, we are still just scratching the surface. This is still Day 1, as I learned it at AWS.

As we delve deeper into the age of technology, the call for hyper-personalization is growing louder. Despite the strides we have made, we remain on the precipice of full personalization. Recent studies, including a report from PWC, reveal that consumers now demand a tailored experience more than ever before. Yet, the Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry is still lagging behind. One reason for this is the current industry focus on using personalization as a tool to improve random business KPIs, rather than as a means to enhance the customer experience.?

As I talk to Content Providers (CPs) or #FAST / #AVOD Aggregators, the main message that I hear is "How can I use Personalization to increase CLTV (Customer LifeTime Value), or AI/ML to fight Churn, etc.". While these are valid questions, we, as an M&E community, are completely missing the point: It's all about offering an enchanting, extraordinary, hyper-personalized customer experience.

This experience isn't solely about when I, as a consumer, engage with a content service. It's about the full customer journey, from the day I join the service, through every interaction, drawing me to continue with the service. And I will then stick to that service for a long time because it offers me the great reward of an experience that is uniquely tailored for me.

Customer experience should be the compass that guides personalization efforts. Too many companies in the M&E sector are missing the mark. The 2023 Digital Media Trends Survey by Deloitte found that although consumers are hungry for content, they are overwhelmed by the vast number of choices available to them, indicating a failure in effective personalization.?

In addition, social media platforms have escalated personalization to a level that often breaches ethical boundaries. This overshooting of personalization ethics contributes to a social media environment where users are frequently made victims of exploitative content practices. As a result, amidst the deluge of noise and inconsequential content, capturing subscriber attention has become a daunting task.

A truly customer-obsessed approach requires a shift in focus from selling more to delighting more. This might mean prioritizing content personalization to improve the user experience, instead of the traditional approach of creating "One Content" to appeal to as many audiences as possible.

Another barrier to full personalization is the industry's monolithic nature. The prevailing mindset is to create and monetize mass appeal content rather than produce tailored content for different audience segments. While the traditional approach has worked in the past, the rise of new technologies and consumer demands is necessitating a paradigm shift.

The M&E industry is expanding exponentially, with the AI market expected to reach $124.483 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 31.89%. This growth is driven by the burgeoning amount of content being produced and consumed daily. In fact, a Wallaroo Media study showed that more than 83% of people on TikTok have posted their video content on the site, a testament to the sheer volume of content generation.

Artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionize content personalization. But as the same Yahoo Finance report points out, there are ethical risks associated with certain AI applications, such as accessing customers' streaming and cookie history. These concerns can slow down the expansion of AI in M&E, impeding personalization efforts until technologies like Clean Rooms become mainstream.

In the face of these challenges, M&E companies need to rethink their strategies. They must move away from being content-centric to being customer-centric, focusing on creating outstanding user experiences that delight their audiences. They need to harness the power of AI and other emerging technologies to deliver personalized content, while ensuring they uphold ethical standards and respect customer privacy.

In conclusion, the M&E industry is at the dawn of a new era of personalization. By embracing AI and other technologies and adopting a customer-centric approach, companies can offer personalized experiences that not only meet but exceed customer expectations. Despite the challenges, this transformation is not just possible but inevitable if companies want to thrive in the future. This scenario presents a golden opportunity for M&E to reclaim its momentum in a world where content's quality, ethics, and core purpose must prevail over viral dissemination on social media. It's a chance for M&E to redefine the narrative, prioritizing value and integrity over fleeting social media trends.

After all, it's still Day 1 for Media and Entertainment.