sonyliv.in
Prime time is all the time!
Online Video & Video Ads Metrics In
India
What do 76% of consumers want from your website?
Fresh vs. Familiar: How Aggressively to Redesign
“TV users are usually called "viewers," emphasizing their passive
mode of engagement. Computer users sit forward and drive their
own experience through a continuous set of choices and clicks.”
Users hate change, so it's usually best to stay with a familiar
design and evolve it gradually.
Users don't like change, and a new UI takes time to get used to.
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Less is more
Good design is as little design as possible
It’s not about us, it’s about the audience
5 Main Areas
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Awards & Rewards
Content Discovery
User Generated Content (UGC)
Communities
Miscellaneous
Awards & Rewards
• On the sets
– Users who are very active on the community site(s) can be
invited on the sets of their favorite show
• Guess the plot reward
– After each episode, the website can run a competition asking
the users to guess what will happen next in the storyline.
– Lucky 5 people to guess can get their name displayed at the
start of the show and also on the website
• Gifts & Redeemable cards
– Users can be mailed Gift & Redeemable which they can use at
Sony stores
– Gift cards could be of “premium content” such as backstage
videos of shoes, etc.
Awards & Rewards
• IP Guru Award
– IP guru could be people who are extremely active on a
particular show’s micro-site or community forum
– They can be rewarded by promoting their profiles on prominent
places on the website and may be in show credits
• IP based Ringtones & Wallpapers downloads
– Users already search and download ringtones and wallpapers
from across the internet, so we can provide ringtones and
wallpapers right when they are watching the show or show clips
on the website
• Merchandize as reward
– One form of reward could be Sony merchandize
– These could also be promoted on the website to prompt users
to participate more in online activities
User Generated Content
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Playlists
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Tags
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Allowing users to tag videos will allow us to capture how people view or rather think of content and tweak
our recommendation engine accordingly
Tags can also be displayed on prominent walls to allow people to see new / undiscovered content
Tagging can help users discover content based on emotions expressed by users about a particular content
piece, this is not possible if we only have content managers categorize the content
Video Greetings and messages
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Since we have thousands of hours of video content, special emphasis can be given to user playlists
Users can be encourage to make playlists based on different moods, themes, etc. Option to vote on playlists
can be used to conduct competitions
Users can be allowed to upload video messages for their favorite actors or shows. So before start of KBC
people can upload messages for A Bacchan via this service
Of course the messages will have to be pre-screened for offensive content
Spot quizzes
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Spot quizzes can be run on the website while the show is live. Users can be asked questions before a break
and they can reply via our website or SMS. The website option could be preferred by people who are always
on the net and don’t’ want to incur SMS charges
On a similar note, user can be encouraged to have live chats / discussions on the website during a live show.
This is already happening on unofficial sites, so its would be a good idea to give people an official place to
discuss the shows real time
Community
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IP Based Communities (micro-sites)
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IP blogs
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Innovative features like ‘video v/s video’ or ‘episode v/s episode’ where one episode can be pitted against another by either users or content managers to
generate buzz and conversation abound the show
Best playlist contest
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Show based blogs can be an official voice of the show. These blogs could be part of the shows micro-site and give the show’s community a place to know
what’s happening behind the screens etc. The blog could feature lots of back stage trivia, photos, and sound/video bytes
Video v/s video contests
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IP or Show’s have a huge and dedicated following, so we can have micro-sites (site within the site) for some of the most popular shows from across Sony
network
This will give people an official place to find more information about the show, its actors, trivia, gossips etc.
These micro-sites or communities can be seeded with forum conversations, have their own Show Guru’s and give viewers a place to express their own
opinions. ABC, HBO, etc., are already doing it in the west
Micro-sites can really increase traffic and emotional connect as viewers may not be inclined to visit generic Sony website, but they might love to go to their
show’s micro-site
Content managers can award user created playlists on its content, unique qualities like mood, emotion etc. So there could be a Top Melodramatic Scenes list
where users have ranked their favorite melodramatic moments from various shows
User created playlists can be promoted prominently on the website to help users discover new/old content too.
IP Guru Wall
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IP Guru or show guru could be users who show tremendous activity for a given show. These people would be living encyclopedias of a given show and can be
prominently featured, given titles like grand master and responsibility like administering the forums etc.
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User suggestions on storylines & IP ideas
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Social Media engagement
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The site can also invite user to give suggestions on how a particular show’s storyline should evolve, what can be done differently on the website etc.
Each video / blog / item on the website should be allowed to be shared and embedded on other sites (like YouTube) as it will bring in indirect traffic and
engage social media platforms effectively
Content Discovery
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Video Tagging (by users & staff)
– User tags can be a helpful way of allowing other users to discover content based on emotions
– They allow for a more free flowing structuring of the content, this structure is not a
replacement of the traditional way of categorizing content by content managers, but another
way people can discover content. 8 tracks is a great example of this
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YouTube style categories
– YouTube has done a great job of categorizing content on their homepage, this could be a
starting point for us too
– A comprehensively categorized site helps in content discovery tremendously
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Surprise me feature (I have 2 minutes make me laugh)
– TED like feature where users can select the duration of clip and the emotion or type of content
they want to see and our website lists exactly the same kind of clips from its vast video library
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Search, Suggestions and Content Recommendation
– Instead of having a passive search, our search results could also have a suggestions column
where the site recommends similar videos, promoted videos etc.
– The auto complete search dropdown can also give suggested searches along with search
results (like some of the browsers do)
– Search dropdown could also have prominent search terms already prepopulated even before
the user starts typing
Miscellaneous
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Multi-lingual interface (Hindi to begin with)
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Content rating & filtering
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Option of receiving alerts about a show
Option of setting reminders of show airings, so that users are reminded that their show is about to be aired
Unified Interactive EPG (for all Sony channels)
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User profile page can be a kind of dashboard with recommended videos, list of video’s they’ve watched,
videos in their “watch later” list etc.
SMS / Email alerts and reminders
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Content rating could be in terms of emotions or themes rather then simple star ratings
So a hypothetical rating system could be – awesome, great, good, nice, ok, yuk
User profile page / Dashboard as micro site
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Since majority of content is in regional languages, we can have the website interface in Hindi (to begin with)
and English. User can easily switch between the language of their choice
This can also bring on board a large number of users who may not be comfortable with English and / or are
resistant to English
A unified electronic program guide where people get a sense of the Sony group of channels and see timing
for all their favorite shows in one place
This EPG could also be made interactive where, users can set alerts and reminders for them selves
Follow tweets of TV stars on the site itself
Themes as search items
Sony merchandize for sale
YOUTUBE TEST TUBE – Ideas Incubator
DIY – Video Editing
YOUTUBE BLOG on everything from
politics to TV shows to recipes
COMPETITIONS & PRIZES
GIFT INCENTIVES
YOU CAN ACCESS OTHER USERS' WHO HAVE AN ACCOUNT
HERE, PHOTOS, PLAYLISTS, ETC.
Data Sources
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/14953/What-Do-76-of-Consumers-Want-From-Your-Website-NewData.aspx
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/familiar-design.html
http://www.watblog.com/2011/03/11/online-video-video-ads-metrics-in-india-comscore-nielsen-reports/
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/january-2011-online-video-usage-up-45/
http://www.accenture.com/us-en/Pages/insight-acn-video-over-internet-consumer-usage-survey-2011-results.aspx
http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture_Communications_Media_Entertainment_VideoOver-Internet_Consumer_Usage_Survey.pdf