By Nicolás Smirnoff
Well, at last it seems the pandemic is being left behind. Though the safety protocols will continue for some time, we can already speak about the Post Pandemic stage and its openings. What has mainly changed in the market from 2019 to nowadays? The real Digital Transformation is taking place, the content industry has to react about.
The common place is to say ‘a lot of things have changed during the Pandemic, there is no way back’. But when you check people and markets, you also see desperation for returning to old routines. Even mature segments, as print publications or physical events, experience demand enthusiasm as it was not seen for a while.
But it is important not to get confused. The changes have been giant, and from now they will get deeper, especially about technology: SVOD, AVOD, content per mobiles, etc. During the pandemic the adoption of digital services first was for subsistence, business continuity. But many received better solutions than traditional ones. From now we will see aims more ambitious: to gain efficiency, monetization, value hits, artificial intelligence, etc.
Many people have discovered the video calls, that they can make 8 zooms in a day when in the past they could make just 2-3 physical meetings in the same time. And even the meetings are better, because for people is easier to be present in a video call than on site. Many companies discovered that working virtual reduces costs, so they will continue doing it… as the Radio, Cinema, TV, cable, everything fits its place in a bowl with many ingredients, which get mixed and tight each other.
The cloud: after many years of being doubted, now is accepted by everybody. From now, we’ll face the time of using it for a real, deeper Digital Transformation, to take business breaks. The system that the cloud promotes is ‘On demand’, pay per use or to pay a monthly flat fee, using what is wanted… it sounds to TVOD, SVOD, doesn’t it?
The post pandemic cloud is different from previous one, because it has much more volume and with that, you see many new options that before didn’t exist. We’ll discover new types of contents: Tiktok took Fremantle’s Got Talent rights in China generating unique million figures, etc.
Also, native emergent cloud players are required —As Amazon, Uber, were in the past— as much as cloud specialists —aggregators, product placements, etc.— to move variety of segments to the new levels. Many new opportunities will take shape. The main thing for ‘common people’ as most of us, is to be open and flexible to discover, study and try the new waves. One step per time.
