One expects to see faster chipsets from the NVIDIAs and Qualcomms of the world at CES 2017, plus more dazzling television screens. But for TV programmers, a lot of the action will focus on skinny bundles and trying to figure out how consumers will figure out their individual relationships with entertainment content.
This is the prognosis from GroupM Chief Digital Officer Rob Norman, who thinks advertisers will be “super interested” in the Internet of things for the data that it collects and the new interfaces people have with content and commerce.
“Everyone’s seen what Echo can do and what Google Home can do and those will be big focuses,” Norman says in an interview with Beet.tv.
He sees “huge competition” in the coming year is how different channels and program creators will incorporate themselves into skinny bundles. For many people, Netflix and Amazon Prime can almost be considered single-asset skinny bundles.
“One of the interesting bits of calculus for the consumer is going to be how do they go about assembling their entertainment portfolio,” says Norman, citing a data pipeline to the home, a mobile data plan and perhaps bundled home security and management services.
“We’re actually asking the consumer to put together a really complicated puzzle,” Norman adds.
This is because of the plethora of choices for watching traditional broadcast channels and streaming video. “They’ll be thinking about their entertainment lineup in terms of where they consume it, in terms of the devices in and out of the home,” Norman says.
He suspects there might need to be changes in the way that entertainment products are marketed.
“I get this feeling that expressions like Double Play, Triple Play and Quad Play are feeling a bit old and I think there’s going to be a new dialogue,” says Norman.
Likening consumer choices to those involved in putting together a portfolio of stocks, Norman has a whimsical suggestion for making things simpler.
“I think we need to create a sort of eHarmony for personal entertainment and communications,” he explains. “It’s your date with technology because it’s getting harder and harder and harder for people to work out.”
This interview is part of our series “The Road to CES,” a lead-up series in advance of CES 2017. The series is presented by FreeWheel. Please find more videos from the series here.
