The Bulletin Edition 1
From The Desk of
The first edition of The Bulletin comes on a fresh autumn day in the city of Montreal, where, like most of you around the globe, I have been dipping in and out of lockdown for the past seven months. It is now the longest period I have stayed in one city for the past two decades, with no travel outside of this metropolis.
This year also marks the first time in twenty years that I have not attended MIPCOM, the world’s largest content marketplace for the film and television industry, that usually takes place in Cannes, France. This year the organizers put together a well-organized online offering to bring content sellers and buyers together, using online networking tools that no doubt resulted in weary delegates bouncing from one video conference call to another.
I am sure the Cannes Croisette looked a little bare this year, with no throngs of suited media executives rushing from one meeting to the next, lanyards flapping in the wind. I also expect that corporate expense accounts breathed a sigh of relief by not succumbing under the mountain of receipts from Cafe Roma, The Carlton, or late night trips to the Karaoke bar behind the Grand Hotel.
Looking through the news this week, a columnist made me pause for thought when he referred to 2020 as his “gap year,” as in the year that he did not travel. This is completely the opposite to the traditional gap year of when students take a year off to travel between college and University. I never took a gap year when I was a student and was always envious of those that did, yet I have travelled extensively ever since. So I am calling 2020 my gap year. My year of no travel (at least since trips London and NATPE in January)
The last eight months have been busier than I can ever remember, with endless Zoom (and then Teams) meetings with our offices around the world, new opportunities, connections and new partnerships and deals. It has been good to promptly schedule a video call with a key contact, rather than waiting to meet them once a year at an industry event, across the other side of the globe.
I do not believe the in-person event is doomed, the same way that I do not believe the physical office is doomed. Successful (and enjoyable) business relationships will always be about getting on a plane and travelling to meet your clients, partners and industry friends. We all need to do business in person by seeing it, breathing it and living it.
We can bounce from 1-hour video conference to the next at the click of a button but it is the unplanned physical interactions of being onsite at a conference that really matters. The 5 pm cocktails at a partners booth, the bumping into (and sometimes dodging) old acquaintances, the sharing of industry gossip and intelligence, and being able to spend some quality time planning and brainstorming business ideas with your colleagues. The best business connections will always happen in person.
Once we are ready to return to the conference halls, we will and we will be proud to place those lanyards around our necks and welcome people into our booths and to our meeting tables.
The Weekly Dispatch
Disney
The Walt Disney Company announced a broad and strategic reorganization of its entertainment business, with content creation and distribution being divided into two distinct groups. All forms of content monetization, including ad sales, will be placed under one roof.
The reorganization will serve to ensure that Disney’s streaming video services receive a continual flow of the best new content and Disney will no longer produce any film with the assumption that it will get an external theatrical window. Instead, the distribution strategy could be exclusive to Disney+, or available as a premium rental. Any distribution strategy will be firmly directed towards maximizing revenues for that specific title or series.
While the pandemic has put a dent in some of Disney’s key revenue streams, including theme parks and theatrical releases, the company has experienced overwhelming success with Disney+, resulting in a 60.5 million subscriber base, one-year post-launch.
Disney’s stock rose 5.4% following the announcement.
Apple
Apple unveiled the iPhone 12 product range this week, bringing 5G technology to the forefront of consumers minds. The new devices will switch between 5G and lesser speed frequencies (such as LTE), to optimize device battery life and network performance.
There is some debate on what a 5G iPhone can do right now that a 4G iPhone can’t. However, the shift to 5G will take Apple to the next generation of technology, promising faster speeds, more features and newer technologies, such as LIDAR.
Apple’s stock price cooled 2.7% on the announcement, citing some disappointment that Apple didn’t announce a new range of headphones or lower priced items (such as tracking tiles)
Spotify
In a move that promises to shake up not only the podcast industry but the entire music and audio broadcast industry, Spotify announced that podcast hosts will now be able to include full songs in their shows.
Bringing podcasts and music together, listeners will be able to hear full song tracks within a podcast episode, as opposed to a 10-second clip that has been the benchmark of all podcasts since the format took off. Even traditional live radio shows that re-deliver their shows as a podcast format for catchup listening have historically removed full songs from the shows, to avoid any reproduction rights issues.
This new development does come with some ground rules. The podcast show containing music will be exclusive to Spotify and hosts must use Spotify’s owned Anchor podcast creation app to add the music. Only premium Spotify subscribers will hear the full songs, whereas free users will only hear a 30-second preview.
This announcement causes much thought on how the most popular podcast hosts, well-known music artists and even celebrities could develop their own shows, with their own choice of curated music. Podcasts have always been labelled as “talk radio,” and this is now about to change.
Focus
The challenge of the hybrid office
Eight months ago, a large percentage of the office-based population packed up their chairs and computers and tried to make sense of creating a home office amongst cramped apartments, children, pets or all three.
The commercial real estate industry was plunged into chaos with offices now looking like a global fire alarm went off, scattering employees out into the street until they are told they can come back inside. Desks around the world are still covered in “that” days work with half-drunk cups of coffee, shoes under the desk and garments draped over the backs of chairs like the clocks just stopped. No one expected to not return to the office perhaps a week later, when this had all “blown over.”
With many companies now seeing the benefits of the new work from home normal, they are also joining the ranks of companies who have always had remote employees. Next comes the challenge of how to handle the new concept of “the hybrid office,” where some employees are working from home and others are coming back into the office. It seems like the perfect scenario to reduce the need of office space, lower operating expenses and increase productivity but how do you manage employee morale and workforce culture when you have teams that are the “in-crowd” at the office and then the “at-home” crowd working remotely?
Emma Jacobs, writing for the FT, delves deeper into this new reality and how employers and employees can facilitate and manage this new “triage phase” of working.
(note: if you cannot read this article due to a paywall, please contact us and we will send you a copy)
A Cultural Sector Crisis
Almost every industry sector that offers an experience related to putting a large number of people inside a small space is being forced to take a long, hard look at their future. From Disney reorganizing their entertainment unit to focus on movies at home, instead of at the cinema, to theatres, clubs, music venues and festivals, theme parks, conferences and even museums, bars and restaurants. The effects of COVID-19 on industry sectors that cannot generate adequate revenues, when being made to comply with safety or governmental social distance regulations, are pushing many to the point where they just may not survive.
Those that can offer online experiences, free streaming shows or online deliveries are just trying to remain relevant in the consumer mind, to the point where, if they can open up again, the consumer will hopefully return. Carli Bruni, Italian-French singer-songwriter and wife of Nicholas Sarkozy, the former president of France said this week that France’s culture sector has been devasted to the point that “it would not exist anymore” without continued financial support.
The UK government announced that they would start introducing a bailout fund to arts organizations, to try to help them weather the storm, thus saving 1,385 theatres, galleries, performance art groups and local venues from closing. However during the same week, an ill-timed and somewhat awkwardly thought out government campaign image leaked, stating that those who work in the arts should pack up and find another vocation. The UK government has since been accused of creating a “where dreams go to die” department.
Managing household “digital spend”
The economics behind the digital subscription model seems like a viable and sustainable solution for consumers that have been used to paying three-figure sums for a cable TV subscription, building a record or film collection over the years, or even paying full price for a new car. The subscription model breaks all of this down into micro-transactions, that not only make it easier for the consumer to manage (and to decide to spend) but also make it a very enticing revenue offering for the subscription services. Another $6 a month to a consumer is likely to receive a “subscribe” versus a $350 purchase in one click. However as we are seeing now, consumers digital subscription spend is starting to creep up with Spotify, Netflix, iCloud, DropBox, Uber, Doordash, e-papers, health apps and all manner of micro monthly charges far exceeding the users budget estimations. Will subscription services become the new “daily Starbucks latte” that if you cancel, you could save hundreds of dollars a year?
Many apps claim to manage all your subscription services have launched and then failed mostly because the user had to manually enter in all their subscription information which defeats the purpose. What if you can see all your subscriptions in one place automatically? And then have the ability to cancel or re-budget there and then?
Revolut, the British financial company and consumer banking solution announced this week that their banking app will now come with a built-in digital subscription management tool, showing all your micro-subscriptions in one place to manage, budget and trim if need be.
The Pitch
(editors note: after some “where is this service?” emails, it should be noted that any idea in The Pitch is purely fictitious and an imaginary company or service. However we would welcome any blank checks)
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Looking at various job descriptions this week, it struck me that many list an array of employee perks and benefits that are mostly “on-site,” meaning that employees have to be physically present in the office to benefit from them. From subsidized staff restaurants and the lunchtime yoga classes to coffee & tea, snacks and the occasional after hours onsite drink with colleagues at the end of a long week.
All these additional wellness and camaraderie creating office enhancements can only be accessed if you are physically present at the office. With much of the office workforce around the world now working from home, how can companies attract and keep talent with perks that are noted as being only available “when things get back to normal and we are all back at the office?”
Well, this is where Perks comes in. Perks is an employee benefit and wellness platform that employers can integrate into their HR programs and then employees become members of a branded corporate perks portal. Based on seniority, industry, location and a personal profile, employees can choose from a wide range of benefits up to the balance of their monthly Perks Points.
Retail stores, gym chains, local restaurants or a home office lunch delivery service, educational classes, streaming services, enhanced child care services and even pet grooming parlours could sign up to become Perks Providers. Each month, the employee can choose recurring perks up to the value of their points or switch to something else but would have to remain with their options for a minimum of one month. So in the summer, an employee may want one of their perks to be outdoor yoga classes near their home office but in winter, perhaps a ski pass.
Companies benefit from offsetting the cost of the program based on the seniority of the employee and can incentivise perks bonuses. Every employee receives a custom perks program tailored and chosen by them. Participating Perks providers big and small receive revenues based on used perks at their location of service through the Perks central system.
Worthy of exploring more or definitely an idea to sleep on? Let us know what you think.
Diversion
Why do we see the content we do or why does Netflix recomend certain films or TV shows? Why if I like this product, would I like that one? Jelani Nelson, a computer science professor specializing in the study of algorithms at UC Berkeley, explains in this short video how algorithms work.
Productivity
Don’t wait until 2021 to ring in the New Year. Start now!
As we start counting down the months to the end of this unique year (and the end of the year one of this new century) Many of us are looking forward to when the clocks strike midnight on the 31st December and we can wave 2020 a big “So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye.”
Not so fast, says Mark Izatt, author, consultant and critical thinker. In the perfect antidote to our “please just get this year over with” thinking, Mark recommends using Q4 to begin the year as new and put new projects, new plans and regimes into action now, so that when 2021 rolls in, you’ll already coasting along with a clear objective for the year ahead. A very worthwhile and highly recommended read indeed.
One To Read
What would happen if all your content just disappeared overnight? Would anyone notice? This is a key point for all content creators, career hunters, companys or organizations, in this highly recommend book Rethinking Your Content.
This concise and snappy read from Mohit Rajhans can be read in a short afternoon and has left us with many thoughts on what content is, how it can be used and where and how to distribute it.
With plenty of time to pause between chapters, the author raises many thought provoking points and recommendations, including ensuring that your content is going to the right platform vs all the platforms and how to leverage your brand and content through partnerships and licensing.
This weeks essential read, Rethinking Your Content can be purchased from Amazon here.
(please note, any affiliate link on books go directly to the original author)
Visual Insight
The word “Amazon” conjures up images of branded boxes left on doorsteps, shopping at the click of a button (while on the go) and a mighty corporation offering music, film and TV streaming services to the masses. The Visual Capitalist presents a highly detailed and informative overview of all Amazon’s business divisions, along with competitors that “do battle with Bezos” in each sector.
And Finally
“Linear TV is dead. No one wants to be told what to watch anymore. We want to choose what we want to watch.” Strong words indeed but words that have resonated with consumers since on-demand streaming services took off and have completely shaken up the traditional “lean back and watch” broadcast sector. However, too much choice is never a good thing and with consumers subscribing to more than one service, the process of finding something to watch can be longer than the episode itself. Adrienne So, writing for Fast Company, provides us with the perfect end to this first edition of The Bulletin with her piece “Pluto TV and the Nostalgic Joy of Drop-In Television.”
Sometimes, just sitting back and tuning in is much more preferable to endless swimlane scrolling. As much as we like control over what we watch, being able to sit back to just watch still resonates with many TV viewers. The key for point content providers, TV channels and streaming platforms is to curate channels that are hyper niche, and that allow viewers to home in on what they would have watched on-demand, but to have a full channel of similar or same content. Examples already exist such as the Fishing channel, or the Paw Patrol channel. Certainly food for thought.
This concludes this weeks edition of The Bulletin. If you would like further details on anything mentioned or have questions or suggestions that you would like to discuss on email or to schedule a call, please drop us a note.
Cheers and thank you for your support and we wish you all the success for your coming week.