DIGITASLBi PERSPECTIVE

CES 2015: Four disruptions beyond tech

LAS VEGAS One hairs-width of CES territory remains unexplored. Well, not even, but here are four
relevant brand and media disruptions from a marketing perspective. Ill leave the real tech evaluation to
the experts or at least everyone else. Narrow enough? Here we go:

Windowing
Vessel (acting a bit like Sirius and Howard Stern or the AFL and Joe Namath) has hijacked the half-life of
organic video views from content creators. Remember the AFL and Sirius attempted to build an audience
by giving huge sums to superstars?
Vessel has offered content creators a massive increase in shared revenue if they premier, within a threeday window, their original content on this new subscription platform. Regardless of model success (I dont
see this as Vessels long-term strategy), this is the first of numerous salvos and shake-ups in digital video
platform - an area where revenue is not commensurate with consumption.
Keep an eye on:
Content creators and exclusivity contracts with representatives, media partners/platforms, or
brands
YouTubes platform dominance this will continue to remain under attack. Different approaches
include subscription modeling, discovery, and niche/specialization
Value chain There are as many parasites in the value chain as there are utility improvers, and
this is sure to shake out and evolve
Side note: "The Interview" is a potential example of parallel release, albeit unplanned and with some
bandwagon "go America" pride attached. Look for some planned testing in this area that exists but has
been nascent and relegated to outlier content (really bad films and small art-house films).

Unbundling
Sling was announced by Dish. Basically, its a way of giving you a handful of premium cable channels for
the low monthly price of $20. Combined with HBOs new offering of subscription content and the ongoing
attempts at subscription channels by various platforms, we are seeing universal movement in the
direction of unbundling. I believe unbundling will eventually yield less content that costs more for
consumers.
But keep an eye on:
The chance that 2015 ends with a handful of innovative packaging ideas that try and maintain
some of the bundle model while giving consumers more choices
Side note: NextIssue, Oyster and Spotify are all examples of non-video media that are
moving towards bundling. Whats up with that?

New Hollywood
Grace Helbig on YouTube vs. Grace Helbig on Cable TV. What is a star? This is a different kind of
disruption. Media outlets typically gave consumers a menu of star choices, but in the end fans decided on
their own. Today Fans dont need media outlets. They find Nash and Grier on their own.
Keep an eye on:

Where our stars are coming from, who is spotting them first, how they engage with
their audience, and what is their impact over time?

January 2015

DIGITASLBi PERSPECTIVE
Security and personalization
All the expert digital world believes that personalization is the end game for content and media. But what
if security fears, which we believed that Millennials did not heed (not sure if thats true), start to erode our
ability to shrug off privacy issues? Brands and agencies will need to re-imagine their vision, either in
approach or speed, to the addressable landscape.
Keep an eye on:

Any research around attitudes towards privacy in the youngest digital generation

.Contact

For More Information

Eric Korsh, SVP, Brand Content, DigitasLBi

Eric.Korsh@digitas.com
This piece originally appeared in Campaign.

January 2015