Industry bodies converge for ConnectedUK
Justin Cooke, chairman, BIMA, says clients – both channels and brands – are looking to the creative industries to keep them ahead of the curve. If the pace of change can be worrying to those of us on the inside, imagine how much more bewildering it must appear from the outside...
Somewhere in Britain there is an advertiser who got little sleep last night – waking in a cold sweat with words like ‘convergence’ and ‘connected TV’ running through his or her mind. In another part of town, there’s no doubt a TV producer or web developer with the same anxiety nightmares.
The game is changing, that much is undeniable. But it doesn’t have to be frightening. On the contrary, business opportunities abound and collaboration is taking place like never before.
By its very nature, convergence means that we all have contributions to make and just as a TV company or games developer will benefit from working with advertising and digital agencies, the inverse is equally true.
Someone in my sector, let’s call us ‘the digital guys’, is unlikely to go out and win a pitch tomorrow to produce the next step on from Million Pound Drop – we’re clearly not experts in the fine art of creating television programmes. But when we work alongside those experts to bring together the best we each can offer – then things are getting interesting and we’re on our way to creating a truly exciting new proposition.
It’s worth underlining that the ability to realise these opportunities will come from collaboration. It makes no business sense to try and beat the professionals – who already inhabit a particular space – at their own game.
So if the way forward is through working together then the next step is asking what this brave new space looks like. Experts and analysts have for years talked about a converged world where users consume digital media and services seamlessly across computers, tablets, mobiles and televisions whenever and wherever they are.
This reality has arrived and is set to evolve more quickly than we could have imagined in the days when ‘pressing the red button’ was the extent of TV’s interactive capabilities. Audiences are now on the move and content not only has to move with them but fight to hold their attention.
YouTube, iPlayer and other on-demand content services have changed the landscape in one direction. Dual screening, with audiences using social networks to engage with content beyond their living room walls, is changing it in another. And we are only beginning to peep behind the doors that will open with the imminent launch of connected TV devices.
Clients – both channels and brands – are looking to the creative industries to keep them ahead of the curve. If the pace of change can be worrying to those of us on the inside, imagine how much more bewildering it must appear from the outside.
That’s where staying informed and staying up-to-date is of course crucial for anyone holding themselves out to be an expert – and make no mistake, when it comes to this stuff, those on the inside of the creative industries are the experts – whether we sometimes feel like it or not.
But equally crucial is having the right relationships across our different areas of expertise. It comes back to collaboration and to knowing where and how to reach out and pull together the necessary skills and vision.
On both fronts – knowledge and relationships – I’m delighted that the bodies representing our various specialisms are leading by example and working together to provide practical support. They’re doing so first up in the form of ConnectedUK, a series of collaboratively curated events around the converged world.
Led by the world’s leading practitioners from TV commissioners to software vendors, brands, content creators and agencies, ConnectedUK will outline how we can realise the enormous opportunities and overcome the challenges of creating and delivering converged content.
As Chair of BIMA – the British Interactive Media Association and the digital part of the ConnectedUK equation – I’m encouraging our members and the wider interactive media sector to attend and be in the forefront of convergence and connectivity. I know that I’m joined in this by my counterparts and co-collaborators at the IPA (advertising), UKIE (games) and PACT (television & film). For if we’re to take our clients by the hand and lead them forward, we need to be in the camp that realises change is opportunity and collaboration is the path to success. No nightmares allowed.
For more information visit: http://connecteduk.org/