Building a Lasting, Elastic Media Brand

Back in March, I wrote a blog with some advice for video brands looking to shore up their technology relationships in preparation for the road ahead. Along those lines, we introduced a holistic framework called Media Technology Lifecycle Management (“MTLM”) and presented it this spring at the National Association of Broadcasters convention (you can read more about it here). One of the core tenets of MTLM is the idea of organizational and technological “elasticity.” It’s worth expanding upon.

Improving response time in any direction

A key success trait for today’s brands is flexibility—the ability to incorporate new ideas and components quickly. As content creators, we want to provide each viewer with a top-tier viewing experience on any screen. When consumer behavior shifts, we want to meet viewers on their terms with experiences and monetization strategies that make people say “this is valuable to me.” Elasticity takes this idea of flexibility and – pun intended – stretches it.

An elastic mentality is one of omni-directional agility, designing a framework that recognizes scalability not just as a two-way street, but also as a consideration for each operational component. For example, you might want to scale up your technology stack today in order to reach a short-term increase in viewers, such as for a big one-time event. That’s a straightforward answer to an immediate business issue, and maybe even a necessary one; but the media industry doesn’t always innovate in a linear fashion. Being able to test in an environment that allows you to stop and start quickly allows for more educated purchasing decisions when it comes to capital hardware down the line.

As breakthroughs enable your content to get to more screens with less infrastructure, some questions you might want to consider include: can your operations be pared back in some areas, and expanded in others, like content creation? Can today’s tech investments insulate your ability to manage increasing file volumes, or incorporate new delivery channels into the mix?

“Spending for elasticity” can guide the financial conversation into areas that better support organization’s agility. Working with mature technology partners to minimize risk and accelerate time-to-market, business units can often more readily adjust for market trends, employing the best tools to get there.

Elasticity in action

At Comcast Technology Solutions, we’ve had the opportunity to witness firsthand – and participate in – some interesting projects that only came about because of a brand’s willingness to embrace an elastic mindset. 

One example involved one of our partners, a nationally-known sports organization. They wanted to capitalize on an upcoming event by ‘test-driving’ a new channel. Just a short time ago, such an experiment would have been impossible. The logistics and technology expense of creating and launching a new channel would need a solid business plan as a foundation. For this undertaking, together we devised a cloud-based plan to spin up a new channel for just one weekend. The company gleaned some great insights and closed out the channel.

“BAU 2.0”

The adoption of elasticity as a core tenet of your organizational philosophy is really about cultivating a new “business as usual.” 2018 is right around the corner, and media companies of all types are charting their course for the new year. As your team develops its own plans and roadmaps, consider applying some of the MTLM tenets into a holistic assessment of your assets, processes, and capabilities. How are you limbering up for the challenges ahead?