Stepping up to the front line in media’s digital evolution and transformation
The media industry is undergoing a rapid digital transformation. Now is the ideal time for innovative media companies to take the driver’s seat. Futurice helps media companies to embrace new opportunities and deliver groundbreaking digital experiences.
Media is changing rapidly
With digitalization transforming the media industry, companies of all sizes must remain highly responsive while keeping a close eye on issues like data, content distribution and editorial planning. Meanwhile, ongoing developments in the digital arena and on social media create a requirement for even local outlets to be competitive on the global stage.
The digital transition in the media landscape is jeopardizing old ad-funded business models and creating pressure to find suitable subscription-based solutions. With machine learning and artificial intelligence taking a front seat, there are also ethical concerns to address around transparency, privacy and user data, including GDPR.
Consolidation driven by platform capabilities
Digital capabilities can be scaled without significant costs or delays, and this will drive consolidation in the media industry. Media companies are undergoing a transformation from brand-centric models to a focus on platforms that can support multiple brands and act as hubs for connecting customers, data, content production and ad capabilities. Successful platforms will prioritize the end-to-end customer experience, from omnichannel, multimodal and personalized content consumption to seamless subscription purchases.
The importance of first-rate customer experiences in the consolidation race is also driving organizational change. Media companies that empower their teams and shift from project focus to product thinking and an agile culture will be in a stronger position to uncover optimal solutions and cater for their customers. Ultimately, the winners will be those who learn the fastest.
As the media sector continues to evolve, how can your business not only survive, but thrive? We are equipped and ready to guide you as you take the next steps on your digital transformation journey.
How Futurice can support your media business
Our focus is on empowering you to integrate data into all your processes, from strategic planning to the lean development and maintenance of scalable, low-cost systems including content distribution platforms. We can also help you introduce new data-enabled business models that enable you to keep up with the fast pace of digitalization in the media sector.
We simplify the complex and co-create new innovations – from strategy, cultural change, brand identity and storytelling to service design and adopting cutting-edge technologies. Combined with the smart use of data, these will enable you to understand your end customers' behavior and harness it as a driver for sales. In ecommerce, we cooperate with our digital sales consultancy Columbia Road.
With their ownership, expertise, and ways of working, Futurice has helped us to win in the digital domain. Helsingin Sanomat has gained an increase in subscriptions, Ilta-Sanomat has gained a clear market leader position in online news, and the news platform has enabled us to integrate acquired services, such as Aamulehti. The news platform enables growth through synergies.
We help media organizations solve challenges such as
Identifying the most critical development goals
Renewing business processes to support digital transformation and co-creating ecosystems with other industry players
Developing more sustainable operations, business models and services
Using data to improve organizational processes and transparency
Building a future-capable organizational culture that helps attract and retain the necessary talent
Adopting emerging technologies such as big data, virtual reality, AI and machine learning, etc.
Building content distribution models
Engaging customers through personalized services and an improved, more accessible user experience
The reliability and user experience of the news platform have helped us at Helsingin Sanomat to better serve our readers, thus increasing our reader base. We have managed to grow in terms of subscriptions, which gives us the opportunity to provide high-quality journalism for an even larger audience.
To give all our users an optimal experience, we believe we have to go personal – to leverage ML, AI and cloud technologies to deliver a personalized experience that adapts continuously to their usage. The results of this five-year journey are historic and groundbreaking, and I believe we have just touched the surface of what can be done. The next five years will definitely be just as groundbreaking as we continue to push intelligence and insight into more of our core processes and value streams.
When getting started, our first steps are to
Identify what your customers really need, not just what they want.
Define what needs to be done to get there.
Use an agile approach to organize a multidisciplinary team with the right competencies.
Combine data and the latest technologies to create the ultimate customer experience, increase operational efficiency and more.
Listen, iterate, develop, repeat.
Hennibot is an automated editorial assistant used daily by journalists at Sanoma. It helps us enrich our content and understand the audience. Working with the talented Futurice team was inspiring and fun, and we got the product out from planning to production in just a few months.
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