How to Automate Cross Channel Promotions with Promotor
Posted by Larry Mincer on Tue, Jan 03, 2012 @ 03:14 PM
Cross Channel Promotions and Cross Platform Promotions, consume a lot of time and effort because they are the most difficult types of promos to automate.
A well crafted promo that goes to air at the right time is so tough to achieve, that most multichannel facilities do not implement them on a regular basis because they require lots of manual labor which we know is costly and error prone.
But Cross Channel Promotions don’t have to be difficult, and they can be automated.
First, let’s define what we mean by Cross Channel Promotions.
In its simplest form, a Cross Channel Promotion involves promoting on one channel the programs or content of another channel. For example, generating a graphic on the TLC channel that says:
At 7 pm tonight
Animal Planet: Planet Earth’.
Planet Green: You Can Live Forever
The Science Channel; How It’s Made
This type of promo offers viewers a choice, just in case the next program up on the channel they are watching may not be of interest to them, you want to keep them tuned in to your programming.
And the workload is increasing as more complex forms of Cross Channel Promotions emerge, like Streaming to the web. Today broadcasters are clamoring to stream their content to other devices and as today’s broadcasters evolve cross channel promotions will include generating promos for your linear channel on other OTT outlets, such as mobile or tablet device. It’s safe to say that all broadcasters will become multi-channel, even if they only produce a single over-the-air broadcast channel.
And if they’re watching you on the web, you definitely need a cost effective way to keep them tuned in.
Here are several key factors to generating Cross Channel Promos easily and successfully:
Template Based Graphics- Automating the process requires a template based graphics system. Templates provide a consistent look for the on-air or in-stream graphic.
And… a Software Product like Promotor – that provides the following:
Automation Playlist Interface – the system you are using to generate your promos needs to have in depth, preferably real time, interface to your station automation system. This interface provides the system with key information about what’s happening on the channel including the name of the content being played, its start time and duration. It should also keep track of changes you make to your daily playlist so that the promos that are generated are always accurate.
Rules Based Operation – the system you use needs to be able to apply flexible and extensible rules to the generation of your promos. For example, should we generate the promos as full screen menus of upcoming shows during key breaks? Or should we generate these at the start of the program at a set time after the start of program play?
Program Metadata – you need to know when the right times during your programs to generate the Cross Channel Promos. For example, are there time frames in the currently playing programs that we should not be generating promos? The right system architecture with a database for metadata allows for these decisions to be made in an automated fashion.
End result: Metadata inserted into the Template in time with Automation using software like Promotor.
