Navigating the future media landscape

Mediacorp was part of Marketing's Media of the Year 2019 series.

How is Mediacorp engaging an increasingly fickle audience?

The key to keeping today?s audiences engaged is to know what they want, and how they want it. Which is why at Mediacorp, producing quality content forms the bedrock of a lot that we do. We have worked with partners beyond Singapore?s shores to co-produce fresh, exciting content.

An example is the recently concluded Chinese language drama All is Well, a co-production with Taiwanese production house Eightgeman and Mediacorp?s first foray into multiple-perspective storytelling. It was presented in two standalone series with parallel storylines that converge at the end. Such a format pushes the boundaries of traditional storytelling and also allows Mediacorp to expand its exposure to new audiences with varied viewing habits.

Mediacorp has also ventured into transmedia storytelling, as in the case of the cross-genre production interweaving Chinese drama My One In A Million with variety show The Destined One. We took the concept further into the radio space by creating a special radio segment on radio station YES933 for listeners to call in to share their confessions, in line with the theme of love.

In recognising how audiences want their content to be delivered to them, we have consciously embraced a customer-first, multi-platform distribution model that is based on the customer preferences and their media habits. This means adapting to our audiences? lives to ensure that content is always available to them, on the platform they?re most comfortable with, whenever they want it.

Furthermore, our establishment of the Mediacorp Partner Network ? of which industry-leading brands like ESPN and 99.co are currently part of ? leverages our multi-platform reach to bring a richer and wider variety of content to our consumers, such as sports and property-related content, respectively.

What are some new initiatives Mediacorp has embarked on to stay competitive?

In a highly competitive mediascape, one facet of our content strategy has been to extend our brands via immersive 360 content such that it enables us to engage more consumers more effectively. For example, our strategic extension of the CNA brand leverages the positive public perception of the news channel as a provider of credible, essential information. We grew the core group of CNA digital readers by expanding the genres associated with the CNA brand, resulting in the inception of CNA Lifestyle in September 2018 and more recently, CNA Luxury in May 2019. Both meet the needs of CNA?s PMEB audiences for softer luxury, lifestyle and entertainment news. We are also active in collaborating with commercial partners to develop innovative solutions. Mediacorp is presently working with technology giant Samsung to drive its #dowhatyoucant marketing campaign through our Star Search 2019 talent discovery competition, whereby the Top 24 contestants serve as unofficial ambassadors for Samsung by generating social media content using the brand?s products.

What are some of Mediacorp?s new offerings to clients?

Clients today have the unprecedented option of buying integrated ads from Mediacorp across YouTube and TV platforms, made possible due to a strategic content partnership inked between us and YouTube earlier this year. With the partnership, Mediacorp is expanding its network to better connect consumers with its extensive range of brand-safe, quality content.

In addition, our revamped advertising solutions allow advertisers to buy TV ads using their targeted cost-per-thousand (CPM) as a benchmark, thereby enabling clients to compare the effectiveness of advertising over TV and digital and to make better informed choices.

The nature of marketing investments is highly dynamic, and as such we do not bind our advertisers? spends to specific media. With Mediacorp?s unified Master Contract, they are free to deploy their budget across TV, Radio, Digital and Out-Of-Home media. The programme has been very well received, and in fact overall commitment from clients has grown after we introduced it.

This branded article is written by?Parminder Singh, chief commercial and digital officer, Mediacorp, as a part of the Media of the Year 2019 series.