MAM
Big Data: Helping maximise the return on investments
MUMBAI: Flip through business channels or newspapers and everyone seems to be talking about the Big Data.
And in the current digital revolution phase, it has become quite imperative for brands to efficiently and effectively leverage Big Data for strategic business decisions.
The rise of social and mobile computing means huge volumes of precious customer and prospect insights are available to further propel the business. However, extracting and making sense of this raw data, as well as data from traditional systems of record, requires definitive use of cases in which tangible business objectives drive experimentation with new tools, analytical techniques and operating processes for pinpointing potential returns on information — and investment.
So, Big Data Analysis is helping companies gain deeper insights into customer behaviour and industry trends, thus letting them make informed strategic decisions to improve their operational and marketing ROI. In layman’s terms, Big Data can be defined as collection of data much larger than can be stored and computed in an individual large server. Generally the data comes from different sources like Data Warehouses, Sales data, online customer behaviour logs and social media streams. Because of rapid digitisation, the data is getting captured at a faster rate and continues to grow over time. These are popularly called as 3V’s of Big Data (Variety, Velocity and Volume), explains IntelliGrape engineering VP Narinder Kumar.
Global spending on Big Data hardware, software, and services will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30 per cent through 2018, reaching a total market size of $114 billion as per a recent report from AT Kearney.
It’s relevance in today’s world has grown multifold because though data analytics and lot of related techniques have been in use since long time but these were generally under realm of very large organisations. “Rapid digitisation, pervasiveness of internet enabled devices and social media has led to Big Data explosion in recent times. Existing tools and techniques are either not capable to easily handle such large data-sets or find it difficult to keep pace with such fast pace of data evolution,” points out Kumar.
He adds, “Alongside Big Data explosion, we are witnessing technology advances in terms of innovative products to harness power of Big Data. Hadoop ecosystem, NoSQL Databases, cloud platforms, analytical & visualisation tools have made it possible for mid and even small organisations to harness power of Big Data.”
Thanks to technology spurt, today organisations can apply for Big Data techniques in multitude of ways. For instance, an e-commerce portal can build recommendation engines to up-sell and cross-sell visiting customers. A bank can propose tailor made policies to its customers based upon their financial history, their existing portfolio along with their demographic details. A mobile service provider can predict churn and reach out to the potential customer base with more innovative plans.
Kumar says, “In brief, Big Data allows organisations to be become more data driven in formulating their marketing and product strategies rather than relying on guts, assumptions and expert opinions.”
Having said that, there are companies that don’t know how to use Big Data to their benefit. “This is largely because the entire landscape has grown very vast in a relatively short span of time. We would say, Big Data domain is under early stages of maturity in multiple aspects. Many organisations are sitting on fences and waiting for the technologies to be more mature and best practices to evolve. As a result, we see several half-hearted attempts towards Big Data adoption. We witness a lot of PoC (Proof of Concepts) or isolated adoptions of Big Data analytics. This leads to low returns of Big Data investments for organisations,” reasons Kumar.
MAM
Microdrama Specialist COL Group International Builds Out With Narativ, Rock Networks & BlingWood Deals
MUMBAI: Microdrama powerhouse COL Group International is building out its distribution network, with its CEO saying vertical video is about to enter its “next competitive chapter.”
The microdrama arm of publicly-listed Chinese company COL Group appointed Narativ Media as its official distributor in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and CIS regions and Africa, and a struck new content deal with a new Dubai-based microdrama platform.
The deals were unveiled this morning at MIP London, and also included Rock Networks as its exclusive Southeast Asia telco distribution partner for its app, FlareFlow. MIP London is now into its second day at the Savoy Hotel and adjoining IET London complex.
The deals come soon after COL appointed Harbour Rights to represent its titles in Europe and Latin America, as we reported yesterday in our extended feature on microdrama distribution.
COL’s Singapore-based microdrama unit says its “coordinated global distribution architecture and significantly expanded international content slate” would help to scale its catalogue to more than 1,700 microdrama titles worldwide. These hail from South Korea, Japan, Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the UK and roll out across Sereal+, FlareFlow and 17K.
A deal with Dubai-based BlingWood, which recently launched as an OTT platform, will expand COL’s access to Middle Eastern and Indian microdramas, and includes a broader pipeline of Indian series from storytelling platform Pratilipi, Korean titles from BeLive Studios and British reality-led formats from Tattle TV — the UK’s first dedicated microdrama app, including titles such as Dog Dates.
“Microdrama is entering its next competitive chapter, where quality, retention and monetization standards are increasingly shaped by data and operational discipline,” said Timothy Oh, General Manager of COL Group International.
“As pioneers in both China and the U.S., scaling some of the world’s leading platforms in this space, we understand what it truly takes to win sustainably. Our role is not simply to offer catalogue volume, but to help partners select, position and scale the right content for their platform and audience. By bringing together a broad, constantly refreshed slate from across regions, we enable smarter curation, clearer differentiation and long-term growth for serious industry players.”
Narativ deal
COL and UAE-based Narativ described their deal as a “strategic expansion of premium vertical content distribution across high-growth emerging markets,” and comes as the microdrama continues to boom financially. The growth of the medium will be among the key topics of conversation today at MIP London, where COL chief Oh will be speaking.
The pact extends beyond content representation and is being billed as part of a more “structured micro-drama distribution infrastructure.”
Narativ will spearhead market development, platform alliances, broadcaster relationships and digital monetization frameworks across the MENA and CIS regions and Africa, where they have identified “rapid mobile-first consumption growth and strong demand for short-form, high-engagement storytelling formats.”
“Micro-dramas are reshaping global viewing habits, particularly across mobile-first markets like MENA, Africa and CIS,” said Manjyot Sandhu, CEO and co-founder of Narativ. “Our appointment as official distributor for COL Group in these territories reflects Narativ’s strategy to build sustainable distribution architecture.
“A key pillar of the collaboration includes integration with FlareFlow, enabling strategic telco partnerships, bundled carrier offerings, and alternative monetization pathways designed to accelerate scale across mobile ecosystems and OTT platforms.”
Oh added: “We are building more than a content slate – we are building the global infrastructure for microdrama. With hundreds of new titles launching every quarter, scale and regional strength are critical. Narativ with its deep foothold in MENA, Africa CIS and other key markets makes them a natural strategic partner as we expand FlareFlow and bring microdrama to new platforms, telcos and audiences.
Narativ, which is joint venture Sandhu operates with Copyright Capital, manages around 7,000 hours of content and has a digital network spanning 150 million subscribers across 21 language.
COL Group has emerged as one of the biggest microdrama platforms, running platforms such as FlareFow. It is also a part-owner of ReelShort.
