Rogers: TiVo can unite industry
June 17, 2010
Tom Rogers wants marketers, cable operators and networks to unite behind the solutions TiVo offers to what ails their industry during a time of incessant digital change and disruption. TiVo is no longer just about revolutionising audience control and choice, he said. “We’re about figuring how that contributes to a business model on the industry side, so there’s something for them to participate in without feeling these issues will overwhelm them.”
What’s in it for ad agencies, networks and cable operators that work with TIVO? “For cable, it’s being able to have a stunning user experience that makes clear that finding what you want to watch and searching for anything out there can be as much fun as watching TV itself,” Rogers insists.
For advertisers, TIVO offers new ways to market and sell products. “Commercials aren’t dead. You just have to find another way to present it (advertising) and express it. And we have a way to do that.”
With product placement Rogers sees his digital device allowing consumers to purchase products within minutes, rather than days or weeks after an initial TV impression.
And for broadcasters, TiVo can help them both sell advertising and attract viewers with a better user experience. “They (networks) have to figure out how advertising can succeed for them, while the user experience is not one that overwhelms how a brand gets through as people watch TV and find TV shows differently,” Rogers argued.
He added that, while TV industry players are playing with TiVo, they aren’t playing fast enough. “The issues that I’m pointing to are not just ones that we have said look where the world is going, we have a product for it.”