How do you think TV Commerce will develop in the future?
People have been looking for all sorts of ways to make TV more interactive. At Zeebox we asked consumers, what would you want to do when watching TV? The answer was to get more information about what’s playing on TV, buy stuff while on TV, and more links to more episodes. Television is like a dinosaur in comparison with what’s possible on the internet. From an advertiser’s point of view, in traditional television you can’t target per user, per household or even suburb. There’s no personalisation for its user compared to the internet. From an advertisers point of view targeting on the internet is amazing and TV commerce is where we take the consumer desire and combine the advertiser who wants to get better bang for their buck.
How do you think Zeebox will do as TV commerce continues to evolve?
The second screen application market is small compared to TV but will grow rapidly. The second screen application industry will revolutionise the TV advertising market. Second screen applications are more clickable and interactive. Advertisers are going to embrace second screen ad opportunities in the future.
Are there any developments or features Zeebox plans to release anytime soon?
We have a new release out which is a new version that lets you log in to Twitter, which greatly increases the social graph and we’ve added more remote control functions. We are going to introduce the ability your favourite programmes with friends. You can book the programme and choose who you want to watch it with, sort of like a group chat.
You’re the ex CTO of BBC iPlayer. Did you get some of your inspiration for Zeebox from your time spent there?
I’ve worked for several companies and have been in the mass consumer media space for several years. I developed a fantastic insight into what people want to watch, how they watch, when they watch, and so on. BBC iPlayer is fantastic in providing BBC content, but was always limited because it couldn’t provide all [TV] content. At Zeebox, we saw the consumer need for a cross platform for connecting with friends and engaging around content.
Competitor wise what sets you apart from companies like GetGlue?
The various applications have their own angles they take and all have some unique differentiators. As for now there is a multiple entrance on the market. Zeebox is a unique proposition particularly around the ingest of television. We created a cross platform application that helps you find things to watch, buy things, and connect with friends watching second by second. I don’t think any of the others help you do that combination of things.
January 2012 marked your £10m deal with BSKYB. Do you see Zeebox going public one day?
It’s an impossible one to answer. Going public is the last thing on our mind. We are using our funds to grow the product and to grow distribution. I enjoy creating products that consumers will love. The business side of things and how it plays out is something to think about in the years to come. We are focused on other things at the moment.
