While COVID-19 has presented a significant challenge for the entire media industry, Network 10 has been looking to innovate its products and services in response to the pandemic.
Speaking as part of PubMatic’s Leading Through Change series, Network 10’s head of video ad product & technology Ashton De Santis revealed the challenges of the year so far had led the network to create its most comprehensive app format yet.
“Our biggest innovation during the pandemic would be the rollout of our unified app platform across Telstra TV, Apple and Android TV,” he said.
“The new platform brings with it a highly engaging user experience across all their platforms, but also innovative ad formats. The premium pause ad unit is a way for buyers to engage with their users in new environments when they haven’t been able to previously.”
De Santis explained that with audiences stuck at home during the pandemic, 10 launched dedicated content, such as its ‘10 Days of 10 Play’ series, to cater for this increased demand.
Critical to this content was capturing the rich first party data that comes with an engaged audience.
“The key component of the new platform is a focus on our addressable first party data solution and member-gating across all of our platforms allows us to do this at scale,” De Santis said.
The pandemic has also led to some positive cultural changes at the company, De Santis continued.
As well as highlighting the importance of clear communication between teams, the shift to remote work has also demonstrated the importance of flexibility in a work culture.
“Working from home, some people have found it hard to separate work life from home life. And I think encouraging that flexibility to take a break to do some exercise or to hang out with family or just to switch off is really important,” he said.
“Having a flexible work environment where people are afforded the choice to structure their work day is a huge benefit to come from a pandemic and it’s one way to continue in the long term.”
