Mediaboss Marketing

For companies across sport, digital engagement is an urgent priority. Finding tools that bring about a two-way interaction could be invaluable not just to future growth, but to future relevance.

We think that if a rights holder wants to create a strong link between its content and its community, it cant offer a passive experience now, says Romain Violleau, co-founder and chief executive of On Rewind. Because people now want to give their point of view and have power over the content especially the millennial generation and Generation Z, who have used the internet since a young age and are very comfortable with technology, social media, apps, etc.

So they have to do something and because there is also more and more content, live and on demand, if rights holders want to reach this target, they must adapt and innovate in their way of offering content.

Violleau created On Rewind in south-western France with president and co-founder Rmi Chasles in 2015, after one and a half years of research and development of their new interactive video player product. We want to offer the best product a sports fan would like to use to watch their favourite sport, says Violleau. Its the mission of On Rewind from the beginning.

The two were inspired not just by the growing demand for mobile video content, but by the way in which consumers used tactile devices in a whole range of settings. They looked not just at mobile devices but video game controls, mobile gaming UX [user experience], drone controllers, and touchscreen navigation in cars. A company concerned with design, user experience and ergonomics, Violleau says, must stay attentive to everything around us.

On Rewinds clients in France, where the company was founded in 2015, include the National Handball League

The fruits of their labours was a player set apart by a distinctive TimeWheel, rather than a timeline, allowing for highlights of key moments to be called up easily on screen no matter the length of an event. That interface can also be used to share clips, comment, or communicate with friends.

We had seen that all the UXs had changed with the mobiles, touchscreens, video games, etc, Violleau recalls. So we could see that we had to do something in the video player market.

Thats the reason we worked on this distinctive time wheel, because with that you can have an infinite event with key moments marked by icons. In this time wheel, you can click easily on each event an event from one hour to ten days. Thats the reason we created this to give the opportunity to the user to use their phone as a gaming controller, even with one hand, and with their main finger to turn.

It was very important to create the most ergonomic video player, and we think sport was the best use case to do it.

Alongside the wheel, other controls allow fans to access stats, camera angles and commentary options, and messaging services. Direct monetisation through retail options like merchandise sales is also a possibility.

On Rewind as an organisation now has the capability to develop OTT platforms, content platforms for web, mobile and smart TV, and also offers products like simulcast and live clipping tools. Its focus nonetheless remains its interactive video player, and it has worked hard to ensure that solution is as flexible as possible.

It was the first product we created in the company and to propose this interactive solution to most of the fans, we have the choice to create this as the layer, Violleau says. So of course, we have our own video player in HTML5 and NDK, but you can also put our solution over another video player. This is the really big difference with our competitors because, for example, a channel which already has its own video architecture will not want to change this.

If they use our solution, they can just integrate their own video player and put our interactive solution over it, so the fans can have their end user experience with all the technology behind from the TV channel.

Our customers now are aware that expectations are different and that they must evolve

Romain Violleau, co-founder and chief executive of On Rewind

This approach not only allows for more straightforward integration and implementation, it is also helpful in troubleshooting. If there is a problem with the stream or broadcast, for example, operators do not need to navigate through the On Rewind Players architecture to find it. Its very easy, Violleau says.

In 2017 On Rewind was acquired by Paris-based Euromedia Group, a leading provider of broadcasting facilities and services, and it is now looking to build on that network and resources to better establish itself across the industry. It will retain a focus on fan engagement and the viewing experience, and has ambitions to take its products into music, but sport remains its primary marketplace.

Our customers now are aware that expectations are different and that they must evolve, Violleau says. With the young generation, they have to change the way they broadcast they cant do it like many years ago. Ergonomics and experience are essential, even in video content now.

As well as being used as a mobile video service, the On Rewind Player has been trialled as an in-venue app for interactive content. The first public demonstration of this capability, run in partnership with Orange, was held at soccer club Olympique de Marseilles April home game at the Orange Vlodrome against Nmes in Ligue 1.

On Rewinds gamified video player is now being deployed by French soccer club AS St Etienne

On Rewinds clients in France include the French Football Federation (FFF), National Rugby League (LNR) and National Handball League (LNH), as well as drinks brand Monster Energy and telecoms group SFR.

Among its newer clients are French soccer club AS St Etienne, the ten-time national champions who became a force in the European game in the 1970s and 80s. According to AS St Etienne communications and media director Philippe Lyonnet, they wanted to propose to our community a high-level OTT solution in working with OTT experts but also and especially sports industry experts.

We are a football club and therefore collaborating with people who know our business and our needs is essential, he says, in an email interview with SportsPro. On Rewind is a key player when you want to offer the best possible product to your fans. Their technological expertise is well established and they are among the most innovative in the market.

Their interactive video player is unique and in perfect harmony with the needs of fans who want modern tools, easy to use, fun with a great UX and that allows them to live the green fever all year long.

Lyonnet concurs with Violleaus argument for the importance of using interactive content to reach young people. These solutions give back power to the fans and increase their engagement, he says. With video being omnipresent, rights holders must differentiate themselves by offering an innovative and qualitative video player to stream their premium content.

Interactivity and the gamification of sports content remain in an experimental phase, and it is difficult to ascertain just how influential it will be and what implications it will have. One thing that Violleau is convinced of, however, is that these concepts will play an ever-bigger role.

Its really hard to give you a number but, for sure, a big one, he says, because with the advent of OTT, every sport can reach its community.

On Rewind itself, Violleau adds, is always in expansion, but it will remain committed to its founding purpose.

We started as sports fans with tech ability, he says, so we continue to keep this mind to do products which transfers to the needs of the fan, with strong links to tech innovation. So we think that if fans are happy then our customers and our partners will achieve their goal.

OnRewind will be exhibiting at the OTT Summit in Madrid, over 19 - 21 November, click here for more details.

Read the rest here:
Quality control: How On Rewind is taking video content to the next level - SportsPro Media