Adapt quickly to the COVID-19 world by telling stories says Imagen
Imagen’s Will Pitt
Imagen has stated that the trick to engaging sports fans throughout the COVID-19 crisis while many sporting events are cancelled or postponed is to bring in all the storytelling skills and resources available.
Will Pitt, head of sports at Imagen, told SVG Europe that while it is, “a long way from business as usual”, broadcasters need to adapt quickly.
On what is the most important message Imagen can give to customers and partners around Europe in light of the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic, Pitt stated: “We realise that for many of our clients and partners this is a long way from business as usual. Like many other companies, Imagen is adapting to the changes in our environment.
“Right now, more than ever, it’s important for businesses to be investing in their ability to manage media content. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak many live events are postponed or cancelled, and sports and media companies are trying to find ways to fill their schedules.”
Many broadcasters are looking to fill programming gaps using archived content. Pitt said that the key to filling schedules with revisited content is storytelling: “Storytelling by bookending popular archived content with richer background content helps to update and repackage output into a format that’s well received by the audience. The idea of re-watching an old game start to finish is fine, but the thing which really appeals is when you weave all the elements together – the game, interviews, press conferences, and all the behind the scenes content – to tell a story. Companies need to invest in business continuity, thinking beyond the pandemic and being able to future-proof their content.”
He went on: “The key to unlocking the value of video content is access, storage and distribution, and it helps enormously if that infrastructure is cloud-based. AlI of Imagen’s deployments are cloud-based these days and so we can set up systems that enable remote access really quickly.
“In the current climate, companies need to react fast to keep their stakeholders engaged,” Pitt continued. “In the absence of a live event, for example, what else could be offered? If organisations are able to ingest, process and release content efficiently, then gaps in the calendar can be plugged. We are able to set up and deploy an infrastructure within days so if you’ve been thinking along these lines, we can help.”
The Imagen platform provides organisations with powerful media distribution with secure access and collaboration, allowing content owners to leverage and monetise their content, from anywhere in the world.
Concluded Pitt: “Sports organisations and rights holders can offer more choice of high quality video to broadcast partners whilst engaging fans with compelling content.”