Shodogg: Fetch / Toss / Share
Part of the energy at CES comes from those huge OEM booths displaying hundreds of awe-inspiring flat screens. I've blogged about the interactive marketing strategies those screens revealed (see LG & Panasonic on Interactive Television). But I also met entrepreneurs who had much to teach us about interactive television strategies. First up: Shodogg.
Tricks the Big Dogs Should Be Sure to Learn
I met with Michael Rinzler, Shodogg's President & Co-Founder. Per the company's website, "Shodogg™ is a content delivery technology that makes watching your favorite streaming videos easy and fun. Simply use your smartphone to search and select the videos you want to watch... then toss them to any web connected device for a more enjoyable viewing experience." In short, fetch to phone, toss to another device, share with friends all the while using your phone to control.
Here are 5 interactive television marketing tricks that all of us should work to emulate:
- Platform agnostic: That's important as consumers don't to want to be constrained to just one family of devices operating on one platform (Apple fanatics aside).
- Doesn't "touch" content: Shodogg never captures and stores content. It's a streaming based application. That helps avoid always tricky rights issues. The flip side is that all your Shodogg equipped devices must be web-connected.
- Mobile authentication: Another nifty trick is how Shodogg uses a person's mobile phone to authenticate content, reasoning that you're unlikely to share your phone (while you may more readily share passwords). Furthermore, of all your devices, which one do you always have at hand?
- Fast & efficient user experience: While I have not tested Shodogg myself, Michael's demo was compelling. The content moved quickly from his mobile phone to the big screen. No cables to connect and content resumes where you left off. Too many iTV apps are too complicated for users fundamentally predisposed to leaning back. Just when you get them to lean forward - uggh, it's too much work. Don't make your customers work too hard or wait too long.
- Play along with your friends: Who doesn't like to socialize these days? Well, this friendly dogg facilitates that with integrated social sharing tools and video playlists.
Co-founder Michael and his team are pursuing a licensing model where distributors (e.g., cable operators pursuing TV anywhere) and content owners (particularly those not on the big screen already) leverage Shodogg's technology. Check out more info on Shodogg's website. And of course, like any aggressive entrepreneurial outfit, they are looking for investors.
What new iTV tricks did you see at 2012's CES that taught you something?
Will Keller, President, Interactive TV Commerce, is the go-to expert for t-commerce sales strategy and execution. For more iTV insights, subscribe to Inside the Screen or follow him @iTVcommerce.
