41 ROUND TABLE Audience Engagement
ADAM NIGHTINGALE: Ensure GDPR compliance and make sure consumers understand how their data is used and how they can opt in and opt out. YOUPETS: On the other hand, our CTO wants to hire a firm specialising in ‘persuasive design’. The company claims it can radically increase our engagement by making our UI and app more addictive, especially to younger viewers. Should we bring the firm on? Or are there other things we can try first? And how can we make a case for it to the YouPets board? MARK BLAIR: I studied design academically when I was starting out, so I’m a big believer that design can drive audience engagement and a better user experience. I’ve even seen specialists in designing kids’ video experiences. There’s a company in the UK and that’s their niche – just user experience for kids’ video. The fact that a company exists that does just that shows me there’s real value in it. I would recommend to the board that it’s a good investment. But the way to validate it is to work with an agency and test the results. One of the great things
going to be a key enabler for protecting customers. What we’re seeing now with the concerns about Cambridge Analytica and Facebook and YouTube is a shift that we may not have seen otherwise. For example, I got a note from one of our vendors saying they’re going to extend the privacy changes they’re having to make for GDPR right across their entire business world-wide. I think that’s great. It’s a win for consumers and for the publishers who want to look after and respect their communities. JOHANNES JAUCH: Make sure you work with the right partners who have a proven track record of respecting consumers’ privacy and data protection. And when integrating with third-party services minimise the data that you provide about your audience. GDPR is a very important topic in Europe right now. Several cross-device data collection companies have pulled out of EU business because of this. Make sure to adhere to GDPR regulations – for example, by asking for consent from your consumers for your data collection practices.
about digital, compared with launching physical products, is that you can iterate experiences very quickly. So keep launching different experiences and test them. JOHANNES JAUCH: There is nothing wrong with having great, addictive design. But the old ‘content is king’ rule still applies, and it’s essential to have good quality content and to present the right content to the right audience at the right time. Get these two things right and over time you will have more than enough money to pay for the best and most addictive UI design. ADAM NIGHTINGALE: Be wary of the word ‘addictive’. Err towards an agency which wants to engage, immerse or entertain users. YOUPETS: Given our global audience, what technologies can help us target our advertising? For example, we’ve partnered with several international dog shows, for which we will be providing live coverage, and are wondering how we can use advertising most effectively to reach different audience segments.
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