18 THRIVING AMID CHANGE
Darren Whitehead, Director of Sales & Marketing at the IABM, speaks to Mark Hallinger about opportunities in both core and parallel markets
While challenges persist for the evolving media industry, Darren Whitehead, Director of Sales & Marketing at the IABM, says the organisation’s optimism stems from tracking what its member companies are up to. “About fi ve years ago the revenues our members got outside of core broadcast and media were around 30%. Today, the revenues of our members outside of core broadcast and media are 51%,” he reveals. Whitehead says this indicates that core
broadcast and media is going through signifi cant and dynamic change, with fewer content owners and end customers. One main focus of the IABM at IBC, and moving forward, is to highlight the fl ip side of this data point – the real and growing opportunities in what the organisation calls ‘parallel markets’.
PARTLY PARALLEL
Whitehead says parallel markets are areas where a vendor can sell the exact same product or service as in the core broadcast and media arena, but with sales and marketing messages necessarily different. The IABM has identifi ed that the broadest and most lucrative opportunity for its members is an area sometimes called the corporate AV or enterprise AV space. According to Whitehead, most people now qualify this as ‘broadcast AV’, the “touchpoint between broadcast and AV”. He adds that broadcast AV started with companies – post-pandemic – wanting to have professional broadcast-quality communications with their stakeholders. Whitehead says that in 2023 there were more net-new broadcast-quality stations put into fi nancial institutions globally than there were put into media organisations. One of Whitehead’s favourite examples of a
broadcast AV success story is top fashion brand Burberry, who went from spending $2 million each year fl ying models and crews around the world to spending one-quarter of that amount using a broadcast-level virtual studio in West London. Beyond saving the company $1.5 million per annum on the bottom line, they’ve now taken the business case to sister brands and others, renting out the facility to like-minded organisations. “From the world of fashion, step one was becoming a buyer of broadcast-level equipment, and in step two they’ve become a facilities house,” he says. Recognising the growth of broadcast AV, the IABM has been partnering with trade shows in this space, expanding its presence at existing events, and is co-producing a new London event.
Darren Whitehead, Director of Sales & Marketing at the IABM
It’s also creating a report that puts together the learning curves about entering this market, and is actively looking at what might be the next few parallel markets down from corporate AV, perhaps the defence, higher education and medical sectors.
“With the right education and the right support from IABM, the glass really is half-full”
BUILDING A STRONGER CORE Driving community engagement within core broadcast and media, by growing the Global Engaged Partner (GEP) programme to 200+ C-level end-customers, is also a big agenda item in 2024 and here at IBC. GEP is a relatively new programme for executives from end-customers such as the BBC, ITV, Netfl ix, Disney, Sky and others. It gives these buyers access to tools such as the IABM online product locator, which were previously for members only.
Whitehead explains that many end-users had to take on new projects such as remote production in recent years, and GEP evolved from this as a way for them to access IABM resources. They also get access to member lounges and can attend IABM events and sessions at shows. The programme also suits the general trend where end-users want tech partners rather than
just suppliers. “The RFP system wasn’t working for them when trying to fi nd a partner. GEP allows engagement with members over a longer period of time,” explains Whitehead.
NUTS AND BOLTS
Supporting members and the end-customer GEP community – and bringing the two groups together – is front-and-centre at the RAI this year. As usual, the IABM presented the fi rst session of the IBC Conference on the latest media tech trends yesterday. There’s also a free IABM Member Lounge with casual seating on a fi rst- come, fi rst-served basis, and bookable meeting rooms, IABM TV interviews, and the BaM Awards event with networking drinks reception. The Q3 issue of the IABM Journal is also being distributed at IBC.
For Whitehead, the education and support
provided by the IABM to member companies leaves him bullish: “Our view is that with the right education and the right support from IABM, the glass really is half-full because it’s 2024 and anyone can be a broadcaster. It’s just a case of educating yourself about who’s out there buying kit, who are the customers and what are the opportunities.”
Darren Whitehead is Director of Sales & Marketing at the IABM, one of IBC’s owners.
Visit the IABM throughout the show at the Owner Pavilion in Hall 8.
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