Editorial Articles

Jason Norris, Affiliate and Display Manager at LOVEFiLM gives his digital predictions for 2011

I think one of biggest developments will be around the growth of Facebook to be the one stop shop for all you need online. You can see them working closer with Myspace to cover music, Facebook Mail will have a big impact on email marketing and Facebook Credits offers a viable virtual currency, not just for gaming but for all online purchases.

Their mail service could change the email strategy for a lot of brands as users move away from other webmail to Facebook and use greater control to filter messages. Getting your offer to the user will be much harder if they prioritize friends and brands they already have a relationship with while they filter everything else to a separate folder more akin to a junk setting. Meanwhile credits might not take off fully in the UK until late in the year but the offline credit purchase options in the US, such 7-Eleven stores, suggest they could get very aggressive.

The other key development that interests me is our streaming service and the growth that others such as Netflix and iTunes have seen. The LOVEFiLM Player is now offering thousands of free films via PC, internet enabled TV and PS3™, and we are always looking at other ways to offer the service to our members on other devices.

It is amazing to think about take-up of our streaming service in Q4 2010 and the new direction it takes our business in when we are nowhere near the level of content we know we can get to. Not only can we offer our members additional service at no cost to them but it allows us to work with major brands and film studios to co-promote innovative events – we recently hosted an online premiere of Catfish alongside exclusive cinema screenings followed by a special Q and A session with the director.

Jason Norris, Affiliate and Display Manager at LOVEFiLM

www.lovefilm.com