Streaming in the European B2B Space: The Next Big Opportunity

The sharing of best practices, to both promote thought leadership within sectors and to establish CSR credentials, will undoubtedly lead to rapid expansion in the growth in briefings within this class of business. In addition the evolution of events into simultaneous virtual and real world events is continuing apace, helping to expand reach and lay the groundwork for more challenging and bespoke programming.

The final stage of the development of this programming will be its use outside the technology leader sectors. This looks like it will begin in earnest by a much more diverse range of market sectors by the end of 2006. It will be driven by a number of factors: increased business confidence in the ability to deliver consistently high-quality experiences, better understanding of the business benefits of the medium (driven initially by internal communications and IR), and most importantly a drive to find new ways to engage effectively with the supply chain. In addition, adaptation of existing consumer-based ROI models will point to the benefits of using this as a platform to cheaply expand the benefits of stakeholder engagements policies.

The ability to create on-demand content for key stakeholders in the form of briefings, seminars, and events is in no way a new concept. However, it is the way that these platforms are now starting to be used in the B2B space which is marking an evolution in the B2B revolution which took it first tentative steps at the end of the nineties. This year will be but the beginning of a new and innovative era where the reach of streaming media will continue to expand its reach by extending into the B2B arena. As always, “content is king.” But as the audience at which that content is aimed once again expands, the content itself will become even more granular.