In a world where technology transcends boundaries, Will Strauss stumbles across a debate about who the broadcast equipment customer really is.

I had a fascinating conversation while I was down in London last week about broadcast kit manufacturers and who they are trying to sell to. I found it pretty revealing. I get the impression that if what was said was true that some people in the industry are missing a trick.

So, there I was - with some of my fellow members of London's Northern mafia - enjoying a ropey burger and some strong continental lager when one of the two plastic Scousers relayed a story.

He's a sales person and he was asked by a peer about his plans for the future, about how he saw the market going, where the opportunities are and whether he'd be willing to share some of his thoughts at a broadcast industry event. He said no, and this was why:

Even though he is in charge of broadcast equipment sales for his company, his biggest deal/installation to date was at an ad agency. It was broadcast kit but it wasn't being used for broadcasting.

The deal

Basically, this was the deal. The boss of the agency had a problem. He was paying thousands of pounds a year to taxi and courier firms getting footage, pitch documents, DVDs and staff across London and the rest of the world for approval and meetings.

When one office wanted to show off a campaign that another had done or wanted to work on a project - using a previous one as created by another department - they had to get in a cab and spend money moving about the place. It was costing him a fortune.

So what did he do?

He invested in a couple of file-based video servers from one manufacturer and a boatload of computers and editing software from another and he joined them together. Once integrated he then let his team send video to each other across the capital and then the world.

From that point onwards the creatives - the most expensive people in his chain - didn't need to move around as much and tapes weren't being forever couriered. The content was being ‘broadcast' from office to office. He halved his taxi bill almost over night. And he got more productivity from his staff.

The reasons

The reason my friend didn't want to talk at the industry shindig was that he felt that there was no longer a one-size fits all approach to broadcast technology. And in fact, he didn't target broadcasters that much anymore anyway.

His market was now a bit of TV but also publishing, corporate, advertising, education and lots of others. He felt that the market had moved on. And that the people he would be talking to at the shindig wouldn't get it, and he wouldn't get anything from it.

His point appears to be that there are people out there that want broadcast kit, but don't necessarily know or care that it's broadcast kit. Likewise, there are broadcast people who have a problem, and it might well be that non-broadcast kit will solve it.

The indicator

This, to me at least, seems to be indicative of the market right now. People have a problem, it involves content and it needs a technological solution. It doesn't really matter what that solution is, where the boxes or discs come from or who makes them.

The suppliers that understand this are dealing with it and making money. Those that don't are sitting and listening at industry events.

It may be harsh, but I can see why he didn't want to do his talk.

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