bTV

Media portal with unique appearance and indisputable results

CONCEPT

bTV contacted us to create an innovative media portal which had to be a universal IT and communications solution and to evolve bTV as an Internet medium. The strategic decision to refer the TV audience to the Internet site was taken by the empire of Rupert Murdoch (owner of bTV at that time). Our task was to use the latest and most effective methods to create a media portal with a variety of functionalities and community of regular users. We had only three months to finish the project.

RESEARCH

We started to work on the project with a detailed research of the world’s best practices and the current state of media services in the Bulgarian Internet environment. At that moment the only professional and quality online TV broadcasts Live and On Demand were provided by Neterra. The service was used mainly by Bulgarians living abroad. The TV stations maintained more corporate rather than media sites. bTV.bg was among the best examples of a television that kept enough information on their website to meet current expectations of the audience, but not enough to retain the visitors.

REALIZATION

The first phase of work on the project was to coordinate the technical specification and description of the trends in Internet with the marketing department of bTV. At this stage were laid the foundations of the business model that made the site a good investment with quick return. The structure of the portal was formed in the electronic version, which followed step by step user behaviour and highlighted key elements for offering new materials, methods of improving the effectiveness of advertising on the site, and various mechanisms to keep the interest of visitors. At the next stage we visualized the structure of the site into a modern design that was accepted unconditionally by our client. Our traditional precision in detail and attention to usability contributed greatly to the final result and allowed us to work simultaneously on the platform of the site (backend) and to arrange for the introduction of new media services that were offered through the site.
The web-based platform for content management was an innovative product that met the extremely high security requirements, resistance to peak workloads and flexibility in adding information and changes to the site. The system integrated sub sites of TV programs, news video module and an integrated, flexible system for managing banner ads. The users were able to watch online live or pre-recorded TV programs. Flash applications illustrated the content in different sections of the site (weather, horoscopes, and holidays). We created flexible modules to broadcast the various sports competitions and a search tool that facilitated the user and suggested other links. For the website was developed an extremely flexible and innovative for the Bulgarian market system for publication of materials sent by users - videos, photos and text. This allowed users become a part of the content of the site and to express their views on various topics - social, political, cultural and others. For the entire video content we developed a system for publishing video ads before the broadcast of user-requested content. This allowed us to make an online analogue of the TV broadcast of advertisements.

RESULTS   

Growth of the site visitors of over 250%! The new website created loyal audience. Together we implemented an effective business model for selling online advertising