Interview with Lucie Geislerová, Chief Business Development Officer at Newton Media, a media monitoring company with head office in the Czech Republic.
Hi Lucie, what is included in your current role at Newton Media?
I have been with Newton Media altogether for 15 years, and I have to admit that I have one of the most interesting roles in the whole company. I am responsible for international business, which means I get to meet a lot of interesting people from all over the world. It’s not just a brief meeting either, as I focus on establishing new relationships and partnerships for long term cooperation.
How does Newton Media differ from other media monitoring companies in your region?
Newton has the unique advantage of having its own branches in 10 countries across our region. Some of them, like Prague or Zagreb, have their own technological research centres, and all branches can share the newest tools. This allows us to offer our customers tailor-made solutions using top industry features. Also, we can proudly say that we have deep knowledge of the media landscape of 10 European countries, which goes far beyond standard media monitoring services.
What are the greatest challenges ahead for Newton Media when it comes to offering your customers analysis and developing your offer?
From an international perspective, it’s definitely data availability and metadata consistency.
Operating in 10 countries; what are the greatest challenges when it comes to offering comprehensive products and services throughout the region in such diverse markets?
It is said that unification brings a synergy with it, which is the truth in our case too, but only up to a certain level. It is my experience that the specifications of each market are very important when offering a comprehensive product. Also, I learned very early on that the diversity in our markets is actually the key to our success.
Have you recently, or do you plan to, release any new technology-based solutions that will add to or improve the services you offer your clients?
I think the current situation shows us that quick help is priceless. We saw many companies doing great things when facing Covid-19’s effect on the whole world, and I’m very proud to say Newton Media did not stay behind the others.
One thing we are very proud of is our creation of a web app for deaf people that puts together the most important information from audiovisual sources and offers automatic subtitles thanks to our very own speech-to-text technology.
As the situation is constantly changing, TV stations do not have the time to provide a sign language translator for all of the news, which means people with a hearing disorder are at a disadvantage. However, our free web app allows them to stay current with the news; plus the service is free.
Currently, copyright and licensing for data used for monitoring differs a lot depending on region and type of media. How do you believe changes regarding copyright will affect data that is used for media monitoring in the future?
I am sure that the journey of finding the balance will continue, and the solution of using premium licenced sources will coexist with the solution of using free data. There is a market for both.
What data or media that is currently not used for monitoring could be interesting in the future?
In my opinion, we are about to see a rise in the importance of consumer data, even in our field. There is huge potential in connecting it with media content analytics. Also, tools for voice to text transcription will be more and more indispensable due to the trend of audiovisual content being published on different platforms. And I cannot forget picture detection, which is evolving rapidly.
How do you think the media intelligence industry will change in the next 5 years?
By coincidence, this interview is held during a very turbulent time when coronavirus is spreading quickly and unpredictably across the world. We face something that has never happened before on such a scale. It is frightening and limiting at the moment, but it is the beginning of a new era in the whole world, including our industry. It is a chance to discover a new way of working, to develop new services, and create new types of analytics. We have to listen carefully to the needs and wishes of our clients and be even more flexible.
By Renata Ilitsky
