SAP is renowned for being a benchmark data integration platform, able to seamlessly harness in-memory computing while incorporating machine learning and AI into it’s widely distributed, global customer user base and, by their own volition, establishing the global standard for enterprise resource planning.
SAP (or more recently SAP S/4HANA Cloud) has long been the ERP system of choice for many millions of enterprises who want a quality, competitive, well respected and innovative solution to their increasingly massive data flows and sets…but how does SAP work within traditional, mainstream media?
It’s wise to think about this topic through multiple lenses such as content creation, monetisation, digital transformation and engagement, but it’s worth remembering SAP is already firmly established as the ERP of choice in the vast majority of global and domestics mainstream media companies:
- 90% of the printers and publishers in the Forbes Global 2000 are SAP customers,
- 74% of radio and TV broadcasting content worldwide is produced by SAP customers,
- 83% of the media companies in the Forbes Global 2000 are SAP customers.
SAP has found a home in media empires through the dominance of the digital within the media landscape, and as a result of this, the need for rapid digital transformation across many companies stuck with legacy equipment and, perhaps more damaging, legacy mindsets.
It’s also worth reiterating it isn’t just at the creative business end of the market that SAP has perfected media operations – this is across entire businesses, from HR to analytics, marketing, sales and, yes, the planning and delivery of content.
Digital Transformation
- The need for digital transformation across multiple industries was already ongoing pre-COVID, but the pandemic has ushered in a new era of rapid digital change. SAP has helped media companies navigate this new world of media ownership, distribution, publishing and broadcasting through:
- Providing stable, sustainable and reactive IT infrastructure which helps media companies react to new legislation and digital rulings,
- Supporting real time analytics by managing enormous data sets safely and securely,
- Never forgetting the customer, by focussing on end-to-end processes across media departments to create a better user experience for the media public.
Content Creation
- Original content creation is only the first step on the way to product, service or broadcast release. The massive amounts of administration, project management, financials, legal support, data support, staffing, payroll and niche legal tasks like trademarking feeds into wider distribution networks of both analogue and digital channels. All of this requires a seamlessly integrated ERP, able to handle the enormous amounts of data, touch points and moving parts into a cohesive whole. SAP doesn’t create the content – it creates the environment for it to thrive.
Monetisation
- SAP word their system perfectly through the lens of monetisation – it provides commerce personalisation.
- This means their platforms generate context-led data, customer profiles and actionable data as a result, and with the increase of AI in SAP tools, it means merchandising, reselling and remarketing can be instantaneous and hyper-personalised.
Engagement
- Modern marketing needs to be both targeted, relevant and consent based. It also has to be cross channel, optimised, and segmented where possible: this is how you create engaging content.
- SAP takes this one step further, by providing recommendations and lead management to create streamlined engagement. The data gathered at the heart of SAP then creates sentiment analysis feedback, insights, planning and buying data and, critical, sales pipelines.