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So, by now you’ve heard Vindicia’s strategies on helping subscription businesses create bundled offerings and partnerships. What’s beyond bundling? Super-aggregation – an emerging go-to-market strategy capturing the attention of audiences in digital media, e-learning, and beyond.

I recently joined Robert Ambrose, Caretta Co-founder and Research Director, and Jeremy Simon, VP and Head of Global Streaming Partnerships at Amdocs Media, in a webinar to discuss the developing business trend that is bundling and super-aggregation.

The research (“Beyond the bundle, defining the future of digital experiences: a definitive guide to super-aggregation”) explores how the super-aggregation model is rapidly gaining market traction for its ability to work with subscription services, and bundle them to deliver value-added benefits for everyone: consumers, who get a convenient way to discover, use and pay for services; platform operators, who increase the value-added offer to consumers driving engagement and without the upfront investment; and subscription providers, who can maximize market reach, attracting subscribers at lower cost, and retaining them longer.

Examples include Roku, Google TV, Sky Q, Freebox, Struum and others. Super-aggregation delivers special benefits that practically any type of provider and user can benefit from, combining:

• An integrated user experience, bringing together a diverse range of content and digital services under one virtual roof with a consistent user interface.
• Unified, personalized search and discovery, allowing consumers to find what they want without needing to know where it is.
• Simplified transactions across all content and services with unified subscriptions, single sign-on, and entitlement management.

But what are the main challenges?

As Robert, Jeremy and I discussed in the webinar, there are still a number of challenges standing in the way of more widespread super-aggregation:

• Super-aggregation could involve complex and expensive technical integration, slowing time-to-market and often missing out on the full potential of low-friction UX.
• The model disrupts control of the consumer relationship and data.
• Metadata integration is vital, but complex, with no standards.

Aggregators and technology suppliers who are able to address these issues effectively will be able to develop a market advantage.

Super-aggregating beyond video…

Super-aggregation strategies can also be successfully applied in market segments other than traditional video. The model can be effective across a wide range of apps and digital services:

• Location-specific, not person-specific. Super-aggregation works when it’s in a room at home, or in another distinct setting like a car, underpinned by a dedicated screen.
• Hardware enabled. Operators are in a unique position to leverage their next-gen consumer-premises equipment for features like voice control, wi-fi meshes, and bringing a main-screen user interface to services like smart home, security, and fitness.
• Lean-back experience. Apps enabling watch parties, virtual gatherings of friends around a sports game or event are great examples.

Regardless of the market segment, there are several critical success factors for super-aggregation. These factors include making it easier to consume content, launching fast, simplifying integration, offering unique content, using technology partners, and sharing data.

Want to learn more about it? Get the full Caretta report and webinar

Download Caretta’s full report to get all the details and learn how your company and your customers can benefit from a super-aggregation digital experience. And watch our webinar for additional commentary and analysis.