Marketing

SmartTUBE SDP provides the operator’s marketing team with a comprehensive set of tools to promote content and services across SmartTUBE Apps.
The marketing toolkit includes:

• Banners
• Content rails
• Content recommendation engine
• Ad insertion management
• Marketing messaging

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Banners

The banner carousel is displayed at the top of the Home screen in all SmartTUBE Apps.
Each banner can include individual images for different device types and can link to a TV channel, program, xVoD content, genre, service, or external URL.

Banner Configuration

Operators can manage the following banner parameters and options:

• Banner display style:

  • Regular banners: opaque banners with a clear bottom edge not overlapped by UI elements.
  • Faded banners: banners with a gradient bottom edge, typically overlapped by the main menu or first content rail.
  • Auto-play trailers: faded banners for movies or series that automatically play a trailer when focused.
    (Currently available for large-screen apps only.)

• Display frequency: set each banner to high, medium, or low display priority.

• Scheduling: define display time frame and duration.

• Targeting: limit banner visibility by device type and pricing plan.

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Content Rails

Operators can populate the SmartTUBE Apps’ Home, Movies, TV Series, and My Profile pages with an unlimited number of predefined or custom content rails.

Types of Content Rails

• Manually recommended content: curated xVoD content or TV programs selected by the operator.
• Auto-recommended content: automatically generated xVoD content based on viewing history using the SmartTUBE Recommender.
• TV channels: display of TV channels as posters for currently airing programs. User-favorited channels are prioritized.
• Top 10 TV programs: compilation of the most viewed programs across all subscribers.
• Applications: list of operator-defined integrated apps. Available only for Android TV / STB devices when SmartTUBE App is configured as a launcher.
• Continue watching: unfinished xVoD or TV programs.
• Watch history: chronological list of all viewed programs and content.
• Favorite channels: user-marked TV channels.
• Favorite movies: user-marked movies.
• Personal recordings: recordings made by the subscriber using the nPVR service.
• Reminders: upcoming program alerts set by the user.
• Purchased movies: list of purchased xVoD titles.
• Custom rails: operator-defined rails filtered by content or account attributes (e.g., “1980s French comedies”, “Modern Bollywood”, “Jackie Chan action movies”).
  Filtered results can be sorted by various metadata fields.

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Content Recommendation Engine

SmartTUBE SDP includes an integrated recommendation module SmartTUBE Recommender for automatic generation of personalized xVoD content suggestions.

Recommendation Process

The module periodically analyzes:

• Subscriber viewing history
• Content metadata (genres, countries, descriptions, etc.)
• Optional user characteristics (age, gender, location)

It then generates:

• Individual xVoD recommendations per user
• Lists of similar movies and series for each title

Recommendation Types

• User-based recommendations: generated using user profiles, viewing preferences, and behavioral similarity between subscribers.
  (Available only when integrated with SmartCARE, SmartLabs’ analytics suite.)
• Context-aware recommendations: based on content similarity (genre, cast, metadata).

Recommendations can be displayed in:

• SmartTUBE App content rails
• Movie/series detail pages
• The video player interface

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Ad Insertion Management

SmartTUBE SDP is part of the SmartLabs Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) solution, which enables dynamic insertion or replacement of ads in live, pre-recorded, and xVoD streams.
Using the VAST protocol, operators can run their own ad campaigns or integrate with external ad services.

SmartLabs DAI Components

• SmartTUBE Advertising Decision System (ADS):
  Stores data about advertisers, campaigns, creatives, targeting parameters, and durations.
  ADS selects appropriate ads for each insertion request and provides campaign performance reports.
  (Implemented as a SmartTUBE SDP component.)

• Server-side ad insertion module:
  Implemented as part of the SmartMEDIA Content Delivery System.

• Client-side ad insertion module:
  Implemented within the SmartTUBE Apps.

Both insertion modules communicate with the ADS via the VAST protocol.
ADS returns matching ad creatives based on targeting criteria in the ad request.

Use Cases

1. Ad insertion into HLS/DASH streams (OTT subscribers):
   Ads are inserted on the SmartTUBE App side.
   Playlists/manifests and ad creatives are prepared on the SmartMEDIA side.
   

2. Ad insertion into linear TS streams:
   Ads are inserted directly into the source TS streams using SmartMEDIA components.
   The resulting output can be distributed via IPTV, satellite, or DVB-C networks.
   

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Marketing Messaging

SmartTUBE allows operators to send targeted messages to end-user devices via the SmartTUBE Admin Console or OSS/BSS API.
Messages can announce new services, promotions, or planned maintenance, and can be sent individually or in bulk.

Message Scheduling and Targeting

Messages can be:

• Scheduled with recipient filtering by user ID, pricing plan, or tenant
• Automatically triggered by events such as:
  • First device authorization
  • Account creation
  • Service subscription/unsubscription
  • Pricing plan changes

Message Attributes

• Message text: supports user variables such as user ID, device ID, and account number
• Expiration period
• Display duration
• Number of reminders and duration
• Tenant association
• Animation type: slide-down or pop-up
• Media attachments: image, icon, or linked video
• Opacity level
• Linked entity: service bundle, xVoD content, or TV channel
• Delivery type:
  • Long polling: messages retrieved via long polling and displayed as modal windows when the app is launched.
  • Push: messages sent via Apple APN and Google FCM, shown in the system notification tray even if the app is not running.

Recipient Selection

Recipients can be targeted by:

• Account login, number, name, or status
• Account creation date
• Pricing plan
• Service bundle inclusion or status
• Device type and app version
• STB UID or IP address
• Device link date and last known location
• Last device authorization date