Introducing Centili Maestro Storefront - Marketplace for Digital Content

The global digital ecosystem has changed on many levels, bringing new challenges to content producers and telcos that want in the game. The growing adoption of mobile and social apps and services and the new post-pandemic norms call for big steps in monetising the digital channel as the revenue stream and finding more ways to offer the content to the audience.

Centili, a B2B2C monetisation company, now presents a solution: a digital content marketplace powered by a payment platform-as-a-service: Centiili Maestro Storefront.

“Described in simple terms, Centili Maestro Storefront is a content repository where apps, games, music and digital services can get published quickly to gain fast and broad distribution on a telco channel and get in front of the eyeballs of a large user base”- Kashif Haq, Group CTIO.

Kashif Haq, Centili Group Chief Technology & Information Officer

Efficient outsourcing brings you two steps ahead

The growth of digital occurs both in volume and content diversification. Customers expect more and better content and ever smoother UX - from content to payment options. The rapid consumption of digital goods also expanded to fields previously classified as “niche”, such as edutainment content that has lived its stellar expansion in response to pandemic schooling and the need for social distancing.

Outsourcing digital transformation processes, specifically, turning to the Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) concept for monetising users, has been one of the staples of digital transformation to large systems such as DSPs. B2B2C companies provide the middle point coordinating the exchange between end-users, digital service providers, and content producers. In the pursuit of efficacy, it is only natural to expect one vendor to provide a multitude of services - hence the request that the B2B2C platform offers more than the digital or payment infrastructure technology.

Relevant Content for the Relevant Audiences

After listening to our customers’ challenges in navigating the new digital ecosystem’s landscape, one thing became clear: telcos should reclaim their role in the digital content global consumption and distribution. Getting the consumers’ mindshare back is pivotal, as the digital channel becomes the prominent revenue source. The global digital spend will rise to 60% by 2025[1], and the growth trend will not stop there.

As Centili’s Chief Technology & Information Officer, Kashif Haq, said, “We recognise there are new ways of fulfilling the requirements of end-users as they move towards social apps, use services via digital wallets (in emerging markets in particular), redeem online vouchers, and change their consumption patterns in an increasingly digitalised environment.”

Centili Maestro Storefront answers the pursuit of relevant content for the appropriate audiences - bridging the inefficiency river that springs from telcos’ bulky infrastructure. It also leverages the merchants’ need for scaling via a practical solution: a B2B2C platform that is easy to integrate and manage – or join, if you’re a content producer.

Centili has played a role and bore witness to this paradigm shift, operating in the digital space for more than a decade now. Starting as a payment company, it has achieved excellence in the field and got recognised as a Tier 1 direct carrier billing provider by Rocco research. The payment industry evolution went hand in hand with the company’s growth, and Centili’s marked its 10th anniversary with the new pivot product: Centili Maestro - a powerful B2B2C payment platform with the power of a full content management engine.

For DSPs, content distribution and digital monetisation are a tiny portion of the entire digital transformation. However, it requires effort, as it is more than ever a differentiating point.

“We understand that digital monetisation is also about higher denominations carried out via credit cards and that the emerging crypto world can only grow in importance. There are many regional and local differences in payments preferences and behaviours, too, and there is a full span of new payments requirements to fulfil for the customers. At the same time, we recognise the emerging needs of both MNOs and premium content providers. Having served both sides, as we sought to bridge the gap between them, we have acquired a valuable perspective and deep, privileged insight. We are determined to build B2B2C solutions further towards closing the gap, and in that direction,” Haq said.

Our latest pivot, the Centili Maestro Storefront, which we’ve been working on for many months, is in the soft launch stage on several telco networks. It upgrades our core platform (Centili Maestro) and our content portfolio; it takes us up the value chain towards content marketplaces.

Integrating Centili Maestro Storefront - Infinite Scalability

From a tech perspective, Centili Maestro Storefront is a ready-made module that mobile network operators plug into their self-care apps or websites. The module includes the billing engine and comes loaded with premium content for the subscribers. It is a customisable, ready-made face of the digital offer. It supports several integration methods; it is both flexible and scalable.

For digital content producers, Centili Maestro Storefront is the fastest route to a telco channel, our global network of over 280 MNOs, and their subscribers. With a single connection to Centili’s platform, they can position their premium content on the telco channel across the globe. Instead of contracting with individual telcos, Centili does the entire legal work. The compliance and intellectual property protection are in Centili’s hands, relieving substantial effort from digital content producers’ legal teams. Most importantly, the scalability has no cap - with each new Centili Maestro Storefront telco integration, they get a new market with no additional effort.

For mobile network operators, Centili Storefront lowers the barriers that have, time and again, proven difficult to overcome as they venture beyond the network layer into the world of apps and digital services. We like to say that we’ve built a platform from scratch so that MNOs don't have to. Currently, end-users interact with digital content in an environment that by-passes MNOs altogether - using mainstream marketplaces. MNOs are either entirely excluded from this exchange, or need to uptake the painstaking process of connecting premium services individually, with a questionable ROI. Centili Maestro Storefront aims at providing both MNOs and digital services with an environment that brings end-users back to relying on a carrier for digital content.

Outsourcing Digital Content Aggregation to Trusted Partners

“Competing in the digital space requires commitment. It is a different game, with different rules. While MNOs excel in connectivity and network building, which occupy most of their energy, digital services call for a different kind of expertise. If you go and start doing it yourself, it will take time and possibly some trial and error, which you might not be in a position to afford. If you go with partners, you want to be sure they have the knowledge and experience to do it for you properly,” Haq said.

“Centili Storefront leans towards becoming a super app and adding to the portfolio the adjacent services with the potential to boost growth.” - Kashif Haq, Centili Group CTIO.

With the first soft launches of Centili Maestro Storefront, we keep scouting for the most promising premium content to add to our content library. We invite premium services to join our portfolio. And we’re excited to bridge the gap between digital content and telco, in the end, serving end-users with the very best experience.

Get in touch to receive the demo of Centili Maestro Storefront. Send an email to GTM@centili.com.

[1] Juniper Research - https://www.juniperresearch.com/researchstore/content-digital-media/digital-content-monetisation-research-report?ch=mobile%20spend