Background
MĀORI+, the video service from Whakaata Māori, originally launched in 2021 and has been incredibly popular across Aotearoa (New Zealand). The service received international recognition in May 2024, winning the OTT Platform-New Zealand award at the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Awards, which recognizes platforms with uniqueness, technical innovation, and social impact. It provides viewers access to engaging content in Te Reo Māori that can be otherwise difficult to access.
MĀORI+ offers a mix of free-to-air and on-demand bilingual content across multiple platforms, making it easy for viewers to access at home and on the go. Content genres range from drama and entertainment to news and dedicated children's programming. The service is promoting, revitalizing and normalizing Te Reo language to audiences across the region. MĀORI+ as a platform has had a significant impact on its audience and New Zealand society as a whole, providing mainstream representation for Māori cultural development and supporting a unique New Zealand identity within a global society.
Objective
The MĀORI+ platform was originally developed and designed by Accedo in 2021, and the two companies joined forces once again in late 2023 for a significant refresh and transformation of the already popular service. This new project aimed at further enhancing the user experience with the addition of several new features, as well as enabling future growth and evolution for the service in light of rapidly evolving market conditions. The refreshed and transformed user experience launched across Aotearoa (New Zealand) on iOS, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, and Web in April 2024.
Solution
The refresh of MĀORI+ includes design and functionality improvements. The introduction of user profiles enables viewers to build their own personalized experience and more easily receive content recommendations, and UX changes based on what is most likely to appeal to them. The addition of kids profiles, which was a newly introduced feature, means that parents can ensure their children are only served age-appropriate content, which is often difficult to control in many streaming services. Functionality changes were made to streamline the cross-platform viewing experience, watch history and resume watching synched seamlessly, so viewers can begin watching exactly where they left off.
Improved search and content filtering capabilities were also built into the new and improved MĀORI+ platform, as well as custom UI elements that can be managed in detail leveraging Accedo’s CMS solution for real-time app configuration and content management. This makes it simple for the team to create collections with tagged content, such as featuring a specific actor or coming-soon content. It also makes it easier to suggest content recommendations, either based on something new or user profiles and preferences.
