DiO, a new biometric creative insight platform, which measures the emotional response to films, TV shows, adverts and games, using a unique combination of facial coding, biometrics and deep audience profiling, has announced its launch out of private beta.
DiO has confirmed the appointment of LoveFilm Founder and former Amazon Chief Creative Officer, Simon Morris, as their chair. He starts immediately, working alongside co-founders Ade Shannon and Rick Curtis.
With the global film production and distribution market worth $130bn1 in 2024 and GroupM forecasting global ad spend to reach $1 trillion2 in the same year, the power of creative to engage and delight audiences has never been more critical. However, until now, the investors in creative content have had to rely on outmoded focus groups, overly simplistic attention models, or rudimentary creative scorecards.
DiO uses its proprietary i4 artificial intelligence platform, combining facial coding, biometrics, and electrodermal activity, alongside its PressPlay audience panel, to capture and process an audience’s conscious and subconscious response to their viewing experience. This enables emotions and levels of immersion for any creative content or stimuli to be mapped moment-by-moment, scene-by-scene, to commercial outcomes.
DiO insights can be employed across the creative lifecycle, from development and financing, through production and post-production, to marketing and media planning.
Co-Founder and CEO, Ade Shannon, experienced current creative testing limitations first-hand through his award-winning work producing films including Six Minutes to Midnight, Poms, and The Vanishing. Bringing together a leadership team that includes Rick Curtis (Th_nk/Amaze), Claire Smith (VP Strategy, Liverpool FC), Derren Seqeuira (Google/Meta) and Tanya Easterman (Odeon/Disney/Sony), the team will bridge the gap between art and commerce to answer the fundamental question at the heart of all creative industries – why do audiences react in the way they do?
Professor Stephen Fairclough has joined DiO as its Head of Innovation, bringing over 30 years of applied research on psychophysiology and neuroscience. DiO also has a long-standing relationship with Hartree Centre in Liverpool, one of Europe’s largest multidisciplinary scientific research organisations, and home to some of the most advanced digital and AI technology experts within the UK.
At launch, DiO has announced its first industry partnership with Molinare Creative Group, the UK’s leading creative post-production company which has provided creative excellence to the film, TV, games, and commercial communities for over 50 years.
Commenting on this partnership, Nigel Bennett, CEO, Molinare said “Molinare has always been at the forefront of technological and workflow efficiencies, to better serve filmmakers in bringing their stories to life. This partnership will allow our clients and creatives to leverage DiO’s transformative approach to audience insight, ensuring testing is no longer seen as a necessary evil but a valuable addition to their creative toolkit.”
Another early client is Picturehouse Entertainment, the award-winning distribution arm of Picturehouse, that ensures great films find their big-screen audience. Commenting on their work together, Sara Frain, Director of Marketing and Distribution said “We were excited to use DiO’s unique emotional response analysis as it helped us hone-in on and refine our strategy, optimising our marketing budget to reach the right audience and exceed box office expectations.”
Shannon concluded: “Within any creative endeavor there is a tension between art and commerce, but I have never believed they are mutually exclusive. The problem has been the tools used to guide creative decisions. I get lots of feedback that this process has often felt like creatives are ‘having their homework marked’ with their work being given a ‘score’ that’s just far too reductive. It’s enormously frustrating for the complex relationship between art and audience to be boiled down to just one thing. It’s not just about eyeballs on screen or attention, this is about understanding how people really feel. DiO solves this by decoding the silent emotional reactions we all make, validating a creative’s intuition to maximise commercial success. Whilst our roots are in film and media, we’re on a mission to empower creativity everywhere.”
Alongside Simon, the founding c-suite team of DiO now comprises:
- Ade Shannon – Co-founder and CEO – award-winning film/TV producer from Mad As Birds Films, his titles include BAFTA-nominated The Vanishing (Gerard Butler, Peter Mullan), POMS (Diane Keaton, Jacki Weaver) and Six Minutes to Midnight (Judi Dench, Eddie Izzard, Jim Broadbent). He is a member of the British Screen Forum.
- Rick Curtis – Co-Founder and CTO – a senior strategist in several market-leading agencies, including Amaze and TH_NK, where he oversaw strategies for blue-chip brands including Lexus, Dyson, Unilever, and ASICS.
- Claire Smith – Managing Director – formerly the VP of Strategy for Liverpool Football Club, where she also oversaw the LFC investment portfolio and their digital transformation programme.
- Derren Seqeuira – Chief Commercial Officer – founding member of the international team at Meta, part of the early international team at Google as well as building multi-million dollar ad businesses in the entertainment and FMCG sectors over 20 years.
- Tanya Easterman – Chief Marketing Officer – an award-winning commercial marketeer, with 20 years of experience in top ad agencies leading global studios, media and brand partnerships for ODEON Cinemas Group/AMC, Walt Disney Studios and Sony Pictures.
