One Studio, Many Screens: Disney's Anytime, Anywhere Strategy
Keynote speaker:
Myles MacBean, Vice President and General Manager, Disney Online EMEA
The triangle of the convergence of online video appeared again: This time coined to communication, content and interactivity. But the message is the same, online now unifies previously unrelated medias.
MacBean says that the kids are the first ones to really embrace new kinds of virtual-world experiences, as they have been growing up with the web.
He stresses that coopetition (sometimes competition, sometimes cooperation) is the future model for how to see the value chain, it changes in every case.
Disney uses several revenue models: Ad-supported (also as kind of a ramp-up), subscription-based and micro payment. They make this dependent on how a model works with the certain media. Disney's customers' requirement: "my content, my time, my place"
In Disney's vision, content is not the king. Consumer is the King (and in this particular case perhaps they are Princes & Princesses :)
Disneys vision: "Disney is special, fun entertainment with heart". In this sentence:
- "special" means storytelling, innovation and quality
- "entertainment" means fun, imagination, family, quality, magical experience
- "heart" means community, optimism, decency
MacBean also pointed out that the main entertainment device in modern homes is not just a television, but big screen at living room.
The value chain in Disney's point of view consist of four different layers, that are:
- Home devices (pc's, consoles, set-top-boxes, AppleTv...)
- Content Provider (publisher or user)
- Content Aggregator (independent or platform)
- Platform Services (open or walled)
Every company must declare what is their position (layer) on a value chain. This is the most important question to answer, if intention is to make successful business. Secondly, when you are positioned yourself you must identify your customers and their needs.
Advertisements are seen as "on ramp" for a customer
There are couple of reasons that encourages people to buy content:
- timeliness (eg. mobile use)
- exclusivity (eg. football game)
Creating Original Online Video Content: Who are the Commissioners and Where's the Funding?
Keynote speaker:
Nicholas Wheeler, Managing Director, ITN On, UK
(Multimedia Division)
The question asked is if we will ever get out of the state of seeing online as just a distribution platform instead of a creative new media that is difficult to create content for. Wheeler states that a lot of the content offered online today is what he calls long-tail, stuff that is recycled from e.g. cinema or broadcast, but not content originally created for online. Disintermediation changes the market structure, brands and content makers are more and more commisioning content on their own. One of the big chances to do something original that generates revenue are actually services around content.
Final summary for this presentation was loaned from Mr. Rupert Murdoch:
We have one certainty - we can never be sure where the industry will end up.We personally agree that sentence, but it still shows that this keynote didn't give us any clear answer for this big question: "Where's the money and how to get it in this business?"
