Archive for February, 2009
Protection or Prevention?
Posted by Saurabh Gupta in Whitepaper on February 20th, 2009
DRM / Content protection
A white paper by Saurabh Gupta, Phonethics
As content creators with a focus on new and emerging media we understand the challenges surrounding the monetization ability of digital content. In this light the debate around protecting content from ‘unauthorised' downloads / usage has intrigued me right from the beginning both as a consumer as well as a creator.
While iTunes and more recently even sections of Bollywood have been able to sell DRM protected content and reaped moderate benefits, introducing the idea of ‘paid' digital media to consumers, DRM implementation is still hobbled by lack of universal standards, high costs and overstated efficacy.
As a pioneer in the Short Form Content business in India, we have evaluated DRM specifically in our context (SFC) as opposed to the holy grail of digital content.
First, what kind of content are talking about here?
Short form
The proliferation of content and specifically SFC on New media platforms hinges on four value propositions for the end user –
a) anywhere, anytime
b) low or no cost
c) viral – lightweight, easy to share, mash up – personalise
d) freedom of choice – search
A new medium needs a new idiom. The success of the quirky creative endeavors has been fuelled by a viral internet platform. The content creators allow users to viral (embed) their content and share it with the rest of the cyber world. For content creators like Will Ferrell (funnyordie.com) and the team behind Lonelygirl15, this scale up comes at very little cost in terms of marketing dollars and even better allows them to do what know best – create quality content. The marketing takes care of itself.
Over time this massive viewer traffic and organized distribution has created new markets and made it easier to access the old ones. Today a serialized, well managed amateur video-series can evolve into a brand (lonelygirl15).
Add to this the power of social media and you have a potential one to one connect with all manners of niche audiences.
So how does DRM play out in the context of such a democratic media landscape?
DRM, SFC & the New Consumer
- Never 100% protected
Given the well entrenched grey market (especially in countries like India) and the easy availability of technology resources, it is a fair assumption that a certain amount of threat from piracy cannot be mitigated using technology. We feel that the problem is further exacerbated by implementing disparate technologies that impact the paying customer's user experience negatively.
- Digital content production is already encumbered by multiple platforms, operating systems and hardware protocols. A typical production cycle involves digitization (transfer from shooting tape to hard disk), post production (editing, special effects etc.) and publishing (preparation of broadcast masters or web formats). DRM solutions do not plug into this pipeline at the operational stage. Typically a DRM wrapper is a separate component at the end this cycle (although popular editing softwares like Final Cut Pro do have DM features, they are not efficient). This further prolongs the time to market and often leads to a downgrade in the overall quality of the product (especially in the case of Video).
- Since there is no single DRM protocol across devices / operating systems, a DRM wrapper around the content restricts the content and the customer to proprietary platforms (e.g. sa re ga ma, an Indian music label recently launched their DRM protected online store that has content (songs) compatible only with Microsoft platforms). This limits portability of media across devices (customer wants his content on the move, esp SFC where the purchase is more impulse driven) – contradicts the ESSENCE of SFC – viralability.
- Limits / stunts virability of content, good for superbrands like spiderman and big ticket Hollywood productions but prevents an organic growth and online community-based seeding: a cost-effective and democratic manner of propagating the characters / brands / content series.
For example, the free version of a content piece
1. can be made difficult to obtain
2. may corrupt / crash user's device
3. needs the user to request a friend / contact to pass along a song/media file they have
4. the quality of the media file itself may not be up to the mark
In summary, protected short form content does result in some degree of negative impact on customer delight (and therefore uptake)
Phonethics and DRM
Being an early-stage content creator, Phoenthics' goal is to make content consumption really easy and intuitive., while reminding consumers, that there is a social and sometimes a direct financial cost to the consumption of pirated content.
We believe that the mantras of SFC monetization are –
- low cost of production
- diversified revenue streams
- Innovation – Character / icon based content production
DM becomes critical for a range of content producers partially because of the high cost around producing branded content especially when above the line costs like actors fees add to the budget. The Producer / Label is forced to look at multiple markets and long tail to drive profitability, revenue sources that are obviously impacted negatively by free availability of their products in the digital world.
SFC is a disciplined approach to content production. At Phonethics, our content portfolio is built around characters that we own the IP for. This is much more easily protected than digital media. It allows us to build value in the form of the character and not just a single video or audio piece. As the characters find traction we find interesting licensing deals being offered by traditional media as well as advertisers looking to break the clutter. Phonethics recently licensed one of its characters to a leading TV channel as a cyberhost for a television show (mianfekoo.com). The videos for this character were already available across various video platforms with a sizeable viewership. This made the proposition even more attractive for the channel as it got intervention in an ongoing dialogue and ecosystem.
The Internet is a beautiful medium to help content travel to various markets and demographics. Instead of locking it down be prepared to re-purpose / re-orient your product to any distribution channel, such as Mobile or even Print.
Let's make content available via easy, well-priced and simple interfaces that allows a consumer to purchase/download any version of the desired content suitable for their device at a rational cost.
2006 – piece for ‘Impact’ magazine
Posted by Saurabh Gupta in Articles, Mobile Content on February 17th, 2009
Early in 2006, I had the opportunity to sit in on a meeting where a determined twenty something boy was pitching his business idea for a mobile application to a bunch of ‘suits' (Funder types).
When one of the suits asked him why he wanted to wait for an year to launch his product, he replied “What's an year? It passes in a day!”
It does and it did. 2006 whizzed by.
The saliency of 2006 for the mobile sector lay in the twin mantras that I observed in the meeting mentioned above – innovation and persistence.
Mobile Application Developers, Telcos, Aggregators, Content owners and all the other parties of this myriad circus showed tremendous aggression in launching cutting edge applications and content. From booking Cinema tickets on the mobile (PVR Cinemas) to selling branded games, Fun cards (Hutch) to Songcatcher (Airtel) the year saw one cool application after the other. VAS revenues soared as TV programming seamlessly integrated SMS as the tool of choice to involve viewers in the numerous reality shows and contests. Almost all of these were well thought out and well executed products. Considering that SMS is still the largest component of Value Added Services the marriage of text Message and Reality Television was the biggest money spinner of 2006.
With Millions of direct investment by Venture capitalists, Foreign Equity Funds and other investors in the sector, 2006 was a good year.
A ‘hit' or what is known as the ‘killer app' (the suits!!) however, remained elusive in 2006. No game, application or content type achieved a cult status to match, leave alone outsell mobile versions of Cinema or cricket content. In fact a marketing manager (another suit!!) with a Telco recently put Dhoom 2 as the biggest mobile downloads blockbuster ever.
The Terrapinn Mobile Content Forum last year in Singapore was attended by companies from across the world. This is the Asia forum, I thought, what the hell are all these Americans and Australians and Canadians and Mayans (not really, but perhaps the only ones missing) doing here? Over the next few days I realized that they wanted to sell or buy in Asia because it boosted not just the bottomlines but also (and more importantly) their content libraries back home. With a huge migrant population, Asians represents a sizeable chunk of the consumers in almost every developed nation across the world. Even though everyone cribbed about the shoddy margins and lack of transparency amongst the Telocs in Asia, it didn't stop them from acquiring more Videos, Animations, Ringtones and Wallpapers in 14 different languages.
Apart from their worldwide presence what makes these guys successful is that they have redefined the words ‘Mobile content'. They sell to any Device that's mobile. To the device not the medium.
In 2007, Mobile content will mean not just content on the Mobile phone but content that's Portable, Personal, and available on the move on the device of your choice. This means more power to the copyright holders of original content. Increased distribution and non-exclusive rights sharing allow a creator to make money many times over from a single product.
Let's connect some crucial dots between the Mobile Phone and Portable Content.
In 2007:
- This will be the biggest mobile news of 2007 – Money on Mobile.
Payment gateways on Mobiles and Payment facilitation applications are currently being tested and deployed in a phased manner. Trials at restaurants and cinema halls have shown encouraging response from the consumers.
- Ad on mobile. Traditional media guys in T.V and Advertising have begun using short codes (SMS) for marketing as a regular and natural extension of branding activity. Though tentative this acceptance and embracing of this nascent sector bodes well for the more adventurous stuff to follow.
- 3G remained a puzzle and a prayer for most of 2006, so my money is on a good if not very good 2.5G application that will bring all manners of content to GPRS enabled phones.
- Over the counter content will appear as the portable devices become more sophisticated and affordable. Bluetooth, USB, MMC and SD cards will become the delivery mechanisms of choice.
- Content companies looking at regional content will mushroom and flourish though watch out for some serious mobile gaming and content action from Bollywood guys plush with the 2006 loot.
- Learning, Travel and Healthcare will see some of the coolest content and applications. Peer 2 Application (P2A) solutions from hospitals, hotels, hostels and your neighbourhood doctor.
- As people grow familiar with the capability of the funky tech gadgets they own, they are going to devise ingenious ways to use the tech at their disposal to Create, Share and Store. Combine this with connectivity and we should expect another Youtube if not Google.
In India the mobile phone is definitely going to see the convergence of essential services like GPS, TV, BANKING within the same device sooner than later. The big ideas for this did not happen in 2006. There is no guarantee that they will in 2007.
But, then..
Tinfo Mobile developed an award winning application that teaches people how to read and write. The young boy (at the beginning of this piece) got the money he wanted. Probably the few things about 2006 that are likely to make 2007 interesting.
2006 – piece for Impact magazine
Posted by Saurabh Gupta in Articles on February 17th, 2009
The first thing you have to ask yourself if you want to make a film is do I have anything to say – Martin scorcese
And the film makers this year had a lot to say. The biggest blockbuster year of Indian cinema was ironically also its most independent, brave and alternative storytelling in recent times. 2006 was an important year for Hindi film industry. Omkara and rang de basanti cruised the fine line between new age and commercial experiential cinema. The common thread through Fanaa, Lage Raho and almost all the superhit films of 2006 was that the creators had something they wanted to say. What they said and sometimes how they said it touched a cord with the audience. They flocked to the theatres and the desire for change that some of these films stood for was rewarded with jingling at the tillers.
The commercial blockbusters like Krishh and Dhoom used Hollywood style effects and visual splendour. The spectacle was grander too. Over all the bar has been raised very high by the sheer diversity, form and intent of these films. 2007 better watch out.
Other dynamics of course cannot be ignored, Multiplexes though expensive are actually the cheapest way to take the wife and brats to an air-conditioned place where someone else does the job of keeping them occupied…and happy. There is the theory that a progressing economy always consumes entertainment at greater quantities. We love cinema, but there were other things that drove us to the theaters.
Re-enforcement of the creative properties being sold comes now in the form of Filmstars who've become models hawking brands in mini movies, also called ads. The style, image and identity all re-instill the filmi avatar of the actor. (javed jaffery in ketchup commercial playing his character from salaam namaste) The ‘Don' collection by Louie Phillipe wasthe most high profile of at least 6 other films that did fashion shows and launched clotheslines. (Umraoo Jaan, Baabul, Vivaha)
So where does this all go?
Is it going to get better?
Well, Yes and no.
2006 also marked the year when the seeds for alternative distribution systems were sown. The first internet premiere of a feature film on Rajshri.com (VIvaha) a movie portal, The first ever short film premiere on the Mobile (Ctrl + Alt+Del, by Fonethics.com on Reliance Mobile World.
Storytellers can now easily also be storysellers
Time magazine recently awarded the person of the year to the readers. A mirror and the legend You on the cover pointed to the invisible millions who made youtube, blogging, virtual avatars a huge hit. The millions who bought music from itune stores legally inspite of free availability of the track off a P2P network. If I like it I'm willing to pay for it. That is what the consumer was saying when ring tones, little snatches of popular songs, outsold traditional music industry in India.
Though this is still early days for the alternative distribution channels the decision and privilege of the customer to receive entertainment products anywhere anytime is clear.
Over the next three- five years a cottage industry of local distribution networks that run on user generated content is highly likely to spring up. Content thats not always high on production value but sincere in its intent.
The real winners though at the end of 5-8 years is going to be the bigger studios who survive. Consolidations and acquisition will swallow the smaller production houses and the bigger blockbuster will likely be available on the device of your choice, on the move or as an experience In a virtual environment. Expect Disneyland type of activity at the end of this cycle if not earlier.
India's diversity ensures that the ecosystem is large enough to support multiple kinds of media if distribution is not a problem. Traditionally the financial risk associated with releasing anything mildly alternative over expensive distribution channels has smothered independent voices. It will be possible to make money for this form though if digital disctribution systems are in place.
Craig??? At HT summit said that India should leverage its digital distribution systems to get over the infrastructure problems. For films the issue is not if?, it is when? Expect simultaneous releases of a film
UFO movies, Pyramid Samaira, Adlabs have all setup digital theaters and are acquiring screens at locomotive pace. The money saved on prints is the least of the benefits. Simultaneous release, good picture quality and DRM safety are of importance to any film.
Portability means purchase at the whim and the phone becomes an Always On gateway to music, images, audio-video; fun. The key here is the exponential growth of the Telecom sector and its all pervasiveness. Sumit Shaw, Writer, BBCwst mentioned “ the absence of basics like water and electricity but solid mobile users in the interiors of Bihar” while shooting a documentary there recently.
With voice revenues stabilizing the Telcos will likely emulate the NTTDoCoMo strategy and spawn ‘i-mode' style content marries service plus communication mutants.
PICO p a projection company unveiled a small projector this year that fits into a mobile and projects the screnn of the mobile over an area as large as a normal computer screen. Siemens has already unveiled prototype phones that can project images. It hopes to launch a full projection phone by 2008. The image will omprsie 256 million colours. Good enough to watch a movie.
What does this have to do with movie business? Well only the business is going to change, you, the audience is not going to change habits. Hindi cinema will continue to be the most sought after and bought content over any device or disrtribution channel .
The biggest gain will be of the film production companies that have libraries of copy owned content that they can farm out for revenue share. Bu tthats just the onitial wave then the demand pull kicks in. Hopefully the current lot will continue the fantastic work they're doing as storysellers as well. If they have their eyes on the future they'd be able to ride it for very big money, globally.
So come on Karan, Rakesh, Raju and Kunal, get a little bit of George and steven in your style.
Was Ravan a Visual Alphabet?
Posted by Saurabh Gupta in Visual Alphabets on February 17th, 2009
As a child one of my most enduring memories is of watching Ramlila with my parents at ‘Thakurdwara', a small town on the outskirts of what is today known as ‘Uttaranchal'. On one such outing, after the evening's episode was over I saw the guys playing Ravana (the demon king) and Laxman (Lord Ram's brother) surrounded by an excited crowd. On a closer look it turned out that the duo were promoting a branded hair oil attired in full costume, even using their stage voices. For days after, I heard kids (and adults) refer to the brand as the ‘Ravan wala tel' or ‘Laxman wala tel'.
Characters, brand mascots and other such animals
Price Waterhouse forecasts the total value of comic characters to reach $ 1.3 trillion, of which 70% could be Asian.
As a consumer, the utterly butterly girl of Amul and the maharaja of Air India have not only informed and entertained me but also helped me connect and build a context for these brands beyond what ‘laxman' did for the hair oil. These characters offer the brands an opportunity to tell a story that is human, dynamic and local. They locate the brand in the world inhabited by me (the consumer) and reflect my conflicts, aspirations and moods.
Recent examples include Chintamani (ICICI), Insurance man (Bajaj Allianz) and Amaron batteries. The concept of a branded character is no longer novel.
2008 a media odyssey
In the world of Web 2.0, social networking media, internet on the go and multimedia mobile phones, creating a character does not stop at a drawing or a puppet that appears on the packaging or in a TV commercial.
So what is the definition of a well rounded/fleshed out brand mascot? What kind of content do customers expect from these mascots? How can they be made into containers of a brand's attributes? Is there life for these mascots beyond the 30 second commercial or viral video? How do we make consumers in a culturally diverse country like India connect with an icon? And most importantly how do we do this in a cost-effective manner with metrics available to the brand managers to measure impact?
Moreover, the Indian consumer has come a long way from media naive to almost being media fatigued. Instant news and the explosion of media vehicles has made discovery and consumption of content a nightmare for advertisers, creators as well as consumers of content.
Is that a bird? Is that a plane? No..it's ..a Pokkitbuddy
Inspite of its diverse culture-scape the one thing that's common pretty much across India is the usage of visuals and symbols to communicate. Add to this the colourful festivals and millions of stories, folktales, folksongs and myths across the country and what you have is a well established culture of storytelling and storyselling. The solution to the problems of the 21st century media scape lies in tapping some of these habits and methods.
Imagine being able to navigate the content space with the aid of a visual symbol, a character – that stands for a specific content vertical and is easily identifiable. A sort of container of attributes that consumers associate with certain types of content. An interactive pneumonic that customises the experience and aggregates diverse info-streams. new alphabet for a new vocabulary. A visual alphabet.
A vision article for I.T magazine
Posted by Saurabh Gupta in Articles on February 17th, 2009
Phonethics tells stories. Frankly, there is nothing new about that. From the bard to Bollywood, they all do. The difference is we tell stories which are consumed on evolved mediums. Does that make it really new? Is a book read on the Kindle not a book any more? Does it become something different?
Is a song on your ipod, more or less precious than the LP you inherited from the collector hippie Uncle?
Is playing FIFA on xbox better than watching it on digital TV?
Is it enough to create content for one platform? is it enough? Is it good enough?
These and many more such questions constitute much of what we at Phonethics grapple with daily.
And that is the central vision I have for my company, to continue to ask the most daring, foolish, intelligent, absurd, insightful questions.
Hopefully we'll find the answers to some, hopefully some of those answers will lead us to the right products and services. Hopefully we'll never be (or feel) too big, busy or informed to ask and seek as opposed to ‘know' and ‘cynicise'
Some years ago, after I'd finally finished ‘Ctrl + Alt + Del', a short film that took considerable time and effort to produce, I was sitting with my colleagues and wondering how to find an audience for the film. I wondered (and asked), if it was going to be possible someday for people to be able to watch the film using a small personal device that helped them project it on a surface of choice. A sympathetic audience informed me that I was speaking from the desperate point of view of a ‘creator' who'd like their work to be seen and appreciated. Some openly laughed. Others mocked.
The film finally was distributed on mobile phones and was viewed by more than 40,000 paying consumers ON THEIR PHONES!!
A far cry from the ‘dream' of a device that allowed folks to get one-up on their peers by projecting the content and sharing it with their friends but nevertheless a well-documented and hailed FIRST in India and perhaps the world.
So, another dream, closely linked to the first, is that I would hopefully be able to build a company that is not afraid to dream. The most ambitious, impractical, crazy, heartfelt dreams.
And finally when we're on the subject of vision, here's something that I've tried to implement as a CEO – a flat organization. Hierarchy prevents free flow of information, ideas, Questions and Dreams. This is the most difficult to implement. As we grow older/smarter (hopefully) and richer (well!!), people build walls around themselves that exclude new people simply on the grounds that they are new (to the company/idea/industry/whatever). Beauracracy disguises as meritocracy.
I've begun the implementation of this very difficult vision already because I know it will be the most difficult one to execute – I don't sit in a glass cabin, I don't sit in a corner. I sit and work on the shopfloor. I thrive on the conflict, opportunity and demands of my team. Everyone/anyone can walk up to me or anyone else and share their problem/idea/opportunity/joke!
As we inch closer to making our dreams a reality this is the one thing that I find most people struggling with. A creative guy who's closed to new people and ideas, a business development person who seeks a STANDARD product as opposed to innovation, a producer who looks for excuses instead of talent. I believe that the root of this to some extent is insecurity. I envision an organization that rewards and punishes NOT on the basis of years spent on the bench but for initiative and innovation. At every level.
While dreams (and what else is vision!!) for an organization should be inward looking I cant resist some vision that I have for the market, especially since Phonethics today occupies a small but solid space as an innovator. My vision for the space we operate in is that as content begins to move to digital delivery, a ‘paid content' model as opposed to ‘ad supported' only, will evolve.
Advertising too will begin to move to ‘measured consumption' models where the content and ads would be suitably matched (which they already are in some cases) and advertisers would KNOW (for once, and this time for sure) the consumer and their preferred content.
I could provide here an extension of the convergence argument too as vision for the market. The most relevant part, to Phonethics, would be the demarcation between content and advertising.
A last one – scale, it is my vision to NEVER scale to an unmanageable level or build a company simply to sell it. Look back at folks who've achieved anything today, they didn't build a succession of companies to auction! They went after ideas that they believed in and followed them through. The glory, riches and rewards find you sooner or later, as long as you're committed. My vision is to build an organization that grows, or as the older adage goes, [as if it were a snake] scales! Without artifical support and orchestrations, a company that lives on, beyond me, my vision and goes into every new challenge as a NEW company with fresh ideas and original takes