Does Anyone Who Develops New Products In Hollywood Ask 'Would I Ever Actually Use This?'
from the you-do-what-to-do-what-now? dept
For all the lip service the MPAA has been paying to the claim that it loves tech innovations and wants to work with the tech industry to build cool things, why is it that every new "innovation" the industry comes up with only seems to make life complicated for people in ways that make no sense at all? For example, we recently talked about Warner Bros. ridiculous disc-to-digital offering in which people who want a digital version of movies they have on DVD can drive to a store where someone will rip the movie for them. In a world where the ability to rip your DVDs in the comfort of your own home is commonplace, that makes no sense at all.I think we can add to this "huh?" discussion: the new effort from Fox, in which the studio will be putting up giant murals in malls to try to make it "easier" for you to buy DVDs. Here's how it works according to Deadline.com:
As part of an exclusive one-year partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, the malls will have a wall with cover art and QR codes for many the studio’s home videos. People who want to buy the movie or TV show can download a smartphone app called Fox Movie Mall, available for both iPhones and Android devices. It will enable them to scan an image and go directly to a Web site to complete the purchase for a DVD or Blu-ray disc shipped free to their home.So, yeah. You go to a mall (physical) and download a special app (digital) which you then use to scan a silly QR code (digital) to be sent to a website (digital) to order a DVD (physical) to be shipped to your home (physical). There are a bunch of ridiculous extra steps here and I can't figure out how any of this makes sense. If you have people in a mall already and you're trying to get people to buy physical product, why not just let them scan and pick up the physical product? If you're focusing on the digital components, why require a specialized app that no one's going to want to download, and then not offer a digital version of the film?
Fox execs claim that they expect this new effort "to reach as many 60 million people over the next four months with the mall wallscapes." I guess that depends on your interpretation of "reach." If you mean 60 million people may walk by and ignore these murals, perhaps that's true. Though that suggests Fox must be spending a ridiculous amount of money to get these murals pretty much everywhere. If you mean that 60 million people will actually pay any attention at all to this convoluted system to buy an obsolete product fewer and fewer people actually want, well, then someone's done a miscalculation somewhere.
Seriously: how hard is it for folks in Hollywood to ask this simple question: "Would I ever use this product that I'm developing?" If the answer is "not in a million years" perhaps it's time to move on to building products that consumers actually want.
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Filed Under: dvds, malls, murals, promotions, sales
Companies: fox
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Frustration 9001
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The only benefit I can see to these giant murals is it might actually remind people of that movie from 6 months ago people might have wanted to see.
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Like the ones in the subway of South Korea that are used by shoppers on their way home to buy groceries from supermarkets.
Now if Redbox or Netflix could do that for bus stops, subways and others places using just the phone to start a download of a movie so you could just watch it when you get home, that would be marvelous. Why buy and handle a piece of plastic when you can for $1 dollar and never think about it.
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http://hackaday.com/2011/08/09/hacking-qr-codes-for-fun-and-profit/
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QR Code switching
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lemonparty.org
Goats are fun and cute!
goatse.info
If you are about to click these, please for the love of god ask your technically minded friends why its a bad idea.
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And they aren't links, just urls. They have to cut & paste not just click.
I'm evil, but not THAT evil.
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These are police academy dropouts after all. Don't assume that just anything will draw their attention.
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more to the point why is it that whenever anyone else thinks of an innovative idea, the industries stop it dead, even though they could make money as well?
this 'mall' thing not only shows the stupid mentality of the industries execs, it also shows how much money they have to waste. and they continually moan about 'making no money! the industries are dying'! what bollocks!
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Re: Online Mall IRL...?
;-P
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I forget the actual principle, but one business model states: look at what the black market is doing, and make it legal. Pirates (excuse me, filthy pirates) have defined this market: downloadable 1080p, AC5.1, DRM-free, world-wide release, costing US$5-10.
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The idea is that people often do go to physical stores, see something, and decide to buy it online (or worse, pirate it online). Getting them an app in their hands that allows them to scan and go, possibly bypassing ALL of the distribution channels and go right back to the distributor seems like a win. I would bet you that the QR codes have individual tracking back to the stores, allowing them to profit for showing them.
It's a pretty neat solution - it puts them in direct contact with their customers, gives them a way to talk directly with them, and allows them to fulfill their desires for product quickly.
Too bad you just don't get it - like so many things, it seems.
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But ... but ... brick and mortar!
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Admit it Mike, you just want them to fail. Even if they take all of your advice 100%, you would still want them to fail.
It's a crappy attitude.
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Re: Re: Re: Crappy Tude
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Although apparently you want them to succeed at failing.
While this has clear advantages to the studios (if it could actually work) and if your imagined benefit to the store was true it might have some minor benefit to the retailer who isn't actually selling anything in this scenario it offers no advantages to the customers, which is what it would have to do to work.
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I guess for trying the studios can get the Participation Trophy for showing up...
The reason for the snarky-ness is because their "efforts" are more like a slap in the face to the consumers.
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Could there be no crasser admission of what the studios want? control
When I want to be controlled I'll tell the studios, preferably with an extended middle finger.
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Option 1: Drive to store, buy DVD, drive home, pop it into player, watch
Option 2: Sign up for digital service or enter in payment info if it's a 1-time digital purchase, stream/download movie, watch
Option 3: Have iPhone/Droid, download app, drive to mall, scan code, purchase on website, go home, wait for movie to be shipped to you (assuming no major processing time, 3-5 business days until it gets to you), pop it into player, watch
Option 3, which is what's being pushed here, is actually longer than options 1 and 2 put together. This isn't making anything easier, this is just crap to make people think that digital is a hassle and they should stick to purchasing physical media, since you people can't figure out how to do it right Hint: it's option 2, as long as that service/place we need to enter our billing info is 1 place for EVERYTHING and isn't stupidly-priced.
And while we're at it, option 2 doesn't involve partnering with a mall and can track customers just as well (if not better) than the crap you're pushing right now.
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Option 2: Sign up for digital service or enter in payment info if it's a 1-time digital purchase, stream/download movie, watch
Option 2.5: Get frustrated at the DRM and proprietary formats of "approved" digital offerings, locate DRM free torrent on thepiratebay, click, make popcorn while downloading, watch... :D
And for the record, Option 3 is absolutely insane... I thought Ultraviolet was a stupid idea, but this one takes the cake... also... the cake is a lie!
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How about "see QR code on a billboard, scan it, and order for online digital delivery immediately"? They aren't doing it yet, but it's a next logical step - get it streaming now, and the disc to follow in the mail.
Basically, you miss the idea that it's the first step in a different direction. QR codes can be anywhere (on TV, in magazines, on billboards... even on Mike's shiny forehead).
Basically, once the structure is there, you can expand it at will.
Also, consider:
"The studio will offer discounts and goodies such as games, trailers, and additional clips for people who use the app. Fox expects to reach as many as 60M people over the next four months with the mall wallscapes."
60 million views, plus bonuses for people who sign up. Seems like a good way to connect with fans.
Damn it, once again they are following Mike's ideas, and Mike is upset with them! Damn bastards, trying to make a living!
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ps: Youtube movies for free apparently are only for the US if you are not in the US you need to use a proxy to watch those, so my advice is to use proxytube very good and it works for Chrome and Firefox.
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Is there any announcement that they actually plan to do this at any point in the future? If not, we're discussing what they're *actually* doing now, not some hypothetical possibility in the future. But, you can't help but attack people for sticking to facts, I suppose. I mean, FFS, look at the list of titles on the link. Alien? What in God's name would stop them offering a digital download of that right now? I'd say it's quite appropriate for them to be criticised for not offering downloads of movies over 30 years old. Hell, unless US malls are very different to UK retailers, you can probably pick up a box set of the entire Alien series for less than $30 in the mall itself.
Besides which, please explain how on Earth this is easier than simply downloading digitally? I'm not particularly sold on QR codes overall, but I don't see how this benefits anyone vs. a standard purchase at the mall *or* an iTunes download. Speaking as a consumer, I'd probably laugh at this and continue shopping as I already do.
"Basically, once the structure is there, you can expand it at will."
What's stopping them from merely putting QR codes on their existing advertising, which doesn't require this kind of new deal and new infrastructure? Again, apart from the murals, the structure is already there and already visible to many more people.
"Damn it, once again they are following Mike's ideas"
No, they're not. They're introducing yet another barrier (you must have a QR capable device) combined with further inconvenience (you must go to the mall to receive the benefits at home) for something that can already be done quite easily (existing ads & online marketing), and trying to pretend it's a new pro-consumer action (it's not, if for nothing else due to the fact that they won't be linking to the better priced outlets). Any one of these would go against the ideas usually promoted here. Together, it's pretty much doomed.
I'd be happy to eat my words in 2 years if this turns out to be a success, but I doubt it will happen.
"Damn bastards, trying to make a living!"
Then they should follow the actual ideas posted here, rather than the fictions you make up. Try with the problems with DRM, region coding and other windowing that provide the biggest incentives for piracy. An electrician who tries fixing your wiring without turning the main power off is also trying to make a living, that doesn't stop me from pointing out he's a fool.
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Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand the reason they don't do it already is because?
...
Anyway, the biggest fail is in the time between the customers desire to watch the movie and the fulfillment of said desire.
Nice, you're the patient guy, you got used to wait for your stuff, because it wasn't possible any other way before. But now it is and you still want us to... wait?
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Yes cause that's what the world needs, more idiots using cell phones trying to hold it in place and get it to pick up the qr code while driving. Also, the current logical step is for digital delivery from their site without having to jump through yet another hoop. I can tell you I've had an android phone for over two years now, you know how many qr codes I've scanned? 1, maybe 2, when they first came out and I first got the phone. There is nothing logical about using them, Leigh did a great story on why they are not a good idea to use
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+1 to you!
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Because it was so hard before? No, this isn't about making this easier to do -- it can't possibly be much easier than it already is.
This is about control, pure and simple, and the ability to sell an inferior (DRM'd) product for an inflated price.
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Getting them an app in their hands that allows them to scan and go, possibly bypassing ALL of the distribution channels and go right back to the distributor seems like a win.
Ok, so what's in it for the customer that makes their life better? There are plenty of ways today that someone can see something in a store and buy it from Amazon or their favorite online store. This works anywhere for anything.
Now they have to walk up to a special wall, scan for something they want and use a dedicated app they have to get (assuming they remember to download it). And get it shipped from who knows where and how long?
The latter part of what I quoted shows how it might be better for that distributor. But, doing things that's good for yourself isn't a way to get customers.
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Only communist kenyan muslims and their fellow travellers including the freetardskis would think otherwise
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The key part of being a good troll is actually upsetting someone or getting under their skin. Saying stupid shit so people tell you that you are stupid isn't really trolling. It is just looking like an idiot. Now if he gets people all worked up and covered in a fine nerdrage lather then he is a good troll. But you notice most people skip the insults and attacks he throws out and just point out how stupid the rest of it is.
Looking stupid is half the battle, getting someone worked up is the key part.
How come their are no good female NES heroines? Mario, Samus, Zelda all men.
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A hypothetical customer goes to the mall, presumably not specifically to buy a DVD. This customer is on the way to buy clothing or books or jewelry or grab lunch when they see an advertisement for a bunch of DVDs.
At that instant, they decide on impulse they want to buy one or more of the DVDs. Then they pull out their smartphone. Then they download an app. Then they scan a code. Then they are directed to a website. Then they complete/confirm the purchase. Then they wait days for a physical DVD to be shipped to their address.
Sounds great.
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This is just a convoluted way of doing things and indicative of how the media industry thinks.
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Frankly, right now it is too much of a chore to order online. First, I have to walk upstairs to my den, turn on my computer, logon, open my browser, navigate to a site like Amazon, enter a search term for what I am interested in purchasing, wait for the results to appear, send my selection to a shopping cart, go to the cart, etc., etc. Whew, that is a lot of work.
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I guess your theory that they're really trying to trick people into thinking they're getting one of 'dem online deal things!' does sound more like the way MPAA thinks though huh.
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But this next bit is just piles of stupid?
"it puts them in direct contact with their customers"
If by "them" you mean walls, because yes this puts walls in direct contact with customers
"gives them a way to talk directly with them"
A link that lets you order something online is talking? Do posters talk to you?
"allows them to fulfill their desires for product quickly."
Quicker then buying the physical copy from the store and going home with it? Or quicker than staying home and ordering a physical movie online? Or quicker than staying home and getting a digital movie online?
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Yeah, note that they are at a physical store, looking at a physical product and then they check online and see that even with shipping, it's cheaper to buy online, so they do. If they are pirating as a result of this it's because either they can't purchase the item legally in their area; can't afford the high price; and\or they want to stick it RIAA\MPAA.
None of these behaviors are altered by putting a mural up on a wall at a mall. (Not in a store, on one of the mall's blank walls.)
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Yeah, because the last thing anyone wants to do at a shopping center is actually buy things, amirite?
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This innovation might have been better suited for the 90s
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It seems clear that Fox's marketing execs shouldn't be working in marketing. Nothing about this proposal is convenient or worthwhile to the end consumer.
The idea is that people often do go to physical stores, see something, and decide to buy it online (or worse, pirate it online). Getting them an app in their hands that allows them to scan and go, possibly bypassing ALL of the distribution channels and go right back to the distributor seems like a win.
It really is a shame that Amazon has already beaten them to the punch. In fact, Amazon's app doesn't even require special QR codes, you can simply scan the bar code on the DVD itself to see the availability on Amazon. Why would someone go through the trouble of downloading a proprietary app that works only with specific QR codes that may not be available in their area, to buy a DVD from a source that is most likely not the best price in town?
It's a pretty neat solution - it puts them in direct contact with their customers, gives them a way to talk directly with them, and allows them to fulfill their desires for product quickly.
How does that work out? I really don't see how this does anything you say it does.
Talk directly to and contact customers? You mean the same customers who are abandoning QR codes in droves? The same customers who are more willing to simply log onto Amazon or iTunes than drive to the mall and scan a QR code on a wall?
Fulfill desires quickly? By making them drive to a mall and then wait for days while the DVD is shipped? How does that work?
Too bad you just don't get it - like so many things, it seems.
You're right. Mike has a hard time figuring out just why execs at movie and music studios are so disconnected from their fans and reality. If they actually understood the market, this proposal would have been tossed in the bin the moment it was proposed.
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If that's their idea, it's an idiotic idea. If you decide to buy the DVD while at the mall, you're not going to buy it online when there's a Suncoast/Best Buy/etc. within 100 feet of you. Does your statement actually make sense to you? Because to anyone with half a brain, it's asinine.
Also, you fail to realize that there are already apps on most everyone's smartphone (at least the people who would be willing to scan QR codes) like Google Goggles and Amazon's app which let you take pictures or scan barcodes and then order what you want online, for cheaper than the movie studios will be trying to sell it for, I'm sure.
Two words for this initiative: Epic Fail.
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How does using the QR code "bypass . . . the distribution channels and go right back to the distributor?" Who do you think is shipping these things, the President of Fox?
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Says the guy who thinks this scheme wil actually work. LOL, let's see you come back and whine in a year or so.
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Start up your own blog and lets see how many hits or money from the blog you make.
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Copyright Industry Mentality -- A Brief Summary
That's the MPAA, the RIAA, most book publishers and every collection society on the planet in a nutshell.
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i'm sure some morons would actually try it too
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Re: i'm sure some morons would actually try it too
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Other uses for that question
If the answer is "not in a million years" perhaps it's time to move on to filming movies that consumers actually want.
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Re: Other uses for that question
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So you had to drive to an actual store. Buy a card. Go back home. Sign up for the MusicPass service. And then choose between 37 albums you could buy. Or you could buy nearly any album you wanted free of DRM from Amazon or iTunes without ever leaving your house.
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Pretty smart people, do you know that their reader store in the UK makes pretty much no money on account of not actually being available. This kind of thing doesn't just happen you know, it takes a lot of smart people and a lot of effort to find ways to not make money when people want your product.
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we all know how much they like exclusivity
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All of these are one to two years old, if not more... at least offer new movies then with a direct download. That would've been innovative.
Why would I get my phone out, down an app, scan a code, fill out my details, wait for mail... when the movie is lying right there in the $5 discount bin?
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maybe some people like wasting time
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Re: maybe some people like wasting time
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by their works ye shall know them
1) Upper management comes up with a list of Forbidden Things, like digital versions of films delivered by wire, or promotional "content" put online where any grubby teen can link to it without paying.
2) The corporate culture quietly assumes the false economy of waste (i.e. we payed millions for this steam engine, so we must use it instead of a diesel engine or else we'd have to count that money as a dead loss).
3) A mandate comes down from on high: "think of a new way to sell things to the unrich; use what we already have, avoid Forbidden Things."
4) Someone comes up with a combination of mall space, QR codes, physical signage, controlled apps, web site, online purchase, DVDs, Blu-ray, shipping.
5) Several levels of management consider the idea, see that it can be pitched to the next level up. Final decision made by Senior Manager who hasn't set foot in a mall since 1983.
6) Press release, launch, managers distance themselves from project (cleverest first). Scapegoats already selected but don't know it.
7) quiet death (begins at launch + 3 days)
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9) Corporation lobbies for new laws to "protect" their industry at the expense of free speech and smaller industries everywhere.
10) Public further revolts, further reducing sales, revenue and the saleability of their products.
11) GOTO 1
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"OMG the kidz love QR codes. QR codes are the new marketing meme. We must use QR codes. "
Actually it's last year's marketing meme.
This year it's Pinterest.
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Walmart
Brain dead idea. Hope Walmart loses a fortune on this.
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Re: Walmart
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Unfortunately there really isn't anyway for them to lose money. You hand them a movie one of their minimum wage employees types in the title and then prints out a code. Not really a lot of money pits in their for Wal-Mart.
Of course the studios probably spent a decent chunk of money (a stupid amount of money I imagine, anyone with the skills to do this knows how stupid it is and hopefully has a stupidity tax) setting up the database and the code algorithm. But if it tanks they can just put that in their piracy losses column.
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Good job Mike, skipping over the RtB part of the equation you're so often touting as necessary. At least they're trying.
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RtB?
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We're talking about an industry whose reason to buy, for many years, has been "buy our stuff so we won't sue you".
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I don't think that RtB is what you think it is.
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(I'm not sure about the "games" part of the equation, but I'd bet they're just promotional games for the movies rather than "real" games)
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Too shoot themselves in the foot (again)?
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People who work in retail do get a bit annoyed with people who use their stores as Amazons showroom, but putting an Amazon kiosk in the mall would REALLY cross the line.
The malls are now giving up real estate to someone paying much less for the same exposure. If the Fox offering isn't MSRP the brick and mortar store will be forced to lower their price to compete, because many consumers don't figure in shipping costs when shopping online.
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They print out a sticker with a standards-based QR code that works with google goggles and point it at their store's website, and paste it over top of the QR code on the poster.
At least, that's what I'd do, if I worked in a Brick & Mortar store and my job depended on selling DVD's.
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Better Idea...
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This plan totally makes sense in Hollywood...
Look how long it took them to love the VCR.
The really considered up until about 2000 that the internet was just a fad that was going to go away. Then they made websites what would have made even the most diehard GeoCities fan weep.
If you look at what they are doing with a minimum 1 decade filter, they are on the cutting edge.
This plan works in a world where those young hip kids are just getting their first smartphones and QR codes are the latest fad. DVD's are the most awesome thing ever and online shopping is just starting...
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Re: This plan totally makes sense in Hollywood...
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I believe that the intended audience are lawmakers/lawyers and the press, and the purpose is to vilify the concept of ripping DVDs and to make sure that no DVD-ripping exception is granted from the DMCA.
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There's a joke somewhere in there about paywalls, right?
...Right?
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Re:
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What a great idea
Can it be expanded to Starbucks, Barnes and nobles, McDonald's, any place people congregate.
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Re: What a great idea
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I forgot....
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Re:
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Re: Re:
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Big box
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Piracy?
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This is mock advertising
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Re: This is mock advertising
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another rhetorical question
I don't. When they closed the bookstores, the model shops, the toy stores, the game stores, and everything else that might've interested me, I had no more reason to visit a mall.
And after all, who needs these shops anyway? It's all online.
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Re: another rhetorical question
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Re: another rhetorical question
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Watch a movie at a theater, buy it on the way out.
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Re: Watch a movie at a theater, buy it on the way out.
I suspect theaters would have a fit if the studio was selling the DVD right there after the movie ended. The worry about no one ever coming back (Ignoring the possibly "wonderful" theater experience.) once they have the movie in hand would be enough to make sure that Never happened.
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Re: Watch a movie at a theater, buy it on the way out.
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Best idea!
I humbly propose changing them to a QR code that directs to The Pirate Bay. Imagine the hilarity! The irony! AND it would be a simpler process for the consumer. Instead of downloading custom apps and ordering crap, and waiting on snail mail; they could just click a magnet link and BOOM! there's the stuff you want!
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Re: Best idea!
Torrents were also already mentioned way up in the comments.
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Peek-a-boo! Hollywood, I see (through) you!
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1.Wake up
2.Make Coffee
3.Drink Coffee & Smoke
4.Get a soda.
5.Use your soda to wash down some vicodin.
6.Go to the adult sex store to buy some KY.
7.Go to Wal-Mart and buy a chainsaw.
8.Fire that bad mofo up.
9.Lube your ass up real good.
10.Hand the chainsaw over to your local Warner Bros rep.
11.Bend over and beg him to go easy.
12.Beg for forgiveness for ever doubting their ways.
13.Pay the 36 thousand dollar fine for questioning their ways in the first place.
14.Buy Warner Bros approved dvds.
15.Refer to the original steps listed in this article.
16.If you're still confused by them go home and take a nap then refer to step one of this guide.
17.If you're forced to do it a third time you will have to refer to my other guide on prison survival.
18.After your twenty year prison term is up and you pay the 3 strikes fine of 6 million dollars off refer back to step one.
19.If you want to send a complaint to Warner Bros for any of the steps listed. Please make a list of your objections and why you object. Now take that list crumble it up and stick up your ass.
20.If you had to do what 19 said refer back to step 17.
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Sound like an "entitled" perspective? From here, the idea that DVDs and blurays are valuable items to own is the delusion.
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Indulge me...
Outlawing an activity amongst one's customers, and then selling the product of the activity that has been outlawed back to said customers is a very profitable, time-tested business model attested to by a long and successful track record. (The sale of indulgences to Catholics is/was a particularly clever variation.) So one has to ask: Why did it take the MPAA so long to figure this one out? (Yeah, yeah. Conservatism. Stupidity on a billion-dollar scale. Etc.)
But what's particularly interesting about this business model in this context, is the possible side-effect of legitimizing (perhaps a slightly) rights-holders' assertions that all infringing copies represent loss of revenue to the rights-holders. (i.e. making a copy of your legally-purchased media using your own tools is, in fact, depriving rights-holders of revenue that they would otherwise collect from the act of selling consumers legal copies of media they already own.) When will we see such an argument in court? One might expect that a few orders of magnitude is going to appear here and there in content-cartel-style calculation of losses due to file sharing. And then the jackboots will get involved...
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Given the circular nature..
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