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Hollywood can learn from Apple: Study

A new study on the marketing of movies and programming on traditional media recommends that the entertainment industry should act like Apple and offer bargain content on mobile devices.

Consumer research firm Parks Associates and the University of Southern California-based consortium Entertainment Technology Center @ USC collaborated on this study that sees potential in a three-pronged strategy toward mobile content.

"The low hanging fruit is re-purposing -- taking existing content and making it available on these platforms," said David Wertheimer, executive director of the Entertainment Technology Center at USC.

"There's unexploited opportunity to use portable/mobile platforms for delivering elements and 'tastes' of content designed for the platform to users which will drive consumption elsewhere," he said. "Both of these prime the pump for the third opportunity: more made-for-mobile content."

Parks and the Entertainment Technology Center collaborated on this joint effort titled "How Hollywood Can Out-Apple Apple."

The center was founded in 1993 with the help of filmmaker George Lucas. It is a nonprofit within USC's School of Cinematic Arts. Sponsors are: Walt Disney Co., Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, NBC Universal, Viacom/Paramount, and Warner Bros.

The study suggests that if Hollywood were to sell bargain content like Apple it may drive consumers to new theatrical releases, television programs and eventually made-for-mobile programming.

"It's clear that consumers largely haven't formed a habit of consuming content on these devices," Mr. Wertheimer said. "Content providers and system operators need to be creative about marketing and providing free content to help consumers derive value from the medium."

Parks notes that less than 10 percent of Internet users are willing to buy a digital movie download at current price points.

When asked about the state of mobile content this year and the direction it is headed, Mr. Wertheimer said, "Consumers want to be able to consume content on the go. We've probably burned through the early adopters who were interested in mobile content for the novelty. Now we need to cross that chasm into the mass market.

Although the market is growing for movie sales on mobile, it definitely has a long way to go. But using mobile content as a marketing tool may be the fastest way for Hollywood to get consumers interested.

"The challenges are numerous, but are being sorted out -- rights, writers' issues, production and marketing," Mr. Wertheimer said. "But overall, it's about being creative -- especially for the service providers -- about how to get short content into users' hands to form habits for the future."