The rapid growth of mobile phones has impacted traditional media in a big way, with both print and television media shifting to digital modes and increasingly using mobile phones and the Internet. This phenomenon is, in fact, resulting in the emergence of a whole new behaviour, called social broadcasting.
The session on ‘Mobile Entertainment: An opportunity in emerging business models’ threw more light on this emerging development. Panelists included Ferhan Cook, President, Any Screen Production, UK and Head of Jury, Mobile TV Awards, MIPCOM, France; Tim Green, Editor, Mobile Entertainment; Mazen Chmaytelli, Senior Director, Global Technical Marketing and Business Development, Qualcomm Media FLO Technologies, USA; Sudhanshu Sarronwala, CEO, Soundbuzz, Motorola; Troy Lob, Associate Director, Wireless, India and South Asia, Turner.
“Customers prefer to control their media experience rather than being controlled,” remarked Ralf Simon, Chairman Emeritus and Founder, Mobile Entertainment Forum, USA, as he gave the initial keynote address before the panel discussion began.
He further said, “Traditional media players now have to enable their established assets to also serve digital media channels. Smart cross-platform marketing will drive growth and the entertainment properties need to reach the consumers wherever they are with the advertising money shifting to one-to-one marketing.” Ralf pointed out that old media was getting more attention on mobile than in print, while it would be content and services that would drive this thriving business.
Talking about the revenue aspects, Ferhan Cook said, “The best thing is to try to invent a new creative tone or even telling a story in the mobile and then distributing it on the Internet or television to earn revenues. The mobile entertainment is still growing, while mobile ad revenues are mostly coming from SMS advertisements.”
Stressing on mobile entertainment, Sudhanshu Sarronwala, CEO, Soundbuzz, Motorola, said, “Mobile music dominates digital music as more than 90 per cent of the music sold are on mobiles.”
Speaking on the business opportunities, Qualcomm Media’s Mazen Chmaytelli said, “Mobile entertainment is in its infancy and sky is the limit. The screen will get brighter and bigger to support the success of mobile entertainment.”
The issue of piracy also formed part of the discussion. Troy Lobo, Associate Director, Wireless, India and South Asia, Turner, said, “It’s important to get a brand, provided it is paid for. We don’t want unwanted people to get our copy, which is why it is not ok for consumers to download the copy and give to their friend.” One way to stop piracy could be ‘pay to get content’, Lobo added.
