Branding, advertising to be key for mobile content

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif.-Building brands-and a paying fan base-is one of the foremost priorities for Hollywood’s entertainment companies, but a few more building blocks need to be reinforced before those opportunities truly present themselves on the mobile platform, according to panelists at the Mobile Entertainment Summit here.
“Typically when we think of a show, we don’t think of it in one particular place . We think of it going everywhere,” said Michael Kernan, VP of ICM, a talent agency.
“For us, we focus on building brands. It doesn’t really matter where the consumer views it,” added Jon Vlassopulous, VP at Endemol, which develops TV shows. “We like the untethered notion of building brands.”
But these entertainment powerhouses are running into some unique dilemmas as they pursue new endeavors in mobile.
Programs typically bring an 85% return on investment to content providers, whereas wireless carriers have demanded upwards of 50% of revenues, said Michael Stroud, CEO and co-founder of iHollywood Forum Inc.
Hence, the tremendous interest in mobile advertising as of late. Many view it as a logical component that will help content vendors regain some of the revenues lost to wireless walled gardens.
“I think eventually paying for mobile content will go away, just like it is on the Internet. I think it will be advertising supported,” Kernan said. “There’s money to be made in mobile because if you get an advertiser to give you enough money it makes sense.”
“Brands are open to putting money into mobile,” Kernan added, but Doug Craig, VP at Discovery Communications Inc., made the point that advertisers aren’t going to spend money on mobile until they know what they can expect in return.
Across the panel, each spoke of a need for an industry-wide standard on everything from usage data to placing content on carriers’ decks.
“It’s great that carrier A has its act together, but what I really need is carrier A through Z to have their acts together,” Craig said.