M+E Daily
Survey: Piracy Prevention Still Top Challenge for M&E Companies
Story Highlights
Media and entertainment executives continue to view prevention of piracy as a primary challenge to their business, according to findings of a survey conducted by supply chain specialist ModusLink Corp.
The other challenges highlighted by video content producers, game/software publishers, service providers, and others that participated in the survey validate the needs of an industry at the crossroads of physical and digital delivery. Topping the list are:
• Improvement of marketing and promotional capabilities;
• Visibility of customers and their digital rights;
• Provision (getting products to customers);
• License keys, activation keys, and subscription keys; and
• Overall channel visibility.
Glenn Grube, ModusLink’s global director of marketing services, notes that channel visibility can play a key role in curbing piracy as well as improving marketing effectiveness.
“Most solutions do not provide visibility from the beginning point of production to the end point of consumption,” he says. “Producers of digital content, selling through distributors and resellers, still need to see who their consumers are. They need to be able to understand their buying patterns, and react to their attitude changes, interest, demands and satisfaction. In the traditional channel, much of this information is filtered or does not reach the producer. Therefore the producer/manufacturer is not aware of what the consumer base is thinking and doing.
“The high technology industry learned this many years ago,” Grube continues, “and it is one of the reasons why many high technology companies are now selling and fulfilling directly to their consumers.”
More than half of the products delivered by media and entertainment companies are still physical, according to the ModusLink survey. In tandem, respondents note their migration from distribution and reseller channels to the Internet as a direct-to-consumer channel.
Executives perceive their end consumers as still wanting to own content over renting it — even when content is delivered digitally. Still, by respondents’ estimation, consumers who prefer rental/subscription models are only 14 percentage points behind those who prefer to own digital content.
Accordingly, ModusLink says, 60% of the survey’s respondents say their companies are working to identify new revenue streams from rental/subscription consumers.
For more survey details, contact Glenn Grube at [email protected].
