THOUGHT (aka Centric's Blog)

What Hollywood needs isn’t more lawyers, lawsuits, and technology. It just needs a great user interface (or UI, in programmer-speak).

Consider this. Yes, YouTube is growing fast, but you don’t see people posting about how they’re going to replace their blockbuster movies with 3 minute homebrewed clips; they complain about rude people in theaters and how expensive the popcorn is. Yes, people share movies on BitTorrent, but their numbers are very small; it takes a determined individual to navigate the morass and wait hours or days for a movie to download.

The problem isn’t the user-generated media. It’s not sharing. The problem is that entertainment hasn’t come to terms with the new consumer model—give it to them when they want it, easily, on their own terms, for a fair price . . . or watch your sales shrink.

What Hollywood needs is an iTunes. It needs an easy-to-use user interface that is always there.

The interface is the key. People, by and large, don’t want to go through the trouble of using BitTorrent; hell, I’ve seen case studies where people checked their email 10x less frequently if they had to open a browser window rather than a desktop application. Memo to Hollywood: we’re lazy. Make it easy for us to get your content, when and where we want it, and you’ll make a fortune.

And yes, I know you can download TV shows on iTunes. Good start, but how about movies? What about HD resolution? What about a rational pricing model?

The studio that figures out a ColumbiaLink or iUniversal (or whatever) desktop user interface, together with pricing that doesn’t make people cringe, will be the force that saves Hollywood. The ones who don’t? They’ll be the dinosaurs that die to become the oil that powers our new media future.

But hey, better do it fast. I hear Netflix is hiring UI designers for its download service.

“The internet? A passing fad, why bother?” (1994)

“Nobody’s making any money on the internet, so why should we have an online store?” (1997)

“Keyword buys ain’t gonna replace our 30s TV ads.” (2000)

“Well, the internet is still dead after the bust, isn’t it? (2003)

“Kids on YouTube are never going to challenge the studios and networks.” (2006)

Rationalization. Gotta love it. There are lots of ways of talking yourself out of success. Being on the cutting edge of next-generation media, we hear them all the time. It’s not tested. It’s not proven. It’s not something I’d watch.

But facts are facts. Next-generation media is an opportunity you can’t let pass by. Where else can you get millions of impressions for free? Get your customers to be your product evangelists? Have them create your ads? Nowhere.

And it’s almost free (at least in the context of your total ad spend.)

Reduce your TV placements by 1%. Drop one ad a month in the big mags. Forego a couple of billboards. And put the money in a user-engaging next-generation media campaign. That’s the tiny, tiny investment we’re talking about.

So. Why NOT?

Are you ready for change? Your prospects are.