LionDollars is always willing to contribute back to our industry !
The following is an interview conducted by XBiz . Our very own CuriousToyBoy fielded their questions in the interview reproduced below. The opinions expressed therein are his personal opinions and are not necessarily shared or endorsed by LionDollars. Watch for it in an upcoming XBiz Magazine or Online.
XBiz: For smaller adult companies that specialize in very specific niches (for example, spanking or tickling videos or goth porn), what are the advantages and disadvantages of distributing content electronically via the Internet as opposed to on DVDs? Please compare the challenges of selling, distributing and shipping DVDs vs. the challenges of selling digital content online.
CuriousToyboy: The DVD market and the internet market remain separate and distinct marketing channels, and although the internet and digital delivery has certainly impacted the DVD space (and will continue to do so into the future), both are very different in terms of the marketing challenge. Producing and marketing DVD's is, in it's essence, a wholesale/retail marketing challenge - getting your product through some delivery mechanism in front of the customer at the sharp end of the marketing channel is where the game is at. If you do not get your DVD on the shelf and presented to your customers, how they can even consider your title in their purchasing decision? When it comes to the internet, even though the challenge of consumer exposure remains a like concern, you are generally
dealing with a much different "beast". In an adult video store, a consumer will take more time. They will compare products and offerings, look around and weigh up their decision. Net based is far more opportunistic in that a surfer will make more impulse decisions when it comes to joining a site or downloading online. But they fundamental difference for a small operator is that with relatively low capital input and resourcing, they can get their product to the internet market FAR quicker, easier and cost effectively than nthey can get their product through the chain to the buyer in a "bricks and mortar" retail sense. The enormous amount of DVD/Internet, Internet/DVD crossover with companies these days shows how each view each other's market opportunities with excitement.
XBiz: Let's say that I am a director who is producing very specific content--perhaps lesbian goth videos, perhaps Asian tickling videos. For someone that niche-oriented, is it easier to distribute via both DVDs and online, or to strictly offer downloadable content online? What are my distribution-related concerns if my material is that specific?
CuriousToyboy: With any super specific niche, there are intrinsic lifestyle factors coinciding. It is FAR easier to find a concerted buyer for micro-niches online than it is to get them in front of the specific shelf space you may be able to garner for your DVD product. The market demand is FAR less on a per capita basis than for more "mainstream" porn options. The more "intense" the micro niche", the more driven the consumer is to search to find what they want. Less competition means more chance that your consumer will find you and also more chance that affiliates will promote you. In the same scenario I would be Net based and offer DVD's by mail-order
or download as my key approach.
XBiz: I have been told that more and more of the smaller niche-driven adult companies are opting for Internet-only distribution and are not selling their videos on DVDs at all. For niche-driven adult companies, what are the main reasons for taking a digital-only approach to distribution and not putting out DVDs? What are some of the things that make the digital/Internet method of distribution attractive if you are a niche-oriented adult company?
CuriousToyboy: Cost, timing, effectiveness and returns, and also importantly control of the marketing channel. DVD's cost money to produce, then to ship and to distribute. The returns to the producer after everyone in the chain has taken their drink can be low. Especially so if the product is not moving in high quantities. Smaller producers can and do also feel intimidated by the larger DVD "networks" and distributors, and have little or no control over their product. Online, controlled by them, gives them ownership and control at every phase of the marketing stream.
XBiz: In 2007, adult directors Rob Black and Andrew Blake both decided to quit releasing new DVDs and embrace a download-oriented/Internet-oriented method of distribution. Do you envision a lot more adult companies doing that in the future? Will the adult video and adult Internet worlds continue to converge, especially when it comes to niche material?
CuriousToyboy: The way of the future is NOT the DVD player. We are already seeing leaps and bounds in digital technology, and even moreso in the mobile technology market. The way multimedia entertainment of all shapes and forms will be delivered in the future will be the digital medium. The Gartner Group, a well respected international IT research organization has already proposed that the DVD/Video store as we know will be extinct by 2020. I would suggest that has a fair modicum of truth. How far as the internet adult business come in the last 10 years? How far will it go in the next 10 ? Content will still be content, it is the delivery mechanisms that will continually develop, change and alter.
XBiz: For niche-driven adult companies and directors, what distribution methods will be dominant in the future? Technologically, what are some of the issues that niche-driven adult companies will need to think about in the future?
CuriousToyboy: Mobile technology and delivery is the next wave. It can be seen that more and more people drive their lives from the palm of their hand. I see nothing that would change that from becoming more and more the case.
XBiz: If Internet speeds continue to increase in the future, how will that affect adult entrepreneurs who are totally niche-driven? Will that make them more Internet-minded and less DVD-minded? Please explain.
CuriousToyboy: As the internet grows, becomes faster and even more accessible access to potential customers becomes greater and greater. The online world becomes bigger and bigger by the day, and that will not change anytime soon if one looks at the size of the world and how online intrusion grows and grows. It is all about the how, when and where of accessing information, data and entertainment. And THAT will not change so long as my fundamental orificium assumes a downward perpendicular ;-)
XBiz: What are some of the credit card-related challenges that niche-driven adult companies will need to be aware of if all of their distribution is strictly online via downloads? What types of things will they need to do to keep the number of chargebacks to a minimum?
CuriousToyBoy: No real difference here than for the rest of the internet world, with the exception that the really extreme micro niche stuff gets harder and harder to process all the time. Deliver what you promise, provide the surfer with a good and fulfilling experience, make access to customer service easy and smooth and update often with new material. It's hardly rocket surgery ;-)
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Contact CuriousToyBoy - ICQ: 293070684 -
lindsay@liondollars.com
Contact Brad - ICQ: 163879276 -
phoenix@liondollars.com
Contact MacKenze - ICQ: 206626948 -
z@liondollars.com
;-)