Post on 16-Apr-2017
“Just because you could, doesn’t mean you should.”
A NEW, IMMERSIVE ANTI-PIRACY INITIATIVEA PARAMOUNT CO-OP PROJECT
Strategic Document 10.12.2011
CREATIVE LEAD: BILL BRUCESTRATEGIC LEAD: GUNTHER SONNENFELDPRODUCTION LEAD: STEFAN SONNENFELD
In the simplest of terms, piracy is the act of obtaining materials without the proper rights of legal ownership. (Such as this photo.)
Digital piracy is bigger than the drug trade in many cities (like Los Angeles), and is the biggest subsidy for terrorist activity in those areas.
Unfortunately, for the movie industry, technology can only do so much. It boils down to simple Internet economics, really.
THE BACKSTORY:Nearly 25% of all global internet traffic is dedicated to digital theft. The cost of global digital piracy is conservatively estimated at $75 billion. Faster broadband speeds, greater storage capacity and an abundance of illegal sites— which appear on search engines -- accept US credit cards, complete with advertising to masquerade as legitimate sites. These sites get over 50 billion visits annually. So it’s entirely possible some may not even know they are downloading illegally. Others know exactly what they are doing. For those who knowingly download illegal content, the psychology is one of entitlement. They’re not stealing. It’s all free anyway, or at least it should be. Beyond that, they are viewing something they wouldn’t go out and buy anyway. Then there’s the belief that Hollywood is full of objectively rich people who aren’t going to be hurt if Tom Peterson doesn’t give them his $15 for the latest Netflick.
“Nearly 25% of all global Internet traffic is dedicated to digital theft. The psychology is one of entitlement.”
The visionaries have spoken. But they don’t play in the spaces where pirates play.
This is a social issue. A cultural edict.
Actually, things have gotten a lot worse.
As evidence, not much has changed over the last several years.
Piracy, downloading and sharing are
strongly attitudinal, and ethically-driven.
Source: Emerald Research
Caveat: Digital citizens or “netizens” have developed their own systems of ethics.
They’ve had no choice.
“The important thing to remember is that there’s no such thing as copyright that has remained fixed and constant over the last 200 years.”
- Lawrence Lessig, Harvard Law Professor
COPYRIGHT IS AN ARTIFICIAL BOUNDARY BETWEEN CREATOR AND CONSUMER.
[C.K. Prahalad at the 2008 World Economic Forum]
To (re)boot, our views of media change when they go “digital”.
MUSIC CONTENT
Bent: songs as social currency
“I only want one song off of the album.”
“I want to show people how cool I am in what I
listen to.”
“I don’t really care about the record companies, I
have a right to own my own music library, on my own
terms.”
VIDEO CONTENT
Bent: movies as a shared story
“I want to explore my own version of the story.”
“I’ve already seen the movie in the theater, so why can’t
I keep a few clips?”
“The studios make a ton of money -- why can’t I share
this content, especially when I’m promoting it?”
APPLICATIONS
Bent: utilities as community property
“Why should I share the app, when I can’t share the
content?”
“Am I paying for access for free stuff, or am I paying for access to buy more
stuff?”
“I’m going to create my own app and allow my
friends to access cool stuff for free.”
Compounding the problem is the fact that digital literacy - especially among our youth - is trying to catch up with the rate of usage.
Usage is also problematic for the industry in general because the most active users of “free” are those with the highest discretionary incomes.
The digital pirate is a chameleon. A hacker. An unknown. His rationale: Catch me if you can.
Our rationale: Let’s be a part of the chase. And then make it our own.
Pirates don’t have real profiles.They exhibit characteristics without a distinct social identity.
(HOWEVER) “INNOVATION” CAN MEAN:
HACKINGPARTICIPATORY STORYTELLING
MEME CREATIONPRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
APP DEVELOPMENTENCODING APPROACHESPOLICY CO-CREATION
MOBILITY
Key insights:Piracy is presented as a false dichotomy between theft & copying; it’s actually about the desire for connection, not ownership.
Once people connect, they’re compelled to co-create, share, mix, or remix. The remix culture is very real, and very active.
This culture begs for structure - not so much of the legal or corporate sort, but towards social rules. Game dynamics.
Anti-piracy, in and of itself, is an
emerging market.
A remixing phenomenon that Warner Bros. supported to generate fan activity around the franchise, around the release of “The Dark Knight.”
It became a viral meme that generated 10M downloads, and produced hundreds of remixes, even across other media franchises. Awareness around the movie and
its licensed properties was unprecedented (even if some of the material was “lifted”... But you get the point).
Lance Weiler’s “Pandemic 1.0”- Sundance 2011
[a phenomenal participatory storytelling, social experiment]
Best in class. [Tim Kring’s “Conspiracy For Good” - 500K+ downloads, 5K dedicated participants, unlimited spread]
This was a Nokia-supported initiative that had people becoming
activists around a conspiracy to do good. It was by far the most
successful mobile “marketing campaign”
ever.
STORYCONSPIRACYDISCOVERYDEADLINES
ELITE MEMBERSHIPACCREDITATION
A HIGHER PURPOSESOCIAL REWARD
Key components.
THE POSITIONING:
The best way to influence thinking and change future behavior is exactly the same: to not scold, wag a finger or talk down to the remix set. Rather, it’s best to sway educate and connect with a confident sense of right over wrong and with a bold sense of humor. But just as importantly, we must offer a solution -- something that will inform people where to go and enable them to do the right thing. To go from being entitled, to being enlightened. It’s not enough to simply tell people what not to do; we need to ask them to do something different. For this, the simplest, most cost-effective solution is to create an immersive experience. This experience would offer not only a list of the legal sites to download and stream, but also: engaging answers to questions, an open forum to exchange thoughts and ideas, interactive games, plus other shareable content. So the “platform” would be cool, fun to navigate and not seemingly self-serving and dry. It should be accessible through any device someone wants to use.
“We must offer a solution - something that will inform people where to go and enable them to do the right thing. To go from being entitled, to being enlightened.”
1. Inform people on what piracy actually is, or could be.
2. Introduce them to, and immerse them in, the associated behaviors.
3. Change their attitudes & behaviors such that they become anti-piracy advocates... For the long haul.
GOALS
Think of this ‘platform’ as a grand social experiment that gives us purview into user behavior. Ideally, new audiences will emerge from our communication touch-points, and those created through the ‘earning’ of the media on offer.
Segmentation opportunities abound: fan types, niche communities, captive audiences, etc.
Money that’s been left on the table for years will now be recaptured.
Let’s tap into online movements.
MOVIE COMMUNITIESMovie aficionados have a decent digital literacy; they can share, and in some cases, remix content. Many them are aspiring filmmakers, so they also produce a fair amount of original content.
Their opinions have a sweeping network effect - in fact, most movie reviewers defer to the forums where these folks are having lengthy exchanges.
Subgroups, or “tribes”, are widely varied but also very interconnected. Most important, they are all affected by, or contributing to, pirated activities.
TRIBES:GENRE
PARANORMALPRODUCTION
DESIGNWRITER[source: eCairn Conversation - a unique social media mining tool;
sample set: 400 interconnected influencer groups & several hundred thousand conversations]
They’re everywhere. And active.
MUSIC COMMUNITIESMusic users also have a decent digital literacy; they also can share, and in some cases, remix content. The main distinction here is that they tend to use downloadable music as a “badge”, a statement of identity.
Their opinions also have a sweeping network effect - and a direct correlation to potential sales. That said, the copycat rule applies: they’re mostly only willing to pay once.
TRIBES:GENREINDY
PRODUCTIONCOMPOSERS
THIRD PARTIES
They’re ready to play.
GAMING COMMUNITIES
Gamers, as a whole, are by far the most digitally literate. They pride themselves on their knowledge, and are constantly trying to reinvent ways to hack systems - consoles, apps, web platforms, etc.
Their opinions also have a sweeping network effect specifically on the ways games are conceived and developed. Most important, they are very influential in film and music communities.
TRIBES:SOCIAL
PERVASIVEARG/LARP
CONSOLE/ APPCASUAL
THE TRIGGERS:When designing the experience, always ask: What would a pirate do? What would a victim feel? Who are the victims? How does this affect businesses? Industry? Society? What are some of the gray areas in between?
THE INTENT:The experience needs to stand for such common sense that it becomes the outing of irrational, unclear, unpopular thinking or behavior… across the board. We help create this zeitgeist. Which means that anytime someone in the world does something worthy of the phrase: “Just because you could, doesn’t mean you should”… We bring light to our cause. This is a behavioral imperative. In order for this to become possible, the platform needs to be worthy of being adopted and shared. It needs to have utility value - in other words, something that can be used with deep cultural, social and commercial impact. Ultimately, the message via the films/spots, needs to be propagated by many of the same people who are guilty of this behavior. Ironically, by sharing the films/spots with friends, they help spread the word. So it’s crucial that we are engaging and funny. All experiences and communications would ultimately drive home this idea with one final simple, straight forward thought and call to action: Internet theft is wrong. See movies the right way.
We help create this zeitgeist. Which means that anytime someone does something worthy of the phrase... We bring to light our cause. This is a behavioral imperative.
Hitting the areas where (anti)piracy affects us most...
PERVASIVE GAMINGsimulates behavior
IMMERSIVE MEDIArepresents action
SHAREABLE CONTENTextends conversation
addresses: a way to engage with others
satisfies: the need to understand motivations
inspires: achievement
addresses: a means to interact with a story
satisfies: the need for renewed context
inspires: interaction
addresses: an opportunity to connect with new ideas
satiates: the fear of isolation, jumping into the unknown
inspires: loyalty
VIRALITY“I am going to share this because I think it’s provocative and I am curious to see what others think about it.” (unintentional spread)
PROPAGATION
BROADCAST IN
ACTIVATION
THE SOCIAL LEVERS:
“I am going to share this because I feel strongly about it & I want others to as well.” (intentional)
“I am aligning with this idea.”
BROADCAST OUT“I’m not sure, but I will test the waters.”
“I am going to invest in this idea by taking action (in the real world).”
videos
memes
games
curation
TV/IPTV
rich media
apps
events
[sentiment]
[sentiment]
[behaviors]
[behaviors]
[actions]
[actions]
AWARENESS
“Remixing is a great and creative alternative.”
ACTIONACTIVATION
STORY & MESSAGING EVOLUTION:
telling my story
connecting w/ others
sharing solutions
family is affected
business is changing
friends are asking
creating new stories
editing new content
designing new product
“Pirating takes away from my own best interests.”
“I am a reformed pirate.”
“I am a business leader.”
“I am an activist.”
“JUST BECAUSE YOU COULD, DOESN’T MEAN
YOU SHOULD.”
INTELLIGENT CONSUMPTIONP2P REVIEWS
FRIEND RECOMMENDATIONSCITIZEN ARTICLES
BUSINESS DRIVERS CONTENT DYNAMICS EVOLVING METRICS
CITIZEN ADVOCACY
AUDIENCE ACQUISITION & RETENTION
EMERGING MARKETS
FRIEND MOVEMENTS/MOBSSPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS
CITIZEN REPORTING
3RD PARTY REVIEWSENGINEERING WIKIS
EDITORIALSsCRM CHANNELS
VIRTUAL CALL CENTERSREAL-TIME FORUMS
DEVELOPMENT FORUMSHACKER INNOVATIONS
CITIZEN DEMOS
INFLUENCER SCORES (NPS)SOCIAL VELOCITY
VIDEO/LINK SHARINGLBS CHECK-INS
PASS-ALONGS/REDEMPTIONNEWS MENTIONS/SEARCH
REGISTRATIONS/OPEN RATESSEMINAR REGS/VIDEO VIEWS
BLOG COMMENTS/FB UPDATESREFERRAL OFFERS
DM SURVEYSMENTIONS/ORGANIC SEARCH
CITIZEN FB/G+ PAGESG+ HANGOUTS
BRAND INQUIRIES
The measurement framework:
POLICYMAKING
“Return On Intention”
Piracy is a mindset that operates in a continuum. How will we leverage technology, media and culture to adapt to shifts in behavior? To take complexity head on?
Gunther SonnenfeldCo-Founder & Managing Partner,
@ThinkState
(w) http://thinkstate.com[b] http://goonth.posterous.com
[t] @goonth
gunther@thinkstate.com
CONTACT: