pixar plus: an app (media economics & brand strategy)
TRANSCRIPT
Pixar Plus: An AppLisa D’Mello, Jacquelyn DiNick, Brittney Johns, Vanessa Teran Iturralde
Background1986: Apple’s Steve Jobs bought the Lucasfilm computer graphics division for $5 millionPixar began with animated shorts / increasingly complex animation over the yearsAnimators overcame lighting, other scenery challengesNighttime scenes were uncommon in digital animated films, but Pixar conquered the technological
challengesFeature Films
Toy Story (1995)Pixar’s first animated feature-length filmHighest grossing film of the year, making $362 million worldwideReceived 3 Academy Award nominations
Every film thereafter saw major successToy Story 3 (2010) highest-grossing animated movieOther films received Oscars or Oscar level nominations
Why Do We Care?Pixar is a household name
Known for graphics and imagery; better yet, compelling storiesStories are built around the same theme of self-improvementThe formula: With the help of friend or family, a character ventures out
into the real world and learns to appreciate his or her friends and family
Tavis Smiley interviews John Lasseter for PBS (2007)“It’s gotta be about the growth of the main character and how he
changes.”
Pitch: Pixar PlusBehind the scenes
Watch how animators use state of the art computer technology to bring characters and worlds to life
Meet the voice talent and learn how they got into characterHear a special word from John Lasseter, one of the fathers of PixarView never before seen footage that made the cutting room floor, including deleted scenes
and alternate endingsA First Look gives fans a glimpse of up and coming feature length filmsBe the first to view teaser trailers for movies like Finding Dory (2016) and Toy Story 4 (2017)
StoreUsers can connect to the iTunes store to purchase and download films straight from Pixar’s
pageTheatrical shorts, as well as animated shorts from Pixar’s early years to present-day, will be
available to purchase and downloadAn in-site store will offer movie-themed merchandise
Pitch: Pixar PlusFan interaction
Join in the conversation by posting to message boardsCompete to win special prizesTeaming up with ACM’s SIGGRAPHWinners will receive tickets to the annual SIGGRAPH conference, movie tickets, iTunes store
discounts and small merchandise
Personalize your photos Allow Pixar Plus access to your mobile device’s cameraYou can choose add-ons such as backgrounds and stickers, and send them digitally
Pitch: Pixar PlusPixar Plus
Lite Version $6.99
Store Store
Theatrical/Teaser Trailers Theatrical/Teaser Trailers
Trivia Trivia
Competitions And Prizes
Never Before Seen Footage
Behind The Scenes
First Look
Animated Shorts
Pixar Plus Business ModelCost of Developing an App:
Planning and R&D- Pixar will have to plan the app, its function, its design and how it will benefit the company.
Developing for iOS- - Apps on different devices have their own operating systems and for the most part, different native SDKs (software Development Kits) and programming languages.
People on The Team- Pixar will need a highly skilled team of software engineers and architects to develop their app and they will have to cover all grounds of the development phase
Accounting and Legal- Pixar needs to make sure that they are not infringing on any copyrights with music, artists etc. when they are allowing people to buy and stream movies on their app.
Marketing and Miscellaneous Costs
Monetizing The AppFree App
The reason that a free version was included was because free apps are downloaded 10x as much as apps that you have to pay for.
The free app portion that will be available to all has limited features that give the audience a taste of our app.
There are buying cues throughout the app
As a free user you can also watch the trailers to upcoming movies. These trailers will help promote the movies through the app and will hopefully translate to increased ticket sales
Pixar Plus
The app will cost a one time fee of $6.99
When you download the premium version of the app you get the special behind the scenes and making of the movies. You will get sneak peaks at movie trailers before they are available to the public and you will be able to access teasers and clips from the films.
The targeted audiences here are the die-hard fans and animators that enjoy watching how the movie was made and what the process was in creating characters and animation decisions.
Pixar Financials Pixar has been a financially successful company from its
first film Toy Story that released in 1995 and made over $350 million dollars worldwide
Pixar has been a financially successful company from its first film Toy Story that released in 1995 and made over $350 million dollars worldwide
Pixar movies have been financially lucrative in franchising its product because it has branded its movies in such a way that they always evoke a sense of nostalgia amongst its audiences
Pixar Financials Continued..
Demographics“To bring the kid out of adults”Pixar’s philosophy is to
market towards children and adults.
Pixar wants their audience to age along with the film.
They are in a unique position because they can market and cater to both without sacrificing content and creativity.
Demographics (cont.)FamiliesChildren (bet. 3-10 years old)
specifically boys Millennials
older teenagers college studentsyoung adults
Pixar Plus: Target MarketThe app will represent the brand’s essence as a company who offers entertainment for the whole
family.
A key market will be children and preteens, ages 4 to 15, who use mobile devices to play games and stream videos.
Also designed to attract a market niche consisting of Pixar’s biggest fans: people who love and enjoy animation and are attracted to all things Pixar (merchandise, news, films and apps).
The kids app market is a blooming industry. Tablets are used by parents and schools to incentivize children’s development and apps are regarded as both educational tools and a source of entertainment.
Pixar in Social MediaPixar already has a strong social media presence, independent from the Disney brand. An app would be an organic way to capitalize on this asset and also attract new fans and followers.
Kids and Mobile DevicesThe majority of kids living in the US own a personal mobile device (cellphone or tablet) by the time
they are 12 years old.
56% of children ages 8 to 12 own a cellphone.
70% of children under 12, who live in a tablet-owning household, use the tablet device in a weekly basis.
77% of them use the device to download games, while 56% use them to engage in educational apps.
In 2014, the most popular kids apps were not developed by big media companies but by startups or companies that dedicate themselves exclusively to app development: Angry Birds, Trucks HD, Toca Hair Salon.
Most popular features in kids app include games; drawing and coloring; photo editing and manipulation, video streaming.
Disney AppsDisney offers more than 50 apps for download on iTunes and Google Play, from games based on
movie characters to an online movie store (Disney Anywhere) and tour guides to its theme parks.
Some of the apps are based on Pixar Movies, like “Numbers with Nemo” and “Toy Story: Story Theater” but there is not an app dedicated exclusively to Pixar products and content.