From now on the strategy of adult circumstances does not apply, Sunrise Miyajo Managing Director talks about the future content industry's new marketing

On February 3Digital Hollywood UniversityAt "Animation · Business Forum +2011" held in Tokyo,Sunrise Co., Ltd.Yasuo Miyakawa producer"Mobile Suit Gundam UC"I gave a lecture on the innovative wind strategy (window strategy).

It is an ambitious strategy to overturn traditional business customs and common sense, which makes it a glimpse of the philosophy and strong beliefs of Miya River Producer. A new form of marketing that positively captures the change from "to have it invisible" in shape to "buy it after showing all" is not only for animation, but for the future content industry It may be an important point of view.

As an example, it was distributed on PlayStationNetwork (PSN)Mobile Suit Gundam UCHD picture quality is overwhelmingly seen than SD picture quality, it seems that more than 50,000 people have watched.

About the Tokyo ordinance
Sunrise Yasuo Miyakawa Managing Director (Miya River):
It is Miyawawa of Sunrise. Today I will talk about "wind strategy in Gundam UC" for 1 hour. Regarding Tokyo, as a person involved in entertainment, I personally feel that I'm doing something terrible, but as a company I do not have to do anything.


◆ What is Wind Strategy?
Miya:
First of all, what is wind strategy is, until now until the movie has been out for months after opening the window to release DVD, saying that wind strategy to take that period. In the past, the movie was released for 6 months and the DVD was out, but that period became shorter and shorter, now it is around 4 months. Movie theaters and so on are also released after DVD release in the current wind strategy. This is not a matter determined by law, it's just a mere adult situation.

For example"Social network"Look at the movie theater and think that this is interesting, I want Blu - ray. Even if it is 3 months or 4 months after walking around the city and Blu - ray sells, I do not buy it very much. I already forgot. If there is so much information coming in, it will be forgotten except what I want very much if it comes after 3 months or 4 months.

But those who say circumstances of adults,If you sell DVD or Blu-ray at the same time as a movie, people will not come to the movie theaterIt seems to think. In a remarkable example, in Bandai visualMobile Suit Gundam SEEDAlthough I tried to make the program called NTT FLET 's program to be seen, there was a story from the TV station that what happens if the rating drops out, there was a story from the Bandai visual company that it will not be sold on the net on the net . It's about 8 years ago.

I think that this is probably the result that everyone looked at each company's profit representative and did not think about consumers at all. I was wondering that this was strange and I had a lot of feelings that I wanted to change somewhere.

In such a situation, it happens to be Gundam SEED or its sequelMobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINYAnd,Mobile Suit Gundam 00Although I was doing, SEED or DESTINY is something extremely speaking like a truncated 1st fanUniversal Century (Space Century)I do not have to look at the people dragged in. "I made it with a feeling and took quite a criticism. However, thanks to doing something new, I think that a new fan group has been created and a new Gundam could be built.

◆ Birth of Gundam UC
Miyawawa
However, since I was doing SEED for a long time not to offer new things to those who supported Gundam for 30 years, it is tough to make a picture suddenly, not a cartoon It is Gundam UC that came up with the idea of ​​trying to make it from a novel. As Universal Century 's fans are often in their thirties to forties, it seems more interesting from characters than cartoons.

There is a novelist named Fukui Haruhito, "Aegis of the lost country"Or"Lorelei at the end of the warPeople who wrote, but I like Gundam very much,Turn A GundamHe also wrote that his novel was a very powerful person. Director Tomino and Yasuhiko (Yoshikazu) also knew about Universal Century about Mr. Fukui, so there was a story from around 2004 that I do not care if I can write a series of things. So I decided to talk to Mr. Fukui that I should make something new with UC.

In Gundam Ace serialized from December 2006, let's gradually make it a book. At this time I talked to Mr. Fukui and I had Fukui's hope that I wanted to give out as a short book like a jump comic rather than a hard cover for 1500 yen or 2000 yen, and what I had serialized at Gundam Ace was called comic ace I issued it with a binding book. And when I became a bunko this time, I went out with Kadokawa Bunko and sneakers bunko, but what I put out with the title "Unicorn Day" by Kadokawa Bunko has no picture of a character. I am in the sneakers collection. That means that adults should be able to read properly.


I made it with a big book, I could not read it on the train, the price was expensive and I thought it would not be very good, but for novelists there are many people who think that the hard cover is the book, that kind of In the meaning, Mr. Fukui is a big one. I think that this is also a new way of doing a proposal to abandon all such things and make goods that are easy to read.

◆ Imaging Gundam UC
Miya:
I think that it is selling SEED or 00 or others like image and selling tens of thousands of copies in each volume and selling 3 million copies or more with only SEED and DISTINY, but in a very record hit, It was around 2006 that the fans of Universal Century had angry that "Sunrise ignores us." Among me, although I said so, I was making unicorns properly for Universal Century fans, so I did not care much about criticism, but I have been thinking about imaging for a long time It was.

However, I thought about making a visualization after the novel almost finished the state, and Mr. Fukui first wrote a novel freely without thinking about imaging at first. That person will be very long if I write it freely, so it is now impression that I think it has become longer than I thought. So in April 2009 I announced imaging at Gundam Ace. At this time there was already what kind of image I would like to make in my head. Just "24 - Twenty Four -When the American drama which is representative of the popularization was popular, everyone is accustomed to the work of about 45 minutes in this work, I think that it is television that I am watching the 45th minute most and seeing a comfortable ending It was. In that sense, I was thinking about the target of thirties in general, so I tried to film for 45 minutes instead of 30 minutes of terrestrial TV animation.


If I say 45 minutes of film, people in the animation world think OVA or something, but OVA is a bit different. Thinking about how to do to break the window strategy, I'm doing at a movie theater but I can see it on the net, and when I go to the cinema, Blu - ray is put on it, three together I was thinking that I could not do it. Although I do not have a movie theater as the BANDAI NAMCO Group, I have other parts as a group company, and even if I bother trouble by issuing DVDs and Blu-ray quickly, I am in the same group company, so let's do it Kana

That's why at Gundam UC Episode 1 we did three things: event screening, paying distribution, and Blu-ray advance sale at the same time. I really wanted to do it in 45 minutes, but in 45 minutes the main body of the unicorn did not come out, it was 60 minutes. There is a constraint that it is regulated by television and it has to be collected within 40 minutes. How important it is to make a program in the constraints is important, but this time "How much unicorns are coming out?" "About 60 minutes" "It will be around 60 minutes" So, it was also interesting to decide the scale freely.


◆ ripples and results of the new window strategy
Miyawawa
So, first of all, paid delivery was controversial,People will not come to the movie theater if paying a fee.And quite a lot of people told me about the movie. But I do not have anything to do with it. It seems that it is on a big screen called a movie theater and payload distribution is seen only on a screen of limited size as it is seen on the net. In fact, in fact it was wanted to see something with a high quality for paid delivery, so in an environment where stable HD can be seenPlayStation Network (PSN)Was the best at that time and the target layer of Gundam UC was consistent with the purchasing layer of PS 3, so we first exclusively distributed it in HD with PSN. Incidentally, interesting data comes out here, too,In net distribution with HD and SD, the number of purchases of HD was overwhelmingly greateris.

As a result, I think that it was successful thanks to what kind of effect the screening, paying distribution, and Blu - ray brought about. At the episode 2, 5000 Blu-ray ready for movie theaters was sold out in one day, so I think that 10,000 copies will be prepared for episode 3. It is sold at 10 cinemas that are open to the public, and it thinks that it is a hit work exceeding 200,000 on the general market. Since PSN which I said earlier has very high figures,I wonder what the wind strategy of adult circumstances everyone is thinkingIt is my impression.

When I think about sales strategy all the time, I think only about what I am and I want Blu - ray on the spot when I see it in a movie theater, when I am busy and I can not go to the cinema with internet delivery I want to see, thinking from such a user's point of view. Even though I think about the profit structure and customs so far, I think that things will not be sold and that customers will not be pleased.

By the way the event screening was limited to two weeks. From the day after the theater is over, you can buy Blu - ray at a general shop. I go to the cinema and only sell at the cinema at regular prices, so if I stand up for two weeks and buy it at Amazon, it will be cheaper. That is why I thought that I could not sell at a movie theater, to be honest. So it was a figure of 5000, but in Episode 2 it caused you inconvenience for that ... ... there are many people who choose to get it two weeks earlier than you can buy somewhat cheaply I understood very well.

Depending on the customerSome people place importance on discount rates to be able to buy faster than peopleWhen. Just to say so, we can not sell the same thing, so the things we sell in the theater are different jackets and we attach scenarios.

◆ "Disk Does Not Sell" is an excuse
Miya:
This is different from the sales strategy, but it is said frequently recently"Boards (DVD and Blu-ray) can not be sold" is an excuse, not only is not enough wisdomWe think. Looking at recent trends, Bandai Visual said that it is a work called Gundam 00, which it says in February, but saying "What are you talking about, let's release it in December" I set it short insignificantly. Everyone will change their minds if the year opens, and there is no reason to sell them. After all the fans of 00 are high school students or college students, so if they sell at the end of the year or something like a sushi ball, it would be unavoidable.


This was also sold, but if you look at the number 9800 yen Blu - ray limited BOX sells overwhelmingly, ordinary DVDs do not sell so much. a little while ago"Gintama"Although I did a movie, after all it is limited edition to sell overwhelmingly. I do not think that the limited edition is all, but I think that it should be sold properly in the package rather than buying the image. So, even at Gundam UC, the general release was a limited edition that comes with ordinary goods, scenarios when buying at the theater. I think that it is the difference between what I am waiting for 2 weeks and 20% OFF and what I can buy only at regular price.

So, I think that terrestrial waves and such are to be seen at the end. It is my window strategy with the theater, distribution, Blu-ray and finally the terrestrial wave. In that sense, rather than broadcasting to the TV station on the ground wave, I believe that customers will be delighted by broadcasting on terrestrial waves, that part is what I am doing.

Episode 3 will be released on the 5th of next month, really should sell Blu - ray after 2 weeks, but since it was out of stock last time, in order to prepare sufficient quantity this time it will be 4 weeks window period Are provided.

◆ Deployment in the future
Miya:
Although it is development in the future, I would like to further advance that it should be taken out together rather than taking out the relationships of movies, television, Blu-ray, DVD, and the company's interests I will. Since I was in SEED, I was doing a large-scale live involving music and images, and in April of last yearBandai Namco Live CreativeWe launched a live company called. This is part of the window strategy among myself, but from now on I think that I would like to bring them closer to the BANDAI NAMCO GROUP, how to connect the video and live and develop it and how to do it with the net It is.

For example, live viewing which various companies are already doing. Last year I played the silver soul at Kokugikan, but I used the movie theater for live viewing around 27 screens throughout the country. Next time we will play the silver soul again at the Kokugikan in April, but we have done twice and perhaps ten thousand people each, for a total of around 20 thousand visitors. I am watching that live viewing is about 50 screens and it will exceed 10,000 people. From now on 10,000 people in the live venue, 20,000 live viewing, a total of 30,000 people will watch live and sell boards on that.

Although it is easy to say privilege video, a game named G Generation will come out at Bandai Namco Games this time, but as a bonus last year I did "Portrait of red ~ Char, and to the frontal ~I put on the DVD of the work named. Though it is released in March, the order status has improved very much. If you think calmly, sticking a DVD to a PSP or a strange product, it is very popular.

Screening, Blu-ray, Internet distribution, I wonder at what similar times these things are going to develop, and as a future Bandai Namco group should think about that. In order to do so, we are planning to create various types of companies and to prepare shapes that can be cooperated by everyone. Although it is not meant to have a movie theater, there is no media in the group that can release the video, so if you have it there will be a whole expansion at the same time. I think that it is very important that how to destroy such things as event screening is not selling Blu - ray or DVD in normal screening, and there are various pieces of distortion. It is.

Then if you have any questions, please.

◆ Q & A
Q:
How much profit does Gundam UC paid delivery have in the whole?

Miya:
I think that I would like to produce production cost only by net distribution, but it has not reached that yet. Regarding net distribution, I do it all over the world at Gundam UC. It is my idea to distribute online, for example, if the Chinese living in Brazil wants to see the work on the net and to purchase Chinese Gundam UC at Amazon. There are about six languages ​​on Blu-ray, and if there are 6 languages, about 70% of people in the whole world can enjoy it. As for profit, more than 50,000 people are watching PSN's HD at a price of 1000 yen. After three weeks we are opening up the Internet distribution, so several times as many people as you are seeing it. It is a feeling that it seems to be a business.

Q:
It was a story that we do not care about the net so much, but how do you think about communication with users on the marketing side?

Miya:
I think that the net is interesting and I try to make Twitter properly done for marketing people. The live we do is very profitable, but I think that's because it uses very little advertising expenditure. Next month I will play a preliminary screening of Gundam UC and I gathered information on Twitter a few days ago, but the tickets are very selling. It's not only Twitter, but I try to make various communications as a company. I do not mind worrying about anything written yet, I think that I want to do SNS properly.

In terms of Gundam, not only in Japan but also in Asia I would like to develop as much as possible that can be done at the same time, in terms of communication on the Internet, know-how has been accumulated since I made a Bandai channel And, as a promotion recently a very interesting tool such as Twitter came out. I feel that it was the era when people and fans in public relations can exchange directly.

Besides that, at Bandai Namco Live Creative they are doing a variety of interesting things, and musiciansDaisuke AsakuraI'm doing a person's live, but since I am working with Twitter and working with Nico Douga, live creatives have accumulated know-how such as Nico Douga or Twitter. Next time it is up to the future how to utilize it to Sunrise or Bandai Visual.

Q:
I have killer contents called Gundam and have a channel on the web and I think that there are other things difficult for other people to imitate, but do you think that a new window strategy is effective even outside Gundam?

Miya:
It is said that Gundam is killer content, but it was considerably depressed before SEED. There was more than ten years like the one that was supported by SD Gundam. To say that winds disappear after thinking about it is to be abandoned momentarily if you do not make good things. I think that there used to be OVA long ago, but what OVA is said ... ...Bini bookIt is something like "I buy it because this person is making" and there was a place that I bought without knowing the contents.It is important to show all of them from now on and buy it on thatI think.

When I was in America,Burns & NobleIt was shocking to go to a book store saying that there is a sofa. Although it is commonplace now, I read the book slowly at the bookstore and buy it. In Japan, it was an image to be said "Do not browse" when browsing, but it was Barn's & Noble that it was sitting on a sofa properly and reading it, buying it convincingly and buying it I think that. I guess the same thing happens to the picture.

In that sense, what kind of risk has Blu - ray on the cinema at the same time is that if it is a boring movie it will not sell at all. Moreover, when it is written on the net that it is "boring", it will not sell Blu - ray two weeks later as well. The shorter the window is, the more the manufacturer will have to make what you want.

In Sunrise's work "Code Geass: Lelouch of the RebellionAlthough there is a thing called, the original work was not a work of high famousness so far. How I cook it is not much related to the size of the company and I believe that the brand called Sunrise should not negatively work on the work. Because it's Sunrise, you never have to watch a movie. Because it is a "social network" so I am going to watch it, because it's a Sony Pictures movie, it's not going to see. I think that it is misunderstood that such a company, "I would see it because it is a brand's brand" or rather how important it is to keep the title important.

Q:
Do you have any plans to develop a wind strategy like this one original?

Miya:
I am planning to do more radical in the original. From April"TIGER & BUNNY (Tiger & Bunny)Although I'm going to do a program called "The logo on the back of my character, I recruited corporate advertisements, so there were quite a few entries. Like company F1, we put the corporate logo on characters. It seems like "where the culprit today is offered". Although it is slightly different from the window strategy, I think that it is the first thing that comes out to the world, so we have to do such new things more and more.

Q:
What is the reason for putting emphasis on live?

Miya:
TV is a royal road on television and I think that it is a very important thing, but I think that it is necessary to feel more restrictive. Even if you look at the music market, sales of CDs are falling, but live sales are rather growing. That is to raise awareness of the work by attaching it not only to the music market but also to the image. If I say more, I wonder if it is necessary to make a festival properly. I want to give a live feeling that can not be done on TV as Nico Douga is shifting to Nico Raw. In that sense, BANDAI NAMCO Live Creative is a company to give a sense of limitedness.

Q:
Although Gundam's window strategy is that it took quite a while to make it freely by completely sweeping all the traditional window periods,DEATH NOTE"There seems to be considerable bashing from the industry. How about the voice from the industry at Gundam UC?

Miya:
Ironically it is nothing, but since the budget size is quite different between live-action movies and animation, there is no social influence as much as DEATH NOTE, and it's done in a small place as it is not noticeable so far It is not like the pressure of the ne. When I say "I want to do something like this" to a movie-related person, I say "Please do not bother me", but there is nothing like pressure from the industry.

Q:
I think that other companies may imitate this window method.

Miya:
Rather than a method, I think that it is only about thinking about a customer. I am going to go to the movies if I am interested at about 500 yen before paying 1,800 yen and watching movies, which is very user friendly, so many companies do it, so that animation is really kindness, about the user I guess you know, I guess you can go up the whole industry if you make me think. Nevertheless, I think that it is good to think about the customers while destroying the way the company has been in the past.