Made for Mobile Content

Amp'd mobile's press release from April 10th defied a number of expert opinions out there about the viability of Mobile Video (see http://get.ampd.com/About/Press/index.php). True, Amp'd's subscriber base is the niche of entertainment-minded young users that have driven its ARPU metrics through the roof (at $100+/month, over twice the industry average). But it is a niche that is bound to become mainstream over the next few years

Over 50% of Amp'd's data ARPU comes from Content, as opposed to the industry average of 25%. Amp'd users are also downloading more OTA music than other carriers, something that is attributed to their easy-to-use interface. This underscores an important point that is repeated again and again by numerous opinion articles: make the content easy to discover and seamless to buy, and consumers are more likely to come. A great article that drives this point through: http://blogs.mediapost.com/mobile_insider/?p=64. The best point stated: "The content [available on mobile] is not that good to induce us to learn new habits — and the alternative, easier channels to the same information are just not that far away... It seems to me that once we stop depending on the irresistibility of our media, we can start focusing more on the real barrier to entry for mobile content — convenience."

The most interesting part in the Press Release though is the success of their Original video content, which accounts for 5% of the total content, but 30% of the overall downloads. Content is still king in the mobile world, or whatever channel. MobileInsider argues that too "a lot of time and money gets spent trying to squeeze the last medium’s successful formats into successes on the new medium. But it is just as likely that we should look to the failures of the previous medium when planning the next." (see http://blogs.mediapost.com/mobile_insider/?p=63)

The good news is that we've got a successful case study of how Made-for-mobile can work in a walled garden (no indication though if the industry is going to settle on a la carte or subscription...) How is Amp'd so successful at doing this, when so many pundits are slamming V-Cast's 24 1-minute Mobisodes?

Here are a couple of links to Amp'd content:
1) Sucks Less with Kevin Smith, http://www.mtvu.com/on_mtvu/sucks_less/

2) L'il Bush Resident of the United States: http://youtube.com/watch?v=YYeJEFa-xCA

Here's a link to the first Episode of the 24-Mobisode:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJGVsXgoukk (I'm not sure if this is supposed to be on YouTube...)

Perhaps the most noticeable difference is the length of the Amp'd versus the 24 short-form. Clocking 1-minute, I wonder if the 24 Mobisode is going a bit too extreme in terms of defining the concentration span of the Mobile lifestyle. For a story to be engaging, we need to establish plot, location, characters and pace -- that's hard to do in a minute -- something is bound to fall off the list. The Amp'd content is definitely engaging, even the ones clocking 10 minutes...

To contrast with the opinion on the previously cited Blog, perhaps some of the Media companies already have figured out the rules for creating content for the Mobile environment. There are definitely pacing rules (though, this is more of a demographic consideration: young people are more inclined to watch mobile video content, and shows on MTV and other youth-oriented channels already have these pacing rules nailed in terms of camera angles, movement and editing) and there are technological rules (consider the size of the screen and the network's frames per second when determining how shots are put together and how much action can be captured without melting into blurry visual muddle)

I think we'll definitely be seeing an uptake in both made-for-mobile content and its consumption as more people figure this out. Should be an exciting year!