Pepsi's Challenge to iTunes: Who Will it Help?

Who really cares?

First off, the target audience and demographics? Teens and tweeners.

Do they watch the superbowl? NO

Does Apple market to them? Yes.

Is Amazon cool? Not unless you are old, and the teens and tweeners don't do amazon.

Not hip, not cool.

What is the price point break?

$.10. Who cares? And have you tried downloading from Amazon? I have.

iTune Music Store is it.

I am 45 years old. I have been using iTunes since it came out.

I would go anywhere else.

Why?

It just works. It is cool.

Sheez if is want books I will go to Amazon.

For music downloads, iTunes Music Store.

According to a study by Outlaw Consulting, Gen Y (who makes up 72 million buyers), and Apple is number 1 on their list. I don't believe I saw Pepsi or Amazon on the list. I think Gen Y will have a huge influence on this campaign. You can grab the Outlaw report on this blog link: http://www.millennialleaders.com/blog/?p=66

How soon people forget... Apple ran iTunes song promotions with Pepsi, starting with Superbowl ads already in the past. Been there, done that. In fact it was a flop, and I'd be surprised if Pepsi approached them again Apple would agree to do it again.

Pepsi executed their side of the promotion disastrously, I would expect the same poor execution again this time. Last time, even if you were actively looking for Pepsi products that had the caps that had redeemable codes, they weren't in stock. Because of regional bottlers, some regions never got to play at all, others only started 1 month after the promotion ended. The other factor was the retailers, who only had massive amounts of pre-promotion product stock on hand, so while the promotion was fresh, right after Superbowl, NO ONE had the promotional products stocked on their shelves yet.

BUT this time, the recall this has been done before is lost, instead we're fed this big STORY how Amazon is gonna topple iTunes since Pepsi is running a replay of the iTunes song giveaway promotion with their store this go around. Whatever...

As content creators with a focus on new and emerging media, we understand the challenges surrounding the monetization ability of digital content. In this light the debate around protecting content from ‘unauthorised’ downloads / usage has intrigued me right from the beginning both as a consumer as well as a creator.
While iTunes and more recently even sections of Bollywood have been able to sell DRM protected content and reaped moderate benefits, introducing the idea of ‘paid’ digital media to consumers, DRM implementation is still hobbled by lack of universal standards, high costs and overstated efficacy. As a Short Form Content developer in India, we have evaluated DRM specifically in our context (SFC) as opposed to the holy grail of digital content. And we believe, A new medium needs a new idiom. The success of the quirky creative endeavors has been fuelled by a viral internet platform. The content creators allow (via their web sites / channels] users to carry (embed) their work and share it with the rest of the cyber world without paying a penny.

This massive traffic and organized distribution has created new markets and made it easier to access the old ones. For some amateurs there may not be much after a short spate of viewership but a serialized, well marketed amateur video can evolve into a brand (lonelygirl15). I strongly feel Internet is a beautiful medium to help content travel to various markets and demographics. Instead of locking it down be prepared to re-purpose / re-orient your product to any distribution channels such as Mobile or even Print.

(comments posted by: saurabh@phonethics.in)

Dennis,

you are absolutely right. Amazon is not focusing on their core.

Pepsi and itunes, the best of both worlds, ipodpop.com lol!

No DRM... smart...
I would rather be smart than cool.
Old guys like Dennis must like being stick in "cool" and limited land!

You people still just don't get it do you. Subscription music is the only way to go...the great juke box in the sky. But you'll never try it, so you'll never know. Long live Napster 4.0

SLA,

DRM doesn't concern major demographics.

Try taking an economics class.

Joe Q public, want ease of use and doesn't concern themselves with the technical side.

DRM concerns are only for those whom share their music with others and were probably the hacks that caused DRM to be implemented in the first place.

And SLA, old? Any time you want to compare portfolios and homes, vehicles and toys, bring it.