When Random House wanted to reach teenage girls to tell them about the release of the third Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants book, Girls in Pants, where did they locate them? On their cell phones, of course. Recent data shows that more than 170 million Americans have cell phones and nearly half of U.S. teens and tweens own one. Armed with that, publishers are starting to experiment with cell phones as alternative means of distributing content, generating revenue and promoting print titles.
Several reference houses have begun to deliver text, audio and graphics wirelessly to subscribers who need bits of data on demand. Random House Ventures, the investment subsidiary of RH, recently purchased a substantial interest in wireless publisher Vocel (News, Feb. 21) to create content for its Living Language and Prima Games brands. Both imprints will launch wireless content this summer. "[Living Languages] is a terrific application for phones," said Richard Sarnoff, president of Random House Ventures. "People like to study languages in the interstitial times in their lives [such as waiting in line]." In the case of the Prima content, subscribers will be able to use their phones to access hints, cheats and codes as they play interactive games on their computers or consoles.
Rand McNally got into wireless two years ago with its Mobile Travel Tools downloadable maps and directions on Sprint PCS. The program has gone through several incarnations to take advantage of handset and network improvements, and will soon expand to another carrier (yet to be announced), enhanced by GPS (global positioning system) technology. In February, the publisher launched Rand McNally Traffic through several carriers. Alan Yefsky, Rand McNally's v-p of new products and strategy, said consumers have demonstrated an interest in paying for wireless mapping. "It's more relevant than sitting at a desktop and looking at a map," he commented. Though Yefsky declined to give actual numbers, he said that the publisher is "pleased with the number of subscribers."
Merriam-Webster has worked with content publisher Jsmart on simple downloadable word games, first for PDAs and then for cell phones. In late 2003, the two companies expanded their partnership to include networked language tools tied to Merriam-Webster's dictionaries and thesauruses. Consumers can look up words and immediately receive definitions, translations or synonyms.
As PDAs and cell phones converge, with phones assuming PDA-like functions, certain genres of wireless PDA content, such as e-books, are being adapted for cell phones. Jim Withgott, Merriam-Webster's v-p and associate publisher, reported that consumers can download The Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionaryand a half dozen other M-W titles to their phones.
While reference publishers' wireless initiatives have value in terms of marketing and understanding an emerging market, revenue generation typically is the primary objective. "We are making money," Yefsky reported. "It's not some sort of advertising or promotional initiative."
Other publishers are exploring wireless opportunities for a combination of revenue, promotion and market exploration. In early 2004, Tyndale House began working with Airborne Entertainment on the Left Behind Mobile Prophesies, available via Verizon and Alltel. The application offers subscribers scripture passages, screensavers, prophecies, devotions and discussions. Tyndale sees the program as a marketing initiative with a nominal financial payback, according to Dan Balow, director of rights and licensing. "Christian content in this format is something rather untested, so we recognize the market will take a while to get used to it," he said.
Content publisher Airborne also sells the Seven Spiritual Laws with Deepak Chopra, an application in which subscribers receive a "daily law," a weekly message from Chopra, success tips and inspirational images. Airborne has worked with Berlitz since 2002 on a branded application for daily words and phrases, travel tips, cultural information and text alerts, and it partnered with photographer Anne Geddes in 2004 to sell her images as cell-phone wallpapers.
Mobile Marketing
Publishers targeting teens and tweens view cell phones as a marketing channel first, although paid content delivery can be part of the package. Comics, graphic novels, fiction and nonfiction for this age group have been translated to wireless applications involving text messaging, wallpapers, ringtones and/or games.
Last December Random House Children's Publishing launched a multi-carrier text-messaging program for Ann Brashares's Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood. The three-month promotion was supported in all the brand's print, TV, outdoor and mall/kiosk advertising, allowing cell phone users to send original or pre-programmed Pants-related text messages. Random House delivered promotional notices about author appearances, this summer's Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie and the book's on-sale date to consumers who have supplied their phone numbers, as well as short messages appended to peer-to-peer communications. "This isn't content-based, it's a marketing vehicle," said Linda Leonard, RHCP's associate director of new media marketing. "The books emphasize community, and cell phones actually play a big part in the third book." Traffic to sisterhoodcentral.com was more than five times greater during the promotion than before, according to Leonard. Children's publishers are now looking closely at this type of promotion to see how text messaging might work for them.
Graphic novel, comic book and manga publishers have also been active in mobile marketing. Not only is their target audience the sweet spot for cell phones, but their content lends itself to phone screens. In February, Archie Comics announced a worldwide deal with Nazara Technologies for a wide range of wireless content from comic panels to, in the near future, animation. "We were literally deluged by offers from wireless content companies," said Steve Herman, Archie Comics' v-p of merchandising. "This is how kids are communicating now."
Marvel Comics and content publisher MFORMA partnered in December 2004 to create and market wireless content worldwide (except in Japan) based on Marvel's 5,000 characters. Content, which will include games, images, greeting cards, ring and voicetones, character simulations, messaging and mobile comics, will be tied to all Marvel media and will be available on Marvel Mobile, a branded mobile and online destination.
More licensed properties are being launched simultaneously in multiple media, including publishing, television, online and, often, wireless. Riot Media is a lifestyle brand for tween boys that will launch this spring with a Web site, magazine, comic book and mobile content (through Airborne), followed by books and other merchandise. Jay Gissen, Riot Media's founder and chief creative officer, pointed out that, given the growing number of tweens who use and personalize cell phones—at $1.99 per download—revenues can quickly become significant. "But even if it's not a revenue thing," Gissen continued, "we want to use the cell phone as a way to alert our customers to exciting new things on our site and in our world."
Challenges Abound
Publishers want to get into wireless in part to gain an understanding of this complex and confusing market and how it can be exploited, beyond generating revenue and marketing their brands. Each carrier, platform, operating system and handset has different specifications, essentially requiring publishers to create a unique application for each phone and each carrier, a costly proposition that raises quality-control issues. There are more than 50 leading phone models available, and each carrier is aligned with different handset manufacturers, which fragments the market and limits the audience for some applications. Pricing models and contractual terms are still evolving.
Continuous improvements in handsets and carrier networks present additional challenges. Sprint and Verizon have recently introduced services that can handle full video, but only a few handsets can accommodate them. Most publishers are trying to strike a balance between reaching mainstream consumers and incorporating cutting-edge technology. "Success is a function of how many people have phones that can run [an application]," Yefsky said. "We serve the mass market, so we publish for the widest range of people we can reach."
Probably the most fundamental challenge is whether U.S. consumers will want to receive information on their cell phones and what form it will take. Withgott explained that cell phone users have embraced games and ringtones, while carriers have shown interest in pushing profitable music and video services. "Where books and book content fall within consumers' and carriers' interests remains to be seen," he said.
