News
Simpsons content goes D2C
Stuart O'Brien Jul 4 2007, 12:15pm
Exclusive: First ever Simpsons content offering will be entirely D2C in the US.
Jamba is ready to unleash the biggest direct-to-consumer (D2C) content campaign the US has ever seen.
The next few days will see the launch of the Yellow Plan, with content from TV show The Simpsons becoming available on mobile for the first time to tie in with the release of the eponymous movie on July 27th.
Crucially, none of the content – with the exception of EA Mobile’s Minutes to Meltdown game – will be available from operator decks. Instead, News Corp subsidiary Jamba will be running storefronts at Jamster.com and TheSimpsonsMobile.com (not currently live, so you'll have to wait).
For $9.99 a month, the Yellow Plan will offer fans credit for six downloads from a selection of The Simpsons content, such as made-for-mobile voicetones, wallpapers and polytones. Video is in the pipeline and the plan will also include EA’s game.
Speaking exclusively to ME, Jamba COO Lee Fenton said: “The way we’re going to bring The Simpsons content to market in the US is an industry first, but one that we’re quite confident about. The Yellow Plan is a huge moment for the US D2C content market and it’s also a rare example of a standalone content offering based around a single entertainment brand.”
Jamba will be riding the coat tails of The Simpsons Movie’s multi-million dollar global marketing campaign, with the Yellow Plan set to feature in ads on Fox TV, web banners, inserts in DVDs and call outs on movie posters. This should deliver massive awareness for little direct cost.
“In terms of subscriber acquisition we don’t expect to have a huge on-air advertising push. We expect to generate most of our traffic from other Simpsons and News Corp online destinations and from the compelling nature of brand itself,” said Fenton.
Simpsons content will be made available globally a short time after the US launch, with subs models equivalent to Jamster plans in other markets.
In Europe the game will be available on-deck, but again no operator deals are in place for the wider content suite.
See this month's (July) issue of ME magazine for a full interview with Jamba CEO Lucy Hood, COO Lee Fenton and chief sales office Markus Berger-de Leon.
