Distribution channels for multimedia
titles are broadening rapidly as the market grows at a pace even the experts
didn't predict. One distribution channel that will be important is bookstores.
They will serve as a launch pad for new media titles because bookstores are
not intimidating to the ordinary consumer, and because the general public are
more comfortable in bookstores than software stores. In addition, bookstores
are an arena for teachers and educators looking for learning aides, which will
be presented in the classroom, shown to children and recommended to parents.
Even if games are the best-selling genre now, home "edutainment" titles are
the fastest growing market segment.
Previously in this column we have discussed the multiple channels for titles,
including the current software channel and the emergence last fall of the video
channel for rental and sell-through. Now, bookstores, the channel for paper-based
information services, are emerging as a significant channel for multimedia titles.
(See Vol. 3, No. 7, p. 13, and Vol. 2, No. 5, p. 2.)
The idea of finding a multimedia title in a bookstore is not totally new. A
few major book publishers released their first multimedia titles in 1993. But
during 1994, the floodgates will open. Nearly all major book publishers, and
some niche publishers, will be releasing products in a variety of genres.
The bookstore channel looks as if it will be very active during Christmas 1994-
a year ahead of previous predictions. Retail tests have been initiated by publishers
and distributors. In fact, savvy publishers, like the Waite Group and Random
House Electronic Publishing, are bundling CD-ROM products with books. New alliances
are forming between publishers and content developers. Major book publishers
will release a significant volume of product this year, first through established
bookstore channels, then in new venues such as software retailers and computer
superstores.
New developments.
Bookstore chains are looking to Baker & Taylor to help them support the multimedia
market, and the distributor expects all the major chains will be distributing
CD-ROM titles by this coming Christmas. Brad Grob, the director of business
development, new media, at Baker & Taylor Inc., is setting up and rolling out
market tests now. Some 20 to 30 stores in a chain will commit a four to eight-foot
section of shelf or floor space to sales of various multimedia titles. The eclectic
nature of readers, who typically browse for some time before making a book purchase,
lends itself to the introduction of a variety of multimedia genres, including
edutainment, literature and reference works. Grob says, "Video and music channels
will gravitate more toward games and children's titles, whereas bookstores will
create a broader mix."
Another test recently rolled out to selected bookstores dedicated space to a
kiosk of Mac-based titles from Voyager, Macmillan New Media and others. The
kiosk includes a multimedia Mac running titles as a demonstration.
Random House and Br¿derbund Software last year formed a new joint venture, Living
Books, combining Random House's expertise in children's book publishing and
Br¿derbund's expertise in children's multimedia development and publishing.
They will share the joint venture's technology, content and channels covering
books, video and software.
Bundling: CD-ROMs with books.
Multicom, a well-known CD-ROM publisher based in Seattle, Wash., has been bundling
its titles with hardcover and high-end paperback books for distribution through
bookstores and warehouse clubs. Multicom's "Better Homes and Gardens Healthy
Cooking CD Cookbook" is bundled with two high-end paperback books, Fast Fixin'
Diet Recipes and Pasta Recipes. Valued at $72, the bundle is sold for $60 -
essentially giving the books away free. "National Parks of America," another
Multicom CD, is bundled with the best-selling hardbound book, National Parks
of America, featuring the photographs of the famed photographer, David Muench.
"The simultaneous release and cross-promotion of the book and our CD-ROM opens
additional distribution channels for each product," says Paul Attard, the COO
of Multicom. "Having a single disc that supports the two major platforms - MPC
and Macintosh - and bundling... opens up the traditional book store channel
to CD products. Until now, bookstores have been reluctant to introduce CD-ROMs
to their customers." Nevertheless, Multicom must bow to the past by offering
its titles in three forms: the book, the interactive CD and the combination
of the two.
The book publishers' own channel.
Random House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and others will look to their
own bookstore channels, as well as to the established software channel, to launch
products. Bookstores by their very nature will attract a different audience
from the software or video channel Ñ look for the music outlets to become the
channel for CD bundles with audio and video cassettes. But bookstores have traditionally
bridled at the introduction of multimedia titles, since the noise and action
of a demonstration station violates the library-like sanctity of aisles of books
browsed by thoughtful consumers. New titles from these publishers will drive
a wedge into this market by extending the capabilities of the traditional book.
Random House's dictionary is easier to search than a paper reference title,
as are the various CD-ROM encyclopedias. Non-fiction and literature on a disc
is more compact than a book - and can pack a video punch.
The trick will be using the paper book as a familiar point of entry into the
multimedia world. By bundling books with discs, as Random House, Multicom and
the Waite Group do, the publisher can get around the hidebound beliefs that
have prevented multimedia from gaining a foothold on bookstore shelves, next
to Shakespeare and other classics. As book publishers bring new products to
the retailers who trust them, resistance to the channel will erode.
"In broad terms, like a book, a CD-ROM is content driven and interactive," Bonnie
Predd, former senior executive at Waldenbooks, said recently. "Publishers, authors
and characters America loves in print and are accustomed to finding only on
the shelves of their favorite book shop, are all scrambling to expand the possibilities
of their properties by adapting them to the CD-ROM format. The heavy book shopper
displays the same demographic characteristics as the early adopters of this
new technology-specifically above average in household income and education
level," Predd adds.
With the installed base of CD-ROM drives in the home climbing to 4.7 million,
and aiming for as many as 10 million by the end of this year, this growing market
will demand broader channels to service its interest. Easier access, more varied
genre and a comfortable shopping experience will be critical to the growth of
the market. We should consider the power of the bookstore channel, which offers
all those features, and a large, loyal customer base.
Joey
Tamer refines the vision, strategy and success of companies --
Fortune 1000, capitalized start-ups and investment fund.
www.joeytamer.com
(310) 245 5310 joey @ joeytamer.com