Management and Distribution of Multimedia Titles

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Management and Distribution of Multimedia Titles

• Unit F

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Objectives

• Who develops the title?
• Outsourcing titles
• Project management
• Multimedia careers
• Mass-market distribution
• Online distribution

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Who Develops the Title?

• In-house or outsource?
• Project complexity level
• Expertise of current staff
• Train or hire employees
• One-time occurrence or ongoing?
• Contracting out specialty pieces

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Who Develops the Title?

• Outsourcing Benefits
• Service providers know the industry
• Know latest trends and what is passé
• Have database of multimedia experts

Different skills needed for each
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Who Develops the Title?

• Selecting a Service Provider

Niche in the market important
Concrete examples of work
Promotional packets
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Outsourcing Multimedia Titles

• Contract and establish relationship
• Become a client but in a partnership
• Need close cooperation
• Need effective communication

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Outsourcing Process - Initially

• Company identifies its needs
• Company writes a RFP (request for proposal)
• Defines project

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Outsourcing ProcessRFP Response

• References
• Deliverables
• Timelines
• Budget

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Outsourcing Process Company Response

• Awards the project
• Writes the contract
• Parties both agree to contract
• Specifications
• Decision maker

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Outsourcing Process Responsibilities
Client
Service Provider

• Provide idea
• State objectives
• Develop specs
• Provide content
• Provide budget
• Determine timeline
• Identify liaison
• Identify decision maker

• Help refine idea
• Help clarify objectives
• Clarify/meet specs
• Generate content
• Provide cost estimates
• Establish schedules/meetings
• Identify liaison
• Manage the project

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Project Management

• Plan the project
• Form the team
• Organize the resources
• Strategic Planning vs. Project Planning
• Corporate vision five year plans
• Identify projects to help meet long-range goals
• Projects have measurable attributes

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Project Management
Planning

• Task Analysis who is responsible for what
• Helps establish resources needed
• Determines budget
• Questions to ask

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Project Management
Planning

• Budget development financial plan
• Provides control
• Helps evaluate project
• Compare planned to actual expenses
• Most titles cannot produce a title for less than
  100,000

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Project Management
Planning

• Schedule development beginning, ending and
  milestone dates
• Helps coordinate team efforts
• Shows potential bottlenecks
• Avoid feature creep which occurs when
• New features added
• Specifications changed

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Project Management
Identifying the Team
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Project Management
Organizing

• Ensuring resources are available
• Opening lines of communications
• Defining procedures for collaboration
• Optimizing the work environment for creativity
  and cooperation

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Project Management
Organizing Resources
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Project Management
Project Manager

• Make sure team is organized and motivated
• Characteristics of good manager
• Lead by example
• Be straightforward and sincere
• Recognize accomplishments
• Listen

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Project Management
Physical Work Environment
Area for team to meet informally
Plenty of storage space
Proper lighting and work space
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Project Management
Planning
Psychological Work Environment

• Team Building
• Have team take ownership of project
• Include team early in project
• Hold periodic meetings
• Set up e-mail
• Give public recognition (credits screen)

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Multimedia Careers
Education
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Multimedia Careers
Study Areas

• 3-D animations
• Web authoring
• Business administration
• Education
• Soft skills
• Communication oral and written
• Problem-solving
• Critical thinking

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Multimedia Careers
Experience

• Internships
• Entry-level positions
• Personal portfolio
• CD or web sites

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Mass-Market Distribution of Titles

• The ultimate test of a title is its demand, which
  is influenced heavily by retail exposure,
  advertising and point-of-purchase display
  materials.

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Distribution Models

• Needs to have some value added as it moves
  through channel

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Distribution Models
Wholesalers

• Buy from publishers
• Resell to other entities
• Services provided
• Control inventories
• Process returns
• Give technical support
• Offer worldwide network of retailers
• Publishers discount price by gt50

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Distribution Models
Retailers

• Consumer impulse buying
• Shelf space demand slotting fees from publisher
  to stock title
• Publishers discount price by 35-50

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Distribution Models
Catalog Sales

• Monthly catalogs
• Distribute to selected markets

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Distribution Alternatives

• Direct mail can buy target audience mailing
  lists
• Bundling with some other product
• Good to launch a product
• Establish brand identification
• Must discount price 70-80
• Online sales

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Online Distribution
Purchase Ship

• Same product on multiple sites
• Multimedia publisher
• Distributor
• Amazon.com software category
• Product reviews, summary and ratings available

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Online Distribution
Downloading

• Advantages
• No shipping fees
• No waiting
• Can use immediately
• Seller can reduce costs (manufacturing, storage
  and handling)
• Seller can concentrate on promoting impulse
  buying
• Disadvantage best for small files
• Can provide free demos

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Online Distribution
Subscriptions

• Online versions and updates
• Can access via the Internet
• Receive annual updates at a discount
• Users loyal to sellers
• Keeps users up-to-date

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Online Distribution
Challenge
Allow searching for multimedia elements
Attracting buyers to site
Users access search engines
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Issue How to Market Multimedia Titles

• Marketing/promotion strategy
• Product strategy
• Pricing strategy
• Distribution strategy
• Publicity strategy

How does the Web and technology changes affect
these?
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Management and Distribution of Multimedia Titles

• End