THE BUSINESS OF BEING “TRANSPARENT” By Darryl Rembert
Amazon now has a Golden-Globe Award winning TV series, “Transparent”.
While some may have questioned the company’s decision to enter the
arena of television and producing original programming, it may have
turned out to be a brilliant business strategy on Amazon’s behalf. In
addition, it may be the company’s ambitious marketing strategy that
keeps it ahead of the competition in 2015 and beyond.
Here’s how the game works. Amazon is banking on a few things to make
this whole deal successful. First, they hope that you’re going to say,
‘Hey, have you heard about that series on Amazon? You know the one that
won the Golden Globe, “Transparent”? For those who aren’t familiar with
the show, it’s about an LA family with serious boundary issues. They
have their past and future unravel when a dramatic admission causes
everyone’s secrets to spill out. It stars veteran actors Jeffrey
Tambor, and Judith Light. It won “Best TV Series Musical or Comedy” and
“Best Actor in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy” at the 2015 Golden Globe
Awards. Entertainment Weekly rated it #1 in 2014.
Now that you have some background information, let’s get back to business.
In order to stream the series from Amazon, you have to become an Amazon Prime member. Amazon Prime is the company’s membership service, which in March increased its subscription price from $79 to $99 per year. Perks include free two-day shipping along with streaming movies and TV shows. Members tend to buy more Amazon products. The entire process becomes a win/win situation for Amazon. With this type of strategy, how can they lose? Think of it as bundling…brilliant!
In addition, Amazon is hoping that with all the hype growing around
its’ new shows, including the recent addition of Woody Allen to write
and direct the still untitled “Woody Allen Project”, fans won’t
hesitate to sign up for Prime. If that’s not incentive enough, The New
Yorker Magazine is also planning to launch a TV show on Amazon soon.
Despite its financial losses in the past, Amazon may have struck gold
with this one. Movie and TV connoisseurs alike have been eager to jump on
the brand new bandwagon of streaming content. There’s a new game in
town and it has proven to be very popular and very profitable thus far.
Even major media companies like HBO and CBS, which have seen success on
traditional media platforms, have recently launched new streaming services.
What’s more, we don’t just watch content in our living rooms on our big
screen TV’s anymore. We watch it on all kinds of different screens from
cell phones, to laptops, Ipads, Ipods, tablets, and now even wrist wear.
Content streaming is becoming more and more commonplace. This opens the
door for a whole new arena of entertainment for the average consumer.
Plan to see much more of it in the not so distant future. It’s a game
changer, so look for more to come… and with that said, “Let the games begin!”
