Thankful, after all
November 26, 2008

In this season of economic doom and gloom, it’s awfully easy to feel the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Pick up the newspaper to see the Dow fell again (and so did your 401k), Big Industry is laying off workers by the thousands and wildfires raging through southern California. The rains came last night, but that means mudslides in the burn areas.

Sometimes it takes an effort to be thankful for the things you have. I personally have lots to be thankful for: a good, challenging job, home equity, my health and a healthy, happy family including two smart, funny, beautiful kids.

Professionally, there are lots of developments that we in the industry can be thankful for as well, despite concern over the toll the economy may take on fourth quarter sales. These include:

Twilight. I literally jumped up and down when the teen-vampire romance took in $70 million in its opening weekend, and not just because Summit’s home entertainment chief Steve Nickerson is a heck of a nice guy. VB’s business depends on having a variety of healthy program suppliers operating in the industry and the growth of large indies like Summit and Image is crucial to our business as the studios increasingly focus their marketing efforts on consumers and a handful of big retailers. These companies should be equally important to retailers, especially those not in the aforementioned “handful,” as a growing source of quality, varied product and valuable marketing partners.

Wal-Mart and Blockbuster. I know, indie retailer readers are sputtering right now, “Thankful for Wal-Mart?!?” But these big guys are bellwethers for the industry.

Since Wal-Mart accounts for such a large sell-through market share, to a large extent as Wal goes, so go fourth quarter sales. The fact that the recession (I’ll call it, even if the economists are still figuring) drives more shoppers into Wal-Mart could have a positive influence on home entertainment sales this holiday season. Goodness knows there will be lots of factors pulling the other way.

Similarly, Blockbuster is symbolic of the entire home entertainment industry on Wall Street and in other sectors. The fact that Blockbuster under CEO Jim Keyes is cutting its losses and positioning itself for increased consumer convenience is a good thing for the industry as a whole.

Retail Blu-ray marketing. Target ran a killer ad insert in Entertainment Weekly’s current DVD issue, which struck me as solid proof of the chain’s commitment to the format. The Tru Blu ads are nice, but an aggressive, consistent marketing and merchandising effort from the likes of Target, Best Buy and others is what it’s going to take for Blu-ray to achieve mass market penetration.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted by Marcy Magiera on November 26, 2008 | Comments (0)