This week, DEGI: The Digital Entertainment Group International released data that confirmed the impact and success of the first ever Mega Movie Week in Japan. Electronic sell-through (EST) sales experienced a remarkable +430% increase in volume and an over +145% increase in sales value. There was a simultaneous rise in Video on Demand (VOD) usage, with a +135% increase in volume across the same week.
Driven by the DEGI and local Japanese studio representatives, this first time ever collaborative EST/VOD cross-category campaign ran from Weds, 31st Jan to Tues, 6th Feb 2024 and featured 12 leading digital retailers, with over 70 titles from 4 participating distributors. It showcased a positive return on investment (ROI), especially in the VOD sector, with a notable rise in +6 units per ¥200 invested.
Chris Parrott, Vice President – APAC Digital Distribution, NBCUniversal said: “It’s been fantastic to see the industry come together and collaborate on our first ever Mega Movie Week event in Japan. The campaign delivered on our objective of increasing awareness of the availability of recent movies and timeless classics to buy or rent. Not only increased awareness, but customers are increasingly embracing this opportunity to buy or rent recent movies in the comfort of their own homes, ad-free. We look forward to building on this early success and bringing movie lovers in Japan more Mega Movie Week events into the future.”
‘Mega Movie Week’ marked the first cross-industry consumer promotion for digital transactional services in Japan. It was crafted through an extensive period of collaboration with local distributors and platforms and was informed by recent insights into the behaviours and attitudes of Japanese audiences. It achieved its primary goal, to boost digital transactions by offering consumers enticing deals on the latest hit releases and timeless classics, while increasing the frequency of purchases among current customers, and foster new customer engagement.
Participating Hollywood studios and Japanese film distributors included Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, Paramount Pictures & My Theatre D.D., while offers were hosted across major retailers, including Amazon Prime Video, Kantele Doga, Crank in! Video, J:COM STREAM, TELASA, milplus, Hulu, Music.jp, U-NEXT, Rakuten TV & Lemino who all provided strong merchandising spots actors all local store-fronts.
Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan Inc. handled local PR, securing broad online coverage, including highlights from the likes of JiJi.com and CinemaCafe.net; this was further supplemented by international coverage (run directly from DEGI) across the likes of Advanced TV & BBN Times.
Liz Bales, Chief Executive, DEGI said: “Working with colleagues in Japan to create a campaign which speaks directly to Japanese consumers, built from local insights and promoting local and international content, has been a great experience and highlights both the unique characteristics of the Japanese home entertainment sector and the rich expertise of the industry community. We are delighted with the strong results of this first activity and hope to grow activities and provide further support where our Japanese colleagues welcome it. My thanks to everyone who supported.”
You can find more information about MEGA MOVIE WEEK at: https://degiorg.uk/announcements/2024/01/mega-movie-week-debuts-in-japan-with-unprecedented-cross-industry-campaign/
For more information about DEGI campaigns please contact Andy Neilson at [email protected]
