We spend our time in digital, but the reality is that we’re all still struggling to make a living out of it. Where does the money come from, how is this structured, who can you talk to and what do you need to know? This session will take apart a successful commercial digital project (Sherlock: The Network) and look at where the money came from. We’ll then look at all the other funding options, from advertising to sponsorship to merchandise to subscriptions to affiliate revenue to app sales. We’ll look at the differences for factual versus fiction; games versus experiences; mobile versus web. Along the way we’ll touch on YOUR project and look to see what models might work for your cross-platform concepts.

1. ThePixelLab
28June-4July
Inverness, Scotland
#PixelLab

2. ‘INeedaDollar’
-Where’sYourROI?
Jennifer Wilson
The Project Factory
#PixelLab
@powertothepixel

4. If you are not running a business….
… are you running a charity?

5. Return on Investment
COST
BENEFIT
Beneficial
Return
Financial
Non-­‐financial

6. Return on Investment
Financial
Non-­‐financial
• Cash
• New/Re-­‐commission
• Goods
• In
Kind
service
• Audience
• Social
media
/
buzz
• Awards
• Engagement
/
Feedback

7. • Audience retention / growth
• Proof of interest / (re)commission
• Marketing / awareness (ratings)
• Exploring new forms (games etc)
• Revenue (sponsor, advertiser or consumer)
What return do you want?

8. • Revenue: How much? From where? Conversion rates
(download -> purchase)
• Audience: what numbers? Growth percentage
• Social Media: Real reach, real engagement
(retweets, shares etc)
• Ratings:
App store, comments, reviews (and TV)
• (Re)Commissions: New clients, contracts etc
Rule of thumb: set three
Set your Key Performance Indicators

10. Get the money to start
• The three ‘F’s
• Grants/foundations
• Pre-sales
• Development/production financing
• Distribution/ sales agreements
• Advances
• Crowdfunding

11. Crowdfunding
• Start with Audience (money follows)
• Create desire: scarcity, early, limited, expiring
• Marketing: teasers, trailers, affiliate
partnerships
• Social media: Influencers and seeding
campaigns
Generating Interest (then money?)

12. Crowdfunding
2014: $16.2. 2015(e) $34.6b

14. Crowdfunding…..
…is getting crowded.

17. Scarcity

19. Make money from what you’ve done
• Advertising
• Sponsorship
• Affiliate revenue
• Merchandise
• Licensing
• Audience

20. Marke&ng
Extension
Commercial
Who
funds/
benefits?
Broadcaster/
Producer
Broadcaster/
Producer
Producer
/
Digital
partner
Who
pays?
Broadcaster/
Producer
B’caster/
Prod
/
Consumer
Consumer
Returns:
Sponsorship
Adver&sing
Sales
(consumer)
Mobile
Apps
/
Games
Excellent
w/
right
sponsor.
App
usually
free
Increasing
but
intrusive
Cost
per
AcquisiRon
/
CPM
models
Premium
(paid)
Freemium
(IAP)
Free
(markeRng)
Web
Sites
As
above.
May
have
adverRsing
also
Common
and
accepted.
Standard
models
Less
common
Some
memberships

22. Advertising

23. Others
7%
of
sale
value
(digital)
JIT
manufacturing/license

24. Sponsorship

25. 2
5
GTST
SPRING
LEVEND
client
RTL/ENDEMOL
producRon
date
JUNE
2013

27. 514,000 DOWNLOADS
1 IN 4VIEWERS DOWNLOADED APP
TV AUDIENCE INCREASED BY 25%
+
ROI:Audience retention + Growth
SPONSOR FUNDED

29. Digitally hungry audience
69 Million viewers in China
8 Million viewers in UK
4 Million viewers in US
Top rated show globally

31. _Characters
_Location
_Tone of voice
_Theme
_Rules

32. _Role of player
_Frame/Device/Participation
_Mechanics
Game selection
Look & feel
Replicate real

34. ‘So, you want to be in the
Homeless Network...’
‘There are places that I... cannot
go, that you can inhabit.’
‘Mrs Hudson, where are my spare
mobile phones?’
‘I’m going to give you a phone -
that’s how we’ll stay in touch.’

35. _Gameplay relevant to
storyline
_Includes recognised
images & sounds
_Increasingly complex

37. +
INDIVIDUAL CASES
MAIN STORY

38. _30k recruits powered Twitter
Hashtag Counter #jointhenetwork
_20k followers on Twitter
@sherlocknetwork
_15k likes on Facebook posts

40. SHERLOCK
THE NETWORK
client
HARTSWOOD
FILMS
&
TPF
release
date
JAN
2014
+

41. • Initial launch: Premium (£2.99)
• Fans rush in: but don’t gouge them
• Price drop based on events, time in market etc
The Sherlock Journey (Part #1)
One day
price drop
--- January to March ---

42. • Relaunch: Freemium (2 cases+[4+4], Amazon+4)
• + Android
• +Chinese
• Marketing support: Amazon, Apple + Tencent
The Sherlock Journey (Part #2)
--- August ---
--- Launch to end August
---

43. • Audience retention / growth
• Proof of interest / (re)commission
• Marketing / awareness (ratings)
• Exploring new forms (games etc)
• Revenue (sponsor, advertiser or consumer)
What return do you want?

44. ‘If Sherlock himself designed
an app it would probably look
like this’
Digital Spy
‘This, my dear readers,
is one excellent app’
Daily Star
‘Will delight you from
the first launch’
Unofficial Apple Weblog
Top Entertainment App 38 countries
iTunes
No.1 Paid App in UK

45. “It is clear that , for the right show, digital
and interactive media can now offer more
than generic brand extension, and can
instead extend, deepen and enrich the
audience experience beyond the
scheduled transmission dates.”
K7 MEDIA

46. THANKS!
JENNIFER WILSON
JENNIFER@THEPROJECTFACTORY.COM
+44 7535 462 220/ +61 414 59 58 57
London
5 Percy Street, London, W1T 1DG
Telephone: +44 (0) 203 397 4125
Sydney
Suite 311, 50 Holt St Surry Hills, NSW 2010
Telephone: +61 2 9698 1458