JIBAM THE MOVIE- Issues and Concerns
We were invited for the JIBAM press conference last Friday in Petaling Jaya. Thank you Ujang for the invitation. These are my observation and concerns.
1. JIBAM is Malay-centric.
It does not appeal to the non-Malay segment and to some extent to the Urban Malays as well. Demographics would dicate that the malay segment would be most concentrated in the East Coast, South and Northern peninsula.
Take for example, the East Coast. In the event that JIBAM is to be effectively marketed there, the only form of viewing would be at the Cinemas. The question is: If there is a limited access to Cinemas in the East Coast, how effective would be the market penetration?
My concern is that it would be very unfortunate in the event that JIBAM does make the headlines, the only people who will be laughing all the way to the bank would be the VCD pirates. With demand, comes supply and any self-disrespecting VCD pirate would only be too happy to satiate the demand of these viewers. After all, what choice would the viewers have? Either to travel to travel xx kilometers just to watch a movie and incur a lot of cost (bear in mind that the folks in these area do not have the disposable income like those in the Klang Valley) or just pay RM8/10 dollars for a pirated VCD to watch it at home with the whole family.
Take for example, the East Coast. In the event that JIBAM is to be effectively marketed there, the only form of viewing would be at the Cinemas. The question is: If there is a limited access to Cinemas in the East Coast, how effective would be the market penetration?
My concern is that it would be very unfortunate in the event that JIBAM does make the headlines, the only people who will be laughing all the way to the bank would be the VCD pirates. With demand, comes supply and any self-disrespecting VCD pirate would only be too happy to satiate the demand of these viewers. After all, what choice would the viewers have? Either to travel to travel xx kilometers just to watch a movie and incur a lot of cost (bear in mind that the folks in these area do not have the disposable income like those in the Klang Valley) or just pay RM8/10 dollars for a pirated VCD to watch it at home with the whole family.
Cost savings? It doesn’t need a genius to figure that one out.
The only other option that I can think of is to flood the market with original VCDs in that area. In this event, the distribution needs to be worked out well with the video distributors like Speedy, EZY video and the likes (that is if they have any or sufficient branches there in the first place).
2. The Targeted Market Segment
Many of the original readers of his works like Aku Budak Minang, Aca, Intelligent Blues Clubs are now within the late 20s to mid 30s group like myself. We grew up with his works and it reminds us of our childhood. The mid 20s group and below have not heard of Ujang and it is difficult for them to accept something which they cannot relate to.
As such, in the bigger scheme of things, this targeted market segment i.e. predominantly Malay late 20s to mid 30s group consist of those coming from low class to the middle upper class of the society. Lets look at them in turn.
In the event of those that fall within the low to the middle class level which the wife children in tow, paying RM50++ for at least 3 tickets and a night out (with the assumption of the missus and kid coming along) just for old time sake would nevertheless be a burden to them. I don’t see any other solution at the moment than a win-win situation between the VCD pirate and home entertainment for the whole family at just RM8 a pop like the argument above.
Now we come to the upper middle class Malay group. All of them are now urban bi-lingual professionals mostly living in Klang Valley. To these discerning group, with a life exposed to other cultures and other forms of art, comes high expectations. With, the movie in itself must have a good script and direction. It would follow that the last thing they would like is to see their intelligence being insulted especially when they expect that the movie would be at par or better with the original written works of Ujang. In this case, we would rather keep the fond memories of JIBAM off screen.
JIBAM is in itself a thinking novel and due respect and credit must be given to Ujang and this is the challenge of the producer not to taint it with the same brush like other brainless Malay movies like Cicakman for instance.
Therefore, this is the challenge to the Producer of JIBAM the movie. In the Q&A at the Media conference, we did not get a satisfactory answer from them but just a non-committal answer of ‘Oh, it’s a secret as if we disclose our A&P strategy now, our competitors would follow suit’. But, what does your competitors have anything to do with it?.
So the question is: What exactly is your targeted market segment and what is your strategy?
It would be a shame to see JIBAM suffer the same fate as other forgettable movies like Paloh, Embun, Mat Som and all the rest just because of bad and hasty planning.
As such, in the bigger scheme of things, this targeted market segment i.e. predominantly Malay late 20s to mid 30s group consist of those coming from low class to the middle upper class of the society. Lets look at them in turn.
In the event of those that fall within the low to the middle class level which the wife children in tow, paying RM50++ for at least 3 tickets and a night out (with the assumption of the missus and kid coming along) just for old time sake would nevertheless be a burden to them. I don’t see any other solution at the moment than a win-win situation between the VCD pirate and home entertainment for the whole family at just RM8 a pop like the argument above.
Now we come to the upper middle class Malay group. All of them are now urban bi-lingual professionals mostly living in Klang Valley. To these discerning group, with a life exposed to other cultures and other forms of art, comes high expectations. With, the movie in itself must have a good script and direction. It would follow that the last thing they would like is to see their intelligence being insulted especially when they expect that the movie would be at par or better with the original written works of Ujang. In this case, we would rather keep the fond memories of JIBAM off screen.
JIBAM is in itself a thinking novel and due respect and credit must be given to Ujang and this is the challenge of the producer not to taint it with the same brush like other brainless Malay movies like Cicakman for instance.
Therefore, this is the challenge to the Producer of JIBAM the movie. In the Q&A at the Media conference, we did not get a satisfactory answer from them but just a non-committal answer of ‘Oh, it’s a secret as if we disclose our A&P strategy now, our competitors would follow suit’. But, what does your competitors have anything to do with it?.
So the question is: What exactly is your targeted market segment and what is your strategy?
It would be a shame to see JIBAM suffer the same fate as other forgettable movies like Paloh, Embun, Mat Som and all the rest just because of bad and hasty planning.
I hope that I am wrong in December 2007.
The Ponchoman
posted by Maine at 2:58 PM
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