Quibi. I am in love.
Not only paraphrasing an old “The Cure” song (Friday I’m in love — for those born after the 80s) this is the product/company presentation that has excited me the most from the Steve Jobs era.
Watch the full presentation at CES 2020.
There are a few reasons for which I got so excited about it and some parts of the presentation are really inspiring, aligned with what I believe is innovation at heart.
Hard to say if this will be a commercial success, too many factors are at play for that, but nevertheless I believe there are some elements that I want to highlight and explore.
In essence:
- Great product vision
- Mix of creativity and technology, which cannot be silos
- Re-imagine the experience for our current times, no legacy
Let’s see what they said.
Jeffrey Katzenberg
“Innovation in entertainment comes from a combination of creativity and technology… these new platforms require the creativity of storytellers using these tools in ways that their inventors have never imagined, to amaze audiences”
A storyline that follows the evolution of media from radio to movie to tv etc… and poses the question, what if we design a media experience for today.
“We are in the mobile revolution… how can we enhance the experience of watching content on our phones?”
“The idea comes not from tv or film but from literature, Dan Brown The Da Vinci Code, which is 1000+ pages written in more than 100 chapters, each being few pages long.”
“How do we tell big stories in quick bites? Great stories in 6 to 10 minutes episodes that fit perfectly in every moment of your day, are quibies.”
Meg Whitman (CEO)
“From day one we wanted to make clear that we are creating a mobile-only platform, why? Because we are not shrinking TV on a phone we are creating something new.”
“Our current mobile video options present programs that seem to be made for the television in your living room and then later shrunk down for the screen on your phone… What would it look like to build a platform that gives creators access to everything but the phone has to offer”
“Since our goal is script-to-screen innovation, this was the moment it became clear that we needed to make space for creators and engineers to be in the same conversation”
“Consider for a moment how shows are traditionally created a script is written producers come on board and talents in front of the camera and behind the camera join the project which is then edited and color corrected and the output is stored on a file server. Only later it’s picked up and broadcast or stream by an entirely new technical team with no connection to the project team before. The creative team is never even in the same room as the technical team”
“Imagine if all elements of the phone can impact the story… [example of Steven Spielberg ‘After the Dark’”
Tom Conrad (CPO)
“What makes Quibi unique is our approach to product, knocking down the walls between platform and content.”
“With phones shifting back-and-forth from portrait to landscape, and cinema presented in landscape alone product designer as it is a lose-lose scenario: ignore her for making history or ignoring you for behavior, to tackle this challenge we have created an experience and technology that we call ‘turnstyle’”
Another example where the portrait and landscape views of the same moment are different in perspective, from the protagonist to the ambient around, which is a much more radical storytelling tool.
Bob Post (CTO)
Quibi partners with Google to solve the technology challenges of streaming and distributing such a diverse video experience. The two video formats are both simultaneously sent to the phone for immediate switching of orientation.
Advertising platform
Quibi also wants to be an innovative mobile advertising platform.
This part has not really convinced me for now. The only real innovation i have heard is the split story concept 4x15 secs ads that tell a story in sequence instead of a long 60 sec ones, or the Pepsi ad that react to phone orientation.
Content
Finally.
“Instead of acquiring libraries we had to create all content from scratch and a lot of it”
3 categories of content to inform, entertain, inspire:
- Movies in chapters
- Episodic, unscripted series and documentaries
- Daily essential
Content may seem more complex to create, but with innovative production tech, it may not need to be.
Scripts may be more sophisticated to write or just different. it’s a mind shift that has to happen.
Doubts
Is this really for Millenials and gen Z?
Can this beat Instagram and Tik Tok to be the platform of choice for those “every moment of the day” minutes?
Will people embrace “Turnstyle”?
Will creators embrace this more sophisticated storytelling model?
Will this be sustainable?
How will Netflix react?
Will see in 2020 and beyond.
Price
The only thing weird is that the presentation is not a Quibi but a 1+hour long piece of content :).
P.S.
That old The Cure song is here:
