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I'm just back from vacation in Vietnam, where the story of American media giants' potential growth and challenges was inescapable. I was briefly in Ho Chi Minh City, but mostly along the country's east coast, in the area around Hoi An (just south of the 17th Parallel) and up north in Hanoi.
Though many people commented on how tourism has dropped off since the "worldwide financial crisis," the Communist country seems to be embracing capitalism, particularly when it comes to tourism. No matter how remote or quiet the spot, I was struck that everywhere, everything was for sale. From Ho Chi Minh's tomb in Hanoi to a remote cave in Halong Bay, souvenirs and sodas abounded.
I experienced first-hand the bad news for media giants:
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The several floors of shelves and shelves of movies and music looked just slightly off. The DVD covers were only a tiny bit different from what you'd find at Blockbuster [BBI
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] or Best Buy [BBY
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] but they were all pirated. These movies, from "Milk" to "Trainspotting" to "He's Just Not That Into You" cost about a dollar each, with not a penny going to the studios that produced them.
I was stunned by the scope and quality of pirated material. You can buy full seasons of any TV shows, from "Seinfeld" to "Star Trek." I even found compilations of all the Oscar Best Picture winners since the Academy was founded.
Such things don't even exist in the U.S.! If you were to want to seek out a legit DVD in Vietnam, it's a lot harder to find than pirated fare, and can easily cost $20. Vietnamese consumers can pick up copies of American movies long before they're available on DVD in the US. (And no, of course I didn't buy any pirated DVDs; as a content-producer myself, it's in my best interest to respect copyright protection!)
The problem to me, seems to be the fact that a whole generation of consumers is learning that content can be free and that they don't owe anything to content creators. I spoke to some film students at Vietnam University in Hanoi, who were talking about having seen some recent movies like "Duplicity" and "State of Play" at home.
When I asked them what they meant, they shrugged. They bought the pirated DVD as soon as it hit the street and they don't think there's anything wrong with that. If they want the experience of seeing a movie in a theater they splurge and go out with their friends, otherwise they buy pretty much anything and watch it on their home TV.
The sliver of good news for media giants, is the huge interest in American content. The Vietnam University students told me there was no question that the best movies all came from the U.S. The demand is there, which means that the media conglomerates should treat piracy as competition and figure out a way to profit from the interest.
Not all content in Vietnam is pirated, there are movie theaters and pay cable channels that air American movies are adding subscribers fast and a great way to monetize content. And it's not just movies—American brands have huge potential. I spotted a couple of kids with Mickey Mouse shirts and shoes —likely pirated images—but for the most part Disney [DIS
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] and other American brands have huge potential to grow.
The movie studios clearly understand the threat that piracy poses to the $20 billion home video market, they talk about it all the time. I was surprised to see piracy unhampered by those efforts. They clearly need local governments on board to make a dent.
And they need to offer an affordable, perhaps more appealing alternative. Cable TV is one good option. I hope they can find other ways to tap into that interest and turn that money spent on piracy into a revenue stream.
Here's a recent op/ed on Vietnam's "peaceful evolution."
Questions? Comments?
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