Universal launching D2C mobile content site

Universal Mobile Entertainment announced it will launch its own branded mobile content website, a move the studio said is designed to take back control of its wireless marketing and merchandising efforts from operators. "We want to be master of our own destiny more, to have an environment we control," said Universal Mobile Entertainment senior VP Jeremy Laws in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "We're basically beholden to the way operators want to merchandise our brand in their own shops." According to Laws, the Universal D2C site will offer film-themed ringtones, wallpapers and games together on one page, in contrast to the more scattershot retail approach common to carrier decks.

The site will not replace Universal's operator channel--Laws said the majority of the studio's mobile revenue will continue to derive from carrier-based sales. "We're not deluding ourselves that [the D2C site] is going to be a cash cow in the short term, but its greatest value will be from a marketing perspective," he said. Universal will debut the site in the European market in conjunction with the theatrical release of the much-anticipated American Gangster--its U.S. site will soft-launch at the same time, with an official stateside debut tied to the March 2008 premiere of Wanted.

For more on the Universal D2C site:
- read this Hollywood Reporter article

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