McRibs and the Art of Artificial Scarcity http://tinyurl.com/2ebms7v
I loved the Disney example in the article – it’s a perfect attempt (a good one) at creating artificial scarcity. It’s easy to take a physical good off the market – like the MacRib – but with Snow White, I wonder if the artificial scarcity will be as successful when beautiful digital copies get “out there”.
And that’s the problem with artificial scarcities on digital goods: they don’t work. DRM is an attempt to force artificial scarcity and it’s cracked time, after time, after time. If your customer and hear and see your product, it can be reproduced infinitely for little cost.
So the ultimate question is: what are the real scarcities surrounding a film or TV project and how do we monetize them?