What Price Point is the Tipping Point?
If you’re a card-carrying nerd like me, then you know Wednesday is new comics day.
This is the day all the good little geek boys and girls rush down to their local comic shops and eagerly pick up the latest issues of their favorite characters’ exploits. In more flush economic times, loyal fans would barely glance at the price on the cover. Today, they’re getting more selective about what titles they’ll purchase.
An interesting blog by Brian Steinberg of Examiner.com on the topic me thinking about how much the trend is carrying over into other areas of entertainment marketing.
Many show biz types have been quoted as saying that in tough times, people turn to entertainment for escape. But one can only shell out so much of their ever tightening budget to nonessential things like movies, music and comics, because even Superman isn’t going to save them from the clutching grip of debt.
Have you been to the movies lately? A “bargain” matinee for a family of four isn’t such a bargain any more. Buy two adult and two kid tickets and popcorn and drinks for the gang and you’re likely to hit the $40 mark for 2 hours of fun.
Hollywood is already reacting by trimming their own costs. In daytime television, even luminaries like longtime “All My Children” star Susan Lucci are taking pay cuts. But will consumers get a cut as well, in the form of more reasonably priced entertainment? Maybe we’ll start seeing more bang for our buck at the cinema—for example, I’d love to see the return of double features. And I’d be much more likely to watch a new pay per view release on cable if the price tag was 99 cents, instead of $3.99.
Is price point making you rethink your entertainment agenda? What do you think Hollywood, the music biz and the publishing industry can do to keep us amused through the downturn? Is the key better pricing, better marketing or heck, just better entertainment options?
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to skip buying lunch today. After all, a girl’s gotta afford her Action Comics somehow.
January 15th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
The price keeps going up and the quality keeps going down. I’d like to go to the movies, spend less than $20 and come away with more than just a sense of buyer’s remorse.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:25 pm
My husband I take our family to about two movies a year. There just aren’t enough family movies that are worth the expense to see in the theater. Renting a poorly written or made movie isn’t nearly as bad as paying full price! If prices were to come down, we would consider attending more often.