Media Magic to create 10,000 retail points for mobile content

The company will sell mobile content such as wallpapers, ringtones and movies through retail outlets and touch screen kiosks

Mobile Magic Pvt. Ltd, the mobile retail chain, has launched another venture called Media Magic Pvt. Ltd to roll out retail points for mobile content across the country. The company will sell mobile content in the form of games, applications, movies, music, wallpapers and ringtones through its 87 Mobile Magic outlets in 66 cities, other mobile retailers and manned kiosks. Media Magic is targeting 10,000 retail outlets in two years.

Speaking to agencyfaqs!, Vijay Singh, CEO of Media Magic, said, “We believe the offline retail model for mobile content will work for two reasons – there is low penetration of mobile bandwidth in the country (in the form of GPRS) and there is low penetration of credit cards for online sales to work.” Singh added that mobile content sold through SMS short codes is suitable only for basic content such as ringtones and wallpapers and not video and songs. Singh said that a lot of the content that people have on their mobiles is not downloaded from the mobile itself, but through a computer or other sources. “Media Magic will offer them a variety of legal content,” he said.

Media Magic to create 10,000 retail points for mobile content

There are two formats that the company is employing for its retail sales – pre-loaded memory cards for mobiles and sales through the mobile retailer’s computer, which will act as a terminal for the download of content. The retailer’s computer will be installed with the Mobile Magic software, which will indicate how much credit value the retailer has and, therefore, how much content he can sell. The retailer can transfer the content from his computer to the customer’s mobile memory card, or via Bluetooth. The content will range roughly between Rs 3 for a wallpaper to Rs 50 for a movie.

Vijay Singh

Singh said that the company will be appointing about 25 distributors across the country, each looking at around 500 outlets. There will be multiple distributors in the metros and the first outlet has already been established in Mumbai. The retailers will receive a margin for selling content and will have to pay a licence fee for it to the distributor.

Singh revealed that the company is tying up with Cafe Coffee Day and Planet M to set up manned touch screen kiosks, where people can download content on their mobiles with the help of an assistant.

“We are targeting the youth in the age-group of 18-35 years and will set up kiosks in the places they hang out, such as colleges and IT parks,” he said.

Media Magic already has content partnerships with Hungama Mobile, the mobile services company which is a leader in mobile entertainment, and Shemaroo, which has 1,500 movie titles. Apart from this, the company will also bring on board individual content developers and content owners, with whom it can enter into revenue sharing relationships. Singh said this could include photographers for wallpapers and filmmakers for documentaries and short films. The company will also sell mobile content in regional languages.

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