avatar - a study on innovation
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Avatar - A study on InnovationTRANSCRIPT
What is a disruptive
innovation?
Case Study Exercise
Turn over the sheets of paper in front of you
Spend a minute considering:________ is a disruptive innovation because it /she/he ______ .
“I had the feeling coming out of this movie that I haven’t felt since 1977.”
“It’s the iPhone of the movies!”
“There is still at least one man in Hollywood who knows how to spend $250 million, or was it $300 million, wisely.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5Yhpqn0yx0
Avatar as Innovation:Disrupting the Film Industry
Sushma Sheth, Aziz, Rehmatullah Anirudh Oswal, Daniele Vicente, Bruce Jang
Innovation: Two Types
Incremental Innovation: a predictable improvement
Disruptive Innovation: a discontinuous leap
So what?
Why do we care about disruptive innovation? It’s cool. It’ll make us rich and well-respected. It’s the natural way to leverage our big, expensive
MBA brains to add value to our teams, projects, and organizations. Yeah.
3D Movies3D Televisions3D Video GamesHybrid Movie CameraThe Volume – Movie StudioPerformance Capture
Avatar Activist GuidesEnvironmental Campaigns
Avatar Inspired NatureAvatar TourismNBA Player Development
Avatar Fashion3D Make UpAvatar JewelryPandora Furniture
3D HeadachesPost-Avatar DepressionBinocular Vision Disorder
Na’vi Language CoursesNa’vi Community Forums
3D Porn
Three key areas of Focus
Financial
Technological
Social
Assess Avatar Focus Area by
where ? what were the benefits?
where what was disrupted? what was the broader impact?
Were there incremental innovations?
Were there disruptive innovations?
Financial Innovation
Ludicrously massive financial success Highest grossing movie of all time ($3B) Broke Blu-Ray sales records of 2.7m in 4 days.
Raised the price point for movie tickets From $10 to $14 for 3D, and $16 for IMAX 3D
Incremental: - Willingness to increase costs of production
- New capital costs for theatresDisruptive : - Premium product priced above IMAX and 2D
- James Cameron’ intended to shift the balance of powers within the industry
Technological Innovation
Incremental : - 3D Fusion Camera System - Performance Capture Animation
Disruptive: - 3D : A renewed and exploding Platform
James Cameron is considered “part Scientist, part Artist” – developed new 3D movie making technology
Revolutionary 3D Fusion Camera System modeled after the eye
Performance Capture Animation
Case Study
Eye-modeled Camera Movie Studio = Giant Computer Screen Boost camera attached in front of actor’s
face
Social Innovation
James Cameron Visits to Brazil’s Amazon and Alberta’s tar sands
Social Action inspired by Avatar The Avatar Project: a program to support military amputees Avatar-themed Palestinian protests Avatar-themed protests in Jakarta to protect orangutans
Incremental: Using Fictional stories to inspire social action.
Coordinating social action with existing organizations & movements
Disruptive: Avatar’s scale and power have inspired grassroots social action across the globe. It’s a platform.
Case Study: The Amazon Rainforest
Protesting the Belo Monte Dam in Brazil It will dry up 60 miles of the Xingu River, displacing at
least 20,000 indigenous people.
Cameron has visited several times, drawn media attention, pressed for a meeting with President Silva
“One life ends…another begins.”
Who Said?
BA: Before Avatar
Firm
Suppliers
Competitors
Buyers
New Entrants
• Digital Imaging• Cameras• Production Skills• Technical Training• 3D Accessories
• Digitizing Theatres• Imax Expansion• Movie goers paying more
• Increase in production costs• Shift in Marketing and positions
• Raised cost of entry• Threat to smaller, emerging production houses
AA: After Avatar
Was Avatar Incremental or Disruptive?
Our Definition:A Discontinuous leap in Value Propositionto the customer.
YES.But, it wasn’t just disruptive. It was also incremental.
Insights from Avatar
Increased value capture and raise willingness to pay
Foster industry wide changes and shift the balances of forces
New platforms can be a win for innovator and the industry
Successful innovations have incremental and disruptive elements
Innovation can accelerate adoption of a old technology
Brand Equity can be built and extended via social change
Global launch can leverage technology and amplify buzz & adoption
Questions to Consider
What’s the right proportion of incremental and disruptive innovations within a project, team, or organization?
What are the skills you need to drive incremental and disruptive innovations? Can the same people/team do both at the same time?
What other industries might the lessons from Avatar apply to?
Incremental
Disruptive
Financial
Technological
Social
Interesting Tidbits
3D Porn Avatar has inspired Hustler Studios and Playboy to make 3D
porn. Aw yeah.
James Cameron offered his 3d-enabled submarine to BP to help with undersea repair efforts in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Avatar: The Game” has sold 2.7 M copies – making it a big hit – even though most agree that the game is pretty crappy.
Questions/Comments/(snide remarks?)