Star Toilet Paper Surveys Over 30,000 People: 99 Percent Agree That Paying for TP is a Drag
New York, NY (PRWEB) July 16, 2013 -- Star Toilet Paper, a company that gives away toilet paper by having advertisers cover the cost of producing the paper, recently conducted a survey amongst visitors to their site. While conducted informally, the test group was huge with over 30,000 surveyed, and the results Star Toilet Paper saw definitely imply that the traditional media revenue model that depended so heavily on exclusivity can still be relevant in other industries.
Traditionally, the cost of producing media has been covered in one of two ways. The first is creating media that is so valuable (because of high quality or low competition) or entertains such exclusive access that users pay to consume it. Should the media present consumers with less value or should access to it be less exclusive, the costs are often covered by ancillary activities such as advertising or merchandising. The internet, with its tendency to destroy exclusivity and expand competition, is currently causing great shifts in how media is consumed and paid for. A great example of this shift in value structure is online music services such as Pandora and Slacker Radio which offer their users limited music services for free, an activity which is covered by advertising revenue. However, by manipulating the principles of quality and exclusivity, these two radio services are also able to create revenue by charging users to consume a higher quality product. High competition in music services and low barriers of exclusivity keep this price very low.
However, in industries like the toilet paper industry where there is little competition (five producers own the vast majority of the market) and exclusivity in access to production and distribution (high barriers to entry and contractual supply agreements), users are forced to pay high prices to consume product. If in these industries the value gained by receiving free or discounted product is greater than the value lost by being exposed to advertising, conditions may be just right for a new advertising vehicle.
With 99.9 percent of over 30,000 people surveyed claiming that viewing advertising is a fair trade off when it comes to receiving free toilet paper, market conditions seem to indicate that Star Toilet Paper’s revenue model will be successful. It will, however, have to keep an eye on future developments such as new private label players in the toilet paper industry and new production methods that drive down product cost.
Sean McKinney, Star Toilet Paper, http://www.startoiletpaper.com, 914.494.7216, [email protected]
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