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Marketing
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Netflix Goes to Asia
Company Background
Netflix, a company with American origins is a global provider of online streaming television series and films. It was founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Los Gatos, California and started by carrying out DVD-by-mail services. As technology advanced and the internet became the trending matter, they began streaming of their products in 2007 (Kriete, 4). The decision to go online gave the company so much success that, three years later they expanded their reach to neighboring Canada.
Currently, Netflix is streamed in over 190 countries worldwide with approximately 81 million subscribers; this number includes more than 46 million subscribers in America only. The company not only offers streaming of content but they also produce original films and television series. This venture began in 2013, and now they produce hundreds of hours of films and series worldwide (Kriete, 5).
Target Country
The streaming giant has been targeting Asian countries especially after the tremendous success it experienced in Japan. The next best choice from a long list of countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan is South Korea. South Korea is very promising because of the large population of approximately over 51 million. The country from surveys done by the government approximated that; 18 million households were connected to the internet. Another advantage is that South Korea is home to the fastest internet connection speeds of 23.6 Mbps (4G) and 96% of the country is connected to the internet. The country also possesses stable financial sectors that can support the company and allow it to grow into other countries.
South Korea being an American ally means that political interference will be minimal and statistics show that most nationals are comfortable with paying for entertainment. Today the obsession with high-resolution entertainment has to be met; Netflix has this covered with the availability of offering ultra-high resolution (4K) and the availability of the same high-resolution products on phone. Machines that can handle this can be provided by the technology giant Samsung, they offer high-performance computers and phones as well as high-resolution televisions and it is based in South Korea.
Plan and Schedule
In terms of competition, Netflix will face off against cellular companies that operate their own Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services. Even though the competition will be stiff, these companies are still in their beginning phase of exploiting Internet television. This will allow Netflix to grow, because of its experience with Asian countries like Japan. For Netflix to penetrate the market, they can start by offering free subscriptions for the first month to gain the trust of the clients. The marketing team has been known for their native art of advertising that target domains, televisions, magazines, and Roadside banners. Considering that South Korea is the internet hub of the world, native methods will not be sufficient, digital platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and others should be targeted allowing more coverage.
The time schedule for the market penetration will sorely depend on how fast Netflix can sign a partnership agreement with one South Korea’s three major telecommunication companies: LGU+, Korea Telecomm, and South Korea Telecomm. The partnership will be formulated in a manner that will allow the Korean telecomm to sell its contents to the local providers. The marketing team has to consider allowing the clients to have the contents popular on local networks, giving them a greater chance of growing in the market. It would be a wise choice for Netflix to collaborate with Korean television networks, music, and movie industries. This will attract more clients and the subscription price should be high enough to make a profit from but also low enough for clients.
Data Collection
Data collection is important especially for companies like Netflix, they provide essential information that helps the company to grow and evolve. The best estimate of clients expected by Netflix will be difficult to assume, and supply has to meet the demand. In South Korea, streaming will be more prominent than the DVD by mail service; this means that obtaining data will be easier. The data will aid in effective marketing, client segmentation, setting targets, customer care, and training of personnel. These data include time of day that movies are watched, time spent streaming the selected film, and how often the playback was halted. The data collected will allow the company to create algorithms that will be custom to the user allowing them to view their favorite film.
Another
method is how many times and to how many people a film is tagged. People will
be paid to watch movies and tag to their friends, the number of tags per movie
or series will allow the company to rate the content. This will eliminate the
least tagged films from the top of lists allowing users to experience only the
best in entertainment quality. Netflix is proud to claim its presence in 50 countries
and intends to grow the number to 200 countries by the end of 2016. Securing South Korea
as a client will ensure the company’s rapid growth through most of the Asian
countries.
Works cited
Kriete, Logan. 2013 Netflix Strategic Plan. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2013. Print.