Netflix: Marketing Analysis
By Eugene Simonov
Washington Adventist University
ECON 528
April 4, 2016
Abstract
This paper examines and analyzes the marketing aspect of Netflix Inc. To develop a clear idea of the entertainment industry, this paper explores the background of Netflix Inc. and the present market conditions of its competitors. This paper finds that Netflix Inc. is the fastest growing online entertainment platform in the market. However, due to the nature of the industry it has many threats and risks. After analyzing Netflix’s marketing reality and its SWOT, I gave some recommendations on how Netflix can improve its position in the market.
Table of Content
Abstract
Background of Netflix Inc
Product of Netflix Inc
Industry
Consumers
Competitors
➢ SWOT Analysis
• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats
Value Drivers
Cost Drivers
Recommendations
References
Background of Netflix Inc
Netflix Inc. is in the entertainment market, which is a part of a larger video, film entertainment industry home video entertainment market. In horizontal scale this market includes hotel, theater and airline movie entertainment markets. All of there four markets together represent the industry as itself. Movie rental and retail combined makes Netflix as one of the fastest growing company in the market. In 2015 Netflix’s market value worth $32,8 billion, which is more than CBS. The market has several segments of the its strategic groups including
Netflix is in a fairly favorable position on the strategic group map. Where Added value is measured in terms of instant movies and recommendations, and market coverage is measured in number of stores, vending machines, and online presence.
Netflix, founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings, has achieved its goal of becoming the largest online movie rental service in the world. By the end of 2007, Netflix recorded revenues of $1.2 billion. With a library of 100,000 movie titles and a subscriber base of over
Netflix exhibits dominant economic characteristics in the online movie rental business. They enjoy strong market size and growth rate when compared to rivalry competition. The number of rivalries are increasing, and the market remains dominated by only a few sizeable rivalries like Blockbuster Video, Wal-Mart, Walt Disney Movies and Movielink’s Downloadable Movies. Netflix is determined to offer new and innovative technology to sustain their competitive advantage.
The case study “Equity of Demand: The NETFLIX Approach to Compensation” includes information regarding the company, named Netflix. The case study provides useful information regarding the organizational culture of Netflix. The case is usually associated with the practices of Human Resource Management. It shows how organizations like Netflix can come up with different strategies in order better keep the employees motivated and directed towards goal achieving behavior. It is extremely important for organizations running around the globe to find ways of keeping employees motivated and satisfied in order to increase employees’ productivity. Employees can be seen as backbone for any type of organization running around the globe. It is because the productivity of employees is directly related with the productivity of an organization. The better the employees perform the better the organization would be in terms of customer satisfaction, brand awareness, customer loyalty, profitability and so on so forth. Normally, organizations have different compensation plans to pay the employees for their efforts they make. For instance; some organizations would use money as a source of motivating employees. Such organizations will pay high amount
Netflix was founded in 1997 with the intent to revolutionize the way in which consumers watch movies and television shows. Their accomplishments both in innovation and in customer base for their service indicate that the firm has been, and continues to be, successful in doing so. Currently, the
Entering and transforming the video rental industry was a large undertaking for the start-up company. The first marketing objective the company undertook was the process of building a brand. Netflix’s identity was crucial to future growth and success. Without a strong brand, competitors with deep pockets could have easily duplicated the company’s business model. Secondly, leveraging technology was critical to establishing the business and infrastructure growth. The consumer base was the final objective Netflix sought to achieve. Retaining and growing subscribers were fundamental to revenue and marketing goals.
Growing competition as a challenge represents the various companies that are now entering the market of online media-streaming. Companies such as HBO, Amazon, Google, and Hulu Plus have all began to offer media-streaming on the same electronic devices as Netflix, Inc. Currently Netflix, Inc. remains in the lead amongst its competitors; however, there is no guarantee that this advancement is a permanent one. It is inevitable that emerging companies will come up with creative ideas to gain the competitive edge and receive more consumers. For example, Amazon.com has “amplified
Currently, there are only a few stores in existence; “it continues to operate in Alaska and Texas for those last of the hardcore video renters”. Blockbuster will soon be extinct.
Netflix Inc. is in the entertainment market, which is a part of a larger video, film
Netflix was founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in 1997 and was originally based out of Scotts Valley California. The business model that they were working towards was to create a company that would offer online movie rental service made available by streaming media as well as DVD’s that could be ordered online and delivered to the customers’ homes. (Wheelen, Case 12). Netflix had a strategic plan to undercut the competition in an effort to stress the market and force weaker competition out of the field. This was a very successful plan and over a period of years it was able to force the closings of most of its competing market to include the mega giant Blockbuster video. Using a business
Netflix is an entertainment company that specializes in streaming media and online video-on-demand. Over the years, it has grown to include film and television production and other distribution services. Its business model has changed, and so has its overall production cost grown to keep up with the increased market share. As a result, its current position in the market has made it more exposed to competition from other firms, which is why it needs to develop new strategies to remain profitable. Netflix has grown over the past years despite competition and its unprofitability (Helft, 2007). Therefore, to understand its success, it is important provide a microeconomic analysis of Netflix, its history, its products, and the market.
In many ways, Netflix is an amazing company to analyze. By being disruptive, the company has changed drastically the disc rental business and the streaming industry. In addition, the ecommerce business model Netflix has developed was one of a kind, focusing mainly on the consumer’s needs and experience. Now, it might seem obvious that ecommerce marketers should focus on these aspects but at the time it was a first.
Strengths Brand name - Netflix has established a brand name that is widely recognized and many studies have shown that the company has a stronger brand identity among its competitors. It serves more than 65 million users in over 40 countries, Netflix is the dominating subscription streaming video service. They have the largest collection of videos and continues to build up its library with its own original content and higher quality movies. Netflix has become the most favored subscription video streaming service in America, and is found in more than 36% of U.S. homes as compared to its competitors such as Amazon Prime Instant Video at 13% and Hulu Plus at 6.5%. The name itself, is intertwined with the online movie streaming industry. Large amount of content – Not only does Netflix have a variety of content from well-known companies such as Disney, it also has international and original content as well. Netflix streams 4,335 movies, 1,197 shows, and 133 movies and shows of its own original content. Some of Netflix’s well know pieces include “House of Cards” and “Santa Clarita Diet.” This mix of original and well-known content contributors creates a loyal customer base.Easy user experience/platform – Netflix has devised a way to use specific algorithms to collect data in order to adapt itself to each user uniquely. This cuts down on the time users need to invest when searching for specific content. If the user doesn’t find the content they are looking for in this manner, Netflix also separates its content into categories, making it easy for users to simply search for the types of movies or shows they would like to view. A user can also search by title name in the search bar or search by genre. Netflix can even personalize each user experience by allowing their customers to create multiple viewer profiles.
As the world entered into the 21st Century, humanity has witnessed an ecology of innovation that ranges from artificial hearts and livers to iPods to Bluetooth technology to smartphones and many more ("21st Century Inventions That Made an Impact”). Each with its own unique attraction has become a catalyst in nature for how individuals think, act and live. Along with these state of the art developments, Netflix has become the cutting – edge service for internet streaming media. Deemed as “a worthless piece of crap” from Wall Street analysts, Netflix with tremendous leadership gained control of their industry and swiftly transformed the delivery of movie rentals ("How Netflix Beat Blockbuster: An Exemplar of Emerging Technologies”). Faced with impossible odds, we will discover how Netflix was able to survive, conquer and prosper as the emerging technology in their industry.
Netflix, an internet television network that is revolutionizing the way we watch TV series and movies without having to leave the comfort of our couch has over 50 million subscribers in more than 40 countries.