As technology advances, so does our form of everyday entertainment. For many years, people rushed home to watch their favorite cable television shows. In fact, the average American family watches at least eight hours of television every day (Chatterjee, Berry, & Hopkins, 2016). In this new era of entertainment, people want to watch what they want, when they want. As more and more people begin canceling cable television contracts and purchasing streaming subscriptions, companies like Netflix have begun to thrive. In the past, Netflix has risen to the top and remained above all competition. Now competition for streaming and TV services is starting to get tougher, and Netflix is facing some dilemmas. With a very strategic plan, Netflix could overcome these problems. If Netflix doesn't find a solution, these problems can be very detrimental to the success of the brand. All in all, everyone will be watching to see if Netflix will survive in this new generation. Background In 1997, Netflix was created by partners Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California. The two developed a relationship at Hastings company Pure Software. Reed Hastings was a software creator. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay He sold his company Pure Software for $700 million. Marc Randolph was the co-founder of a computer mail order company, MicoWarehouse, and also worked as vice president of marketing for Borland International. With Hastings' expertise in software and Randolph's executive marketing experience, they started Netflix with $2.5 million in seed money. The company was introduced to the world as an unlimited movie rental service ("A Background and History of Netflix - Netflix As A Modern Technology", 2015). Netflix has eliminated traditional pay-per-rental methods and late fees by offering users monthly subscriptions. The company built its reputation by offering a "flat rate" for unlimited movie and video game rentals. Netflix has eliminated the hassle of deadlines, late fees, and shipping and handling costs ("A Background and History of Netflix - Netflix As A Modern Technology", 2015)Netflix's First DilemmaWhen it Started Offering Streaming Services , Netflix has decided to separate its streaming and DVD service. This is one of the company's first mistakes, and it is still ridiculed for it today. Qwikster was the DVD mail order service and Netflix was the video streaming service. While it made sense that both services should be marketed differently, separating the two has caused a lot of confusion. Netflix intended for the two to grow and operate independently. In 2011, the company realized its mistake and decided to put an end to Qwikster. All DVD mail order services would work with Netflix again (Chatterjee, Berry, & Hopkins, 2016). Some people thought the end of Qwikster would mean the end of the DVD service. They were wrong. As of 2018, over 3 million people still receive DVDs in the mail from Netflix. Netflix has proudly offered this service for over 20 years. You might think Netflix currently has more than 118 subscribers worldwide. If only 3 million subscribers use the DVD mail order service, most users are satisfied exclusively with the streaming service (Bonazzo, 2018). Due to wireless technology most usersprefers streaming services. People all over the world have stopped using DVD and Blu-ray players because they believe they are too expensive to use. Most televisions or game players allow users to use television apps as a source of entertainment. Netflix should end this service because it is more harmful than good. If Netflix discontinues this service, it can save on the overhead costs of storing and maintaining the product. The company will also save on shipping/handling costs. To handle this problem, Netflix can create a marketing campaign titled “Streaming is good for the environment!”. This campaign will demonstrate that the company is giving up on paper and products. They can announce the end of their DVD mail order service and encourage all postal subscribers to use their streaming service. The company may also offer mail subscribers a 50% discount for the first year. It would be a great incentive and marketing strategy that would help the company save hugely in the future. Who wants Rerun TV? Customers are starting to notice that most of Netflix's content can be watched elsewhere. Netflix benefited from being recognized as a place where any subscriber could watch their favorite television shows on repeat. While this has been a great strategy in the past, subscribers will want more in the future. Competitors like Hulu offer both new programs broadcast on television networks, their own streaming service, and their own reruns. Netflix should consider doing the same (Chatterjee, Berry, & Hopkins, 2016). A Solution to the Rerun Dilemma Netflix may not want to spend millions of dollars buying live television because it already spends millions buying rerun content. Instead of spending more to compete with companies like Hulu, Netflix should spend more time marketing its Netflix Originals. Netflix Originals are original shows and films that stream exclusively on Netflix. It would be of great benefit to market such content on other television networks. Netflix should create social media marketing for YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. The company is also expected to market content on television networks such as Fox and/or ABC. These marketing efforts could potentially bring the company new subscribers who are interested in the shows, especially since the company offers the first month of subscription free. Unlike other rerun series, each show could be released every week to build anticipation. This solution will also help companies extract content from Netflix. In 2018, Disney released a statement informing the public that it will launch its own streaming service and take its content from the competition (Spangler, 2018). Instead of trying to find another network to fill this void, Netflix should start building out its own Netflix Originals so it doesn't have to rely as much on content other than its own. Unique Content Netflix spends millions of dollars to create unique content for its subscribers. The company believes that “if they have more subscribers, they can purchase more content; More content will help subscribers find the service more attractive” (Chatterjee, Berry, & Hopkins, 2016). The more subscribers Netflix has, the more profit it will receive. The company can use the profit to purchase more research and development. Netflix's competitive advantage has always been its patented algorithm. The company has always tried to easily find content tailored to each user. Recommendations are offered based on past viewing, and each screen is customized for the familiar user),
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