Marketing Proposal for Netflix

Introduction

Netflix is a streaming service that allows customers to watch a wide range of series, movies, documentaries and other types of videos as long as you have an internet connection. The cost depends on how many devices you wanted to watch at a time and also the quality you want. The cheapest is £5,99 per month et the most expensive is £11,99 per month.

You can watch everything in the Netflix library but you own nothing. So, if Netflix lose the rights of a series or a movie, you can’t watch it anymore.

One of the big challenges of Netflix is to stay on the top of mind in the customers’ heads. Because, a lot of companies as Disney, Time Warner and NBCUniversal are launching their own streaming platform. For this reason, Netflix must always keep an eye on the market and remain informed about what consumers want.

Netflix must also be careful about the image it conveys to consumers. In our time, a company must be ethical and be environmentally conscious.

What is a Marketing Plan?

‘A marketing plan is a comprehensive document that outlines a company’s overall marketing effort. It is a blueprint that outlines how a company will implement its marketing strategy, and use a combination of resources to achieve business objectives including sales targets or customer acquisition.

Due to the ever-changing environment and marketing tools that become available, the modern-day marketing plan tends to be relatively short in nature, covering from one to a few years.’

(Syndicate Room n.d.)

SWOT Analysis

When developing a marketing plan, it is important to determine the positioning of the brand and its products as well as analysing the competitors. And one of the best methods to assess the market is to use SWOT analysis. It allows an in-depth look at the company's internal strengths and weaknesses, and also at the external opportunities and threats in the market.

Strengths

1. The site and applications are simple to use, it is easy to find what you are looking for. The interface has few buttons, it goes to the essential.
2. In our modern life, Netflix is an integral part of the way we entertain ourselves. So much that Netflix has become a verb.
3. Netflix is available on a large number of different platforms. It adapts to all technologies. From the moment you have internet you can watch Netflix.
4. Netflix is a major player in the entertainment industry worldwide. It has more than 150 million subscribers throughout the world.
5. Original content is one of Netflix's great strengths. It produces a lot of them while focusing on quality.

Weaknesses

1. When Netflix seeks to deploy in a new country, it faces different regulations and content-standards.
2. Netflix continues to invest several billion dollars in original content every year and with the arrival of new competitors, prices are expected to rise.
3. The distribution rights for a large number of films and series do not belong to Netflix and are therefore limited in time.
4. Compared to other industry giants, Netflix still has a long way to go in preserving the environment. The lack of green energy utilisation is not a good factor for Netflix.

Opportunities

1. The content Netflix offers is constantly changing with the arrival of new original content and the acquisition of rights from other distributors.
2. Partnerships between Netflix and mobile service providers are beneficial to the consumer. When using Netflix, the consumption of mobile data is not affected.
3. Another great opportunity for Netflix is the creation of region-specific content.
4. In our modern society and with the emergence of social networks, word of mouth can have a huge impact on a company.

Threats

1. Netflix's competitors have only increased in recent years. And competition is becoming increasingly fierce for both distribution rights and original content.
2. The costs of content are only increasing, especially with the arrival of new rivals, while maintenance costs are projected to decrease with the development of the technology.
3. Government regulations on entertainment companies can be very strict or even threatening in some countries. China is a good example of this.
4. A major threat that Netflix may face is digital piracy, although more and more laws are being passed to address this issue.

The Marketing Strategy

As a reminder, Netflix started out as DVD mail-order sales services. They took a positive turn by moving to streaming videos instead. Today, they have more than 150 million subscribers and are available in more than 190 countries worldwide.

Netflix focuses its marketing strategies on customer relationships. They communicate with their audience like a fan does, with an authentic voice.

Firstly, Netflix communicates a lot on Social Networks and its favourite is by far Twitter. If you've ever watched Netflix's Tweet, you can see how they randomly send tweets and get people talking about them. If you have a look on their account, you can see that they don’t put any money into sponsoring tweets but they tweet in a simply way describing how good they are and it automatically goes viral!

Let’s have a look on the figure. ‘Netflix saw a 20.5% fan growth in the analysed time period with a total following of 6 million. A grand total of 5,227 tweets went out from the brand’s handle, of which 52% were replies. This shows how important it is for the brand to engage with their audience.’ (Ramakrishnan 2019)

An average of 14 tweets a day are posted by the brand. The strength of Netflix is their link with their audience. Indeed, they also use Twitter to engage in conversation with fans talking about one thing or another.

If you share content that Netflix appreciate, you get retweeted! This may look like Netflix supporting its subscribers but it’s a free way to promote their brand. It’s also helped the streaming service to stay top of mind every time you think about chilling at home.

Netflix knows exactly how to use social media to its max, whether it’s on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. For that, they engage their audience through polls, questions and discussions.

Secondly, another strategy used by Netflix is the emailing. Indeed, how annoying is it to receive newsletters in which you’re not even interested in? Netflix understands it and sends you out email based on your browsing behaviour. For example:

• Which program do you watch?
• When do you watch it?
• The device you use to watch it and so on

Thus, the customers are pleased to receive email from the streaming service.

Thirdly, have you ever received a personalised suggestion from the platform?  Indeed, personalisation is the strength of Netflix! They personalise everything they can. So, the customer feels important and understands.

The Market Research

Market research is used to improve various aspects of a business. And Netflix understands it. Research span the personalisation algorithms, content valuation, streaming optimisation.

They constantly receive users' favourites, what they are watching and what they are looking for. There is therefore a lot of existing data that can be analysed and used for Netflix's marketing activities. In addition, if they need more accurate information, they can make questionnaires and send them by email to a large number of users. They can even select users according to their age or preferences to match the target they want to reach.

Netflix should use the quantitative research. Indeed, they own a large number of subscribers and quantitative approach is generally used to collect data which can be converted into useable statistics. That method studies the attitudes, opinions and behaviours of a large sample of the population. It’s exactly what Netflix needs to personalise its system. Moreover, they are easily to establish.

The Marketing Mix

Netflix is looking to expand into the international market while maintaining its position in the markets where it is already in place. Their objectives are to increase their number of users and their stock value.

Here is what Netflix's marketing mix look like:

• Product: Continue successful series or films and produce more original content without reducing quality.
• Price: It is important to generate profits but the price must be consistent with the value provided to the consumer.
• Place: Netflix aims to offer the possibility of entertainment anywhere as long as the user is connected to the Internet.
• Promotion: Lead the streaming entertainment market through physical advertising but also by using technology such as social networks.

What is Corporate Social Responsibility?

‘Corporate Social Responsibility is a management concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and interactions with their stakeholders. CSR is generally understood as being the way through which a company achieves a balance of economic, environmental and social imperatives’

(UNIDO 2019)

Netflix Ethical Marketing

Netflix has various benefits for their employees. To give just one example, each Netflix employee is entitled to 52 weeks of paid parental leave that can be taken at any time during the child's life. In most other technology companies, employees have 18 weeks.

Conclusion

To conclude, Netflix is a complete company able to show a high level of competence in each department. Their strength is to communicate whether in intern or with their customers.

As a point of technology, Netflix is ahead of its time and have understood that social networks are the future. It’s a good way to advertise without spending a penny. It’s an everyday work: posting, answering and so on. They understand how important it is to constantly communicate with their customers and potential clients.

Netflix future is bright but they have to pay attention to the emergence of new streaming platform.

Meanwhile don’t forget: Netflix and chill!

Reference List

• Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., and Opresnik, M.O. (2017) Marketing: An Introduction. 13 edn. Boston: Pearson
• Bhasin, H. (2019) Marketing Strategy of Netflix [online] available from [27 October 2019]
• Brassington, F. and Pettitt, S. (2013) Essentials of Marketing. 3rd edn. Harlow: Pearson Education
• Business Strategy Hub (2019.) Netflix SWOT Analysis 2019 | SWOT Analysis of Netflix [online] available from [26 October 2019]
• Ewing, J. (2018) ‘Market Research Highlights Netflix's Continued Dominance Of The SVOD Market’. Forbes [online] 10 December. available from [29 October 2019]
• Kotler, P., Keller, K.L., Brady, M., Goodman, M., and Hansen, T. (2016) Marketing Management. 3rd edn. Harlow: Pearson
• LaVielle, E. (2019) How Market Research Could Have Saved Netflix From Losing Over 800,000 Customers [online] available from [29 October 2019]
• NFLX (n.d.) Marketing Plan [online] available from [30 October 2019]
• NFLX (n.d.) Strengths | Weaknesses | Opportunities | Threat | Analysis [online] available from [26 October 2019]
• O'Brien, C. () 16 Brands Doing Corporate Social Responsibility Successfully [online] available from [30 October 2019]
• Ramakrishnan, V. (2019) How Netflix’s social media strategy dominates the online streaming industry [online] available from [28 October 2019]
• Rodriguez, A. (2019) Netflix doesn't have ads, but it's working with brands in many other ways. Here's what we know about its marketing efforts and partners. [online] available from [28 October 2019]
• Siddiqi, M. (2019) The Complete Guide to Netflix’s Marketing Strategies [online] available from [27 October 2019]
• Syndicate Room (n.d.) The definition of 'Marketing plan' [online] available from [26 October 2019]
• UNIDO (2019) What is CSR? [online] available from [30 October 2019]