IBC 2018: New content, new markets, new partners – the Netflix growth plan

Netflix is one of the largest technology companies on the planet, but there is still mountains of room for growth over the next few years.

Speaking at IBC 2018 in Amsterdam, Maria Ferreras, VP of EMEA Business Development at Netflix pointed towards some quite remarkable figures. In the 11 years since Netflix starting its streaming business the platform has amassed 130 million subscribers. While this is of course an astronomical figure, some might have assumed it would be higher. With profits of $2.8 billion over the last twelve months, the opportunity for growth is still buoyant.

The question which remains is how to do this. Netflix has been incredibly successful in securing subscriptions through its own marketing strategies, though partnerships with telcos and broadcasting businesses are top of the agenda for Ferreras.

“What is critical for us is making sure Netflix is available,” said Ferreras. “It’s all about making access easier.”

The idea behind these partnerships is creating opportunity. The partner organizations might not only have a better relationship with potential customers, but they also address some key challenges in terms of billing and experience.

On the billing side of things, Ferreras asks the industry not to use Western standards when assessing new territories. For example, in Saudi Arabia not only is credit card penetration low, a number of the domestic brands are not accepted by eCommerce sites. Partnering with the telcos offering consumers in this market an opportunity to pay through their own billing platforms. There are numerous other countries around the world where this could be the case, meaning partnerships with telcos offer an opportunity to engage new customers who were not accessible to the business before.

Looking at the experience, this is about accessibility once again, but a different twist. Here we are talking about the content aggregation model, taking away the complication of accessing content through multiple windows in the fragmented content ecosystem. With the Netflix app installed on set-top boxes, content platforms or smart TVs, the frustration of exiting applications before entering new ones is removed. With both billing and navigation, it’s all about simplifying the experience.

Such partnerships tie into another column in the growth plan; entry into new markets. While some territories have been experiencing the Netflix bonanza for more than a decade, there are still markets where the brand is a newbie or even non-existent. This is the simple aspect of the plan, launch in new regions, though the complication comes with the experience.

Some areas are mobile orientated, some have poor connectivity and some have lower-end devices. In each of these circumstances, the Netflix proposition needs to be adapted to standardize the experience over every device. This standardization also extends to the different partnerships as well. There is no such thing as differentiation here, the Netflix platform will be the same wherever you go.

The final pillar is localisation. Ferreras said Netflix will continue to aggressively expand its content portfolio, not only moving into new genres, but also creating content which is targeting specific countries or regions. This is where Netflix needs to improve in some regions, as the depth of content in the right language or genres lacks. It is a work in progress, though local co-production initiatives with partners will help accelerate this process,

One area Ferreras highlighted the business will not be heading is live sports. The objective of Netflix is to innovate through creating experiences which other platforms cannot. In sport, Netflix is increasing its portfolio with sports documentaries and interviews, though this is content to support the sports story. When delivering live sports to the consumer, not only does this not fit with the on-demand ethos of Netflix, but it cannot do anything different from traditional broadcasters. As a genre, live sports does not fit the bill.

Netflix might be an internet heavyweight, but the opportunity to grow is still quite surprising.