This Saved Netflix in India | From Failure to 13 Million Subscribers | Case Study

When the world’s biggest OTT player comes to India, he gets flogged in a very bad manner. This is about 2016 when Netflix plans to come to India and thinks that the series like Stranger Things and Black Mirror will help them in capturing the market in India. They also have cult classics like Prison Break, Breaking Bad or Shell Rock. They thought that if they bring this content to India, they will be able to make a lot of money in India because.

India’s population is very big. This is the same time when the internet boom was happening in India and the internet was reaching everyone. But Netflix fails very badly. A very big reason for this is called localization. In India, a brand like McDonald’s is also localizing itself. They are changing themselves according to the customers of India. Just imagine, McDonald’s is selling deep burgers in India.

And they are not able to grow their business. McDonald’s made products according to the taste of India. Price products were made according to the taste of India. They also opened veg restaurants for different locations in India. Netflix was coming to India to sell international content at a high ticket price in a price conscious market like India. So, they had to flop.

In a short time, they realized that localization is a problem and they launched a series called Sacred Game. After that, people say that Netflix made a series that changed the world. In 2018, Reed Hastings, the co-founder of Netflix said that the next 100 million users will be from India. They started getting trust after Sacred Game. After some time, the company said that they will spend 3000 crores in India in the next 2 years for content creation.

They realized that if they crack localization, they can take over the market. Then comes COVID. In COVID, OTT consumption was at an all-time high. But in the 2021 Q1 earning call, Hastings said that they are figuring out India. India’s formula was not cracked yet. If we fast forward to June 2024, India has become the second largest market for Netflix.

Today, Netflix has more than 13 million subscribers and the average industry RQ is 3 times higher. They are earning 3 times more than the average OTT. In the financial year 2023, their profit reached 35 crores. This is a 75% rise. The numbers are small, but it is a great beginning for Netflix. Fun fact, if we talk about Q2, Kapil Sharma was the most popular show on Netflix.

Many people said that Netflix’s plan to bring Kapil Sharma on Netflix was a big flop. But these numbers say something else. For example, if I compare these numbers with overall OTT, No.1 is IPL. After that, Kapil Sharma’s show is below World Cup and Panchayat. And in the end, there is Splitvilla. But the numbers show that people are watching.

The biggest reason for their success is how they have been able to tap into the Indian market. And you can learn a lot from them. First of all, they understood India as a price conscious market. In India, you can’t sell expensive products easily. So they came up with a mobile-only plan for Rs.199. A big chunk of Netflix’s audience is working population. They don’t have time to come home and watch. They watch on lunch break or during travel.

So this plan of theirs was very successful. Second, localization. Specialized content was made for India. After the success of Sacred Game, Lust Stories, She, and many other original programs were made. They started dubbing popular series in Hindi. For example, Money Heist. Or Squid Game. Tell me in the comment section if you have watched Money.

Heist or Squid Game in Hindi or English. Comment below. Third, a big strategy which I think they have done is meme marketing. If we talk about Bela Chau then Money Heist was a big success. There was a big reason for Bela Chau. Many people made Instagram Reels and memes. Due to which hype was created.

People saw the content. The content was good. It was in their language. So they started consuming it. Now I will tell you how this strategy works. There is a way to collaborate with a platform. Tell them to create a competition. If they use our audio then they will get a winner. There are many micro video platforms which tell you to.

Follow a trend. Basically, it is a collaboration between a company and a brand. So that the trend can be increased. The second way is you give money to 2-3 creators in the top of the league. And tell them to create content on us. Then you get 5-6 creators from the bottom. Then you get 50-100 creators from the top. Artificial people think that there is a trend.

Everyone is creating around it. Rest of the people start creating automatically. Meme marketing works like this. Top meme creators are given money to create memes. Very few people are given. Very few creators are brought. Then things start trending. I am not saying that Netflix did this. But I am sure that they did this.

The next big thing is they have started a strategic partnership with telecom. Today, you can get a recharge of Rs. 9 per year. You will get free OTT. Now, we are seeing that Netflix is also getting recharges. It started with postpaid people. Now, we are seeing it with prepaid people.

If you add WiFi then you will get Netflix plan in WiFi. When you give some extra money to a person and get something in bundle then that person buys it. One of the reason for their recent growth is that they have cracked down on password sharing. That is also a big reason for which people have become forced. Earlier, people used to take one ID and all their friends used to use it.

Now, everyone is used to it. One thing that was always good with Netflix was their technology. Their streaming is adaptive. You might have noticed that even if the internet connection is not good the videos are still playing smoothly. You might have also noticed that you are watching a good quality video but the data is not consumed as much as other players.

Netflix has always thought about their technology that people’s internet can be bad but our platform should run smoothly. If we talk about technology then Netflix is working on AI If I talk about myself then I have watched some web series which I might not have watched before like Suits but Netflix has recommended that you might like it. I have watched Dynasty and I am enjoying it. But here, I have watched a content which I might not have.

Seen but I have read it in their library Netflix’s algorithm is pushing me to take Netflix’s membership constantly. The biggest problem is that if you are watching a specific content then people know how to download it. People can watch it even without OTT but if you take their plan then you are stuck. Now you know that you don’t have to waste time on which content to watch.

This is the reason that Netflix’s consumers are top tier people. If we talk about their business model then it is simple They will produce their own content or they will buy content on their license like we are watching movies on OTT and they will take in return subscription charges from us. Simple. But it is not that easy. You need people to do monthly ricker.

It should not be that they watch it once and leave. The Netflix which is buying movies is not buying it cheaply It is buying it expensive. If you want to show your content then you need users who can pay you for that. If you want to take money from Indian users then you need to make their content constantly. If you start making localized content then your balance sheet will look bad.

You will have to spend a lot because you want to deliver 5-6 pieces of content in India every week. Here they use hybrid model where you get regional and international content. If we talk about Netflix then you will see one movie in a week or one web series in two weeks and international content so that you are always able to watch something new. I have seen one more trend that they are focusing on regional content.

First they were focusing on Hindi then they realized that there is no Hindi audience Tamil Telugu audience is also there Now we are seeing Tamil Telugu content Is this strategy going to work for lifetime? Competition is increasing in the market The biggest problem is saturation If you don’t deliver new content then people will get bored If people get bored then they won’t take your subscription.

If there is no revenue then you won’t be able to produce new content This is a vicious cycle Competition is increasing Every platform wants to gain market share Although I would say in last 6 months market share has been increasing but in last 6 months market share has been decreasing and in last 6 months market share has been decreasing and in last 6 months market share has been decreasing and in.

Last 6 months market share has been decreasing and in last 6 months Cricket is a little bit less Content is mostly produced around Cricket Here Netflix has taken a good level lead One of the reason I would say But every platform has its own USP If we talk about Hotstar You get the serial content on Hotstar Along with that you get to watch matches So the family audience of the house They prefer to buy Hotstar.

If we talk about Amazon Prime You get free shopping along with Amazon Prime video So if you buy Amazon Prime, delivery is also fast Along with that you get to watch content If I talk about Netflix The biggest international competitor is Amazon Prime But a big player is rising in India That is Jio Jio has taken IPL rights.

Because of which we are seeing Top 5 content pieces Out of those 2 we are seeing Jio Jio has taken out its paid subscription Which is very cheap Because of which it can gain market Jio has its own production house So all its content will be available on their platform And the news that we are hearing.

Jio and Hotstar can merge We don’t know in which direction this merger will go But this combination will be very lethal If we talk about other OTTs Which have relatively less market share But I think it is important to understand everyone’s strategy Zee is going around Nationalism If you see, they put more Nationalist movies on their.

Platform If we talk about Sony live It is a low budget high impact series We have seen many series in the past Whether you talk about Scam Or Chamak So according to me The content that Sony is delivering It is a little bit.

But it delivers very well If we come back to case study The story of Netflix is not going to be that easy Every platform has its own niche In which domain it wants to go Who knows in future We will see a game, sports, live stream on Netflix Let’s see Maybe IPL will be live on Netflix tomorrow.

I think Jio will not let this thing go If you think which is the best OTT platform Tell me in the comment section And why I hope you enjoyed You must have learned a lot You must have got to know What strategies work in India What doesn’t.

How it has pivoted itself And how it is going to expand in the future So bye goodnight goodafternoon goodmorning Whenever you are watching this video Jai Hind Vande Mataram