Netflix is running on Asian soil.
What can be clearly seen is that Netflix has made frequent and generous moves in the Asian market in the past two years. With wave after wave of "content" offensives, Netflix's efforts in the Asian market have also yielded great results.
Looking at this year alone, the drama series has started high at the beginning of the year and has gone down from "The Marriage of the Other Side" and "Itaewon Class" to the later "Kingdom Season 2" which has won great reputation and then to the currently popular "The King" ：Eternal Monarch", the cast of the film has attracted much attention, and it was screened in Berlin Film "Hunting Time", which has received critical acclaim, has just been launched. In terms of variety shows, there is "Traveler" co-presented by Jay Chou and his friends. In the past four months, whether Netflix has joined the franchise or created its own original works, It has released many popular film and television works in the Asian market. While the frequency of
content is accelerating, it also means that Netflix’s attack in the Asian market is accelerating. In its first-quarter performance report released a few days ago, Netflix stated that the company's global net increase in paid users in the first quarter was 15.77 million, the best level in a single quarter since the company went public. When analyzing the regional composition of streaming media revenue, the United States and Canada were still the main sources of revenue in the first quarter. The main revenue growth points were in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. At the same time, the revenue in the Asia-Pacific region was US$484 million, a year-on-year increase. The range is as high as 51.3%. It can also be seen that Netflix's vigorous investment in the Asian market has also produced significant benefits.
is different from the North American market where Netflix started and the European market that was first chosen when it entered the world. The Asian market is a market that is obviously different from Europe and the United States, both in terms of the tonality of film and television works and the audience's viewing habits. Counting from Netflix's entry into the Japanese market in 2015, Netflix has been implementing its strategic layout in Asia for five years. How has Netflix spent these five years in a territory that is different from any previous market?
Overview of Netflix’s current strategic business content in Asia:
The works in the table include Netflix’s original and cooperative works.
If there are any omissions or errors, welcome to supplement and correct them.
The Japanese and Korean markets.
Any strategic implementation of Netflix in the Asian market is actually its part of the globalization strategy. Netflix's globalization strategy is ambitious and well-thought-out. Ten years ago, Netflix began to implement its globalization strategy, but it did not cast its net all at once. Instead, it chose to start in Canada, which is closest and similar to the U.S. domestic market, and then entered the Latin American market step by step. European markets as well as Oceania. Asia is Netflix’s last overseas region after Africa.
Currently, Netflix’s main markets in Asia include Japan, South Korea, India, and Taiwan. At the same time, cooperation with the Philippines and Malaysian markets is also intensifying. Netflix has offices in Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, India and South Korea. In addition to mainland China, the above markets are actually the main regional markets for the Asian film and television entertainment industry.
is Netflix’s outpost into the Asian market. On September 1, 2015, Japan ushered in the official launch of Netflix. At the same time, Japan is also the country where Netflix has launched the most original works in Asia, including the most animation works. Based on the strong two-dimensional culture in Japan, Netflix first entered Japan by purchasing a large number of animation copyrights such as classic works "Death Note", "Fullmetal Alchemist" and some popular new programs, and then began to participate in the investment and production of animation works. Its partners Including well-known animation production companies such as BONES, Production I.G, Anima Studio, Sublimation and David Production. In January this year, Netflix also announced that it had acquired the global broadcast rights for 21 Studio Ghibli films (excluding the United States, Canada, and Japan), including "Spirited Away," "Princess Mononoke," "Kiki's Delivery Service" and "My Neighbor Totoro." ” and other classic films will be launched on the Netflix platform.
While vigorously promoting animation works, drama series and variety shows are also being carried out simultaneously.For example, the first series launched was "Underwear" co-produced with Fuji TV. Less than a year later, "Sparks" was launched on Netflix, and "Sparks" also became an eye-catching Japanese drama that year with its good reputation. And "The Naked Director" (Season 1), which detonated the market last year, has undoubtedly become a strong star of Netflix. The new drama "Followers" debuted at the beginning of this year, but it didn't make much of a splash. In terms of variety shows, the reality show "Duplex" series is also going on tepidly.
South Korea can be regarded as Netflix’s second stop in Asia. Judging from the current market structure, Netflix’s original content in South Korea is mainly based on drama series, and its movie and variety show business is carried out simultaneously. In fact, Netflix suffered initially when it chose to start with dramas. Behind the development of Korean dramas is a complete industry structure and mature market development. The local area has already been crowded with fierce competition. Therefore, Netflix’s initial entry was collectively rejected by several large production companies such as CJ E&M and SK Telecom, which were unwilling to sell. Copyright to Netflix.
It wasn’t until 2018 that tvN’s “Mr. Sunshine” and JTBC’s “Castle in the Sky” began to cooperate with Netflix. The two series were simultaneously broadcast on TV and the Netflix platform, and Netflix took a big step forward in the Korean market. Behind this big step, Netflix also paid a considerable price. For example, of the 43 billion won in production costs behind "Mr. Sunshine", Netflix invested 28 billion won in obtaining simultaneous broadcast rights.
After early attempts at copyright cooperation and co-production, Netflix began to brew its own series in South Korea, such as "My Only Love Song" in 2017, "Personality Quartet" in 2019 and " Several dramas such as "Because First Love Is the First Time" and "Ring the Bell if You Like" are slowly getting better, and "Kingdom" (Season 1) at the beginning of last year made Netflix famous again and became its first choice in the Korean market. Even the best local original success stories in the Asian market. This year's "Kingdom" (Season 2) also triggered a global drama viewing craze, and the third season will be released next year.
At the same time, Netflix’s cooperation with Korean movies and variety shows has also been significantly higher than that of Japan. In 2017, "Okja" directed by Bong Joon-ho debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, with the help of Netflix behind it. At this year's Berlin Film Festival, "Hunting Time", a representative Netflix film, also aroused heated discussions. The film was originally planned to be released in South Korea in late February, but due to the outbreak, it was directly launched on the Netflix platform on April 23. Looking at variety shows, since its launch in May 2018, "The Prisoner Is You" has been online for two seasons and has achieved good results, and the third season is also in production.
and above can be regarded as the first echelon of Netflix in the Asian market.
Southeast Asian market penetration battle
As a former fertile ground for the development of Chinese-language film and television, Netflix’s entry into the Chinese-language film and television field began with the Taiwan market. In 2016, Netflix launched in Taiwan, China. In 2018, it launched its first original series "A Tale of Two Cities". In 2019, "The Dreamer" was regarded as the voice of Netflix's Chinese-language dramas. From the subject matter to the lineup, it sparked a heated discussion. After that, "The Ultimate Daughter" was released. "The Marriage of the Other Side" at the beginning of this year attracted much attention before it was released but the reputation was not satisfactory. Next, "Who is the Victim" will be released at the end of this month. I don't know if this drama will be released. Can usher in the explosion of Netflix Chinese-language dramas.
The Indian market on the other side has also become Netflix's focus. Judging from Netflix's current business layout and future plans for dramas and movies in India, dramas and movies are basically given equal emphasis. In terms of drama series, "Sacred Games" is Netflix's first drama produced in India, but the most famous one is "Delhi Crime" adapted from the 2012 Indian gangster bus case, and the Indian mythical film "Baahubali" "The drama version of "Baahubali: Before the Beginning".
Movies include "Love Story", "Small Love", "Music Teacher", "Car Search", etc., but so far there are no real hits. At the same time, based on the nature of the Indian film market, Netflix is also increasing its investment in this market.In 2020, it plans to promote the production of 22 original movies and 11 Indian TV series with an investment of US$420 million.
At the same time, Netflix’s pace can also be seen in the Southeast Asian and East Asian markets outside the above-mentioned regional markets. For example, Thailand, the Philippines, and Turkey are gradually developing business. The first step for Netflix to enter these markets is to attract users by purchasing a large number of copyrights of local film and television works, such as the Philippine thriller "Strange Case", the Malaysian crime film "Night Flight", the Indonesian action film "Headshot", etc. On this basis, Netflix has also begun to cooperate with local creators to promote original content, such as the Thai drama "Island", the Thai thriller "The Drama", etc., and the Turkish drama "Guardian", etc.
Judging from the comprehensive quantity, quality and scope of works, the above markets can be temporarily regarded as the second echelon of Netflix's Asia strategy. As for the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia and other Asian countries, Netflix has already entered the country, but there has been no further progress in original content.
Is the hardest bone in Asia mainland China?
looks back at Netflix’s current layout and development ideas in the Asian market. The concentrated efforts began in 2016. From this year on, except for Japan (Netflix landed in Japan in 2015), Netflix has been launched in the above-mentioned countries and regions. At the same time, this year was also a year in which Netflix's global strategy was vigorously promoted. Its video streaming services have been launched in 130 countries and regions around the world, and the Asian market happens to be the most important step among them.
In the process of entering Asia, Netflix, as an outsider, wants to take root in an external market. This market must also meet many of the conditions it requires, such as market inclusiveness and development potential, user activity and viewing habits. As well as the level of streaming media infrastructure, etc. Let’s meet these conditions first and then talk about cultural invasion and integration. For example, Netflix is currently not available in mainland China, so don’t think about any other cooperation and development.
It can be seen that Japan and South Korea are the first Asian regional markets that Netflix has vigorously entered. In addition to the two places' well-established and prosperous entertainment industries, these two markets are also the first to meet the rigid conditions for Netflix to settle there, that is, the issue of broadband penetration. . Among them, South Korea has the best conditions, with about 90% of its citizens having access to fast broadband, while Japan has 185 million mobile network users. Such market conditions also make it possible for Netflix to enter and advance its subsequent plans. In comparison, in India, which has a huge population of 1.3 billion, about 50 million people can currently use fixed broadband at home, and its network conditions are obviously not as good as those in Japan and South Korea. But at the same time, this number in India was only 20 million two years ago, and the growth rate and speed in the middle have become the potential that Netflix sees.
In the process of entering, participating in, occupying and counterattacking the Asian market, Netflix has adopted a strategy from localization to Netflixization, that is, through partnerships with local companies and creators to stabilize the platform’s local foothold and operations, and then further Promote Netflix's core concepts and combine with local culture to start creating original content that truly belongs to Netflix. This process is particularly prominent in South Korea. Initially, Netflix cooperated with local Korean TV stations to cooperate on copyright through investment, acquisition, etc. However, the broadcasting method of Korean dramas is also similar to traditional American dramas, that is, weekly broadcasting. However, Netflix has promoted one-time release since it started producing original series. Therefore, Netflix had to "comply" with local regulations in its initial cooperation with Korean TV stations. Play mode. However, when the Netflix-led original series "Kingdom" (Season 1) was launched, all 6 episodes were released at once. From this, we can see that Netflix has gradually taken over the dominance of the Korean market.
At the same time, when Netflix enters the markets of different Asian countries, it also carefully arranges its paths in each region. If you look closely, you will find that Netflix's development layout in each country is different.Take the Indian market, which is currently focusing on development, as an example. The services provided by Netflix have always been mainly in English. However, the penetration rate of English in India is not high, and the audience base of local film and television works is large. Therefore, while Netflix releases works in the Indian market, it also provides Its works have been re-dubbed in Hindi to meet the viewing needs of more local audiences.
Not only that, in view of the broadband development level in the Indian market, Netflix has also launched a "download" function, which can avoid local viewing problems caused by frequent power outages, unstable network, etc. According to statistics, the "download" function of the Netflix platform is used nearly twice as much in India as in the United States.
In addition to the above-mentioned issues of understanding and integrating into the local area, Netflix is also making arrangements based on local conditions in terms of membership prices (taking basic membership prices as an example). Overall, Netflix membership prices in Asia are basically between US$7 and US$8 per month, while in the United States the price has risen to US$13 per month. It can be seen that due to the economic level and cultural consumption habits of Asian countries and regions, Netflix’s membership prices in the Asian market are set close to the local market. In addition to content, it also tries to attract more users at low prices. Another example is in 2018 Netflix has also launched a half-price subscription service in Malaysia. This is also the first country in the world where Netflix has launched a half-price subscription service. At the same time, the cheapest membership price in the world is also in Asia (Türkiye US$3.27/month).
Finally, let’s talk about the development of Netflix in the Chinese mainland market. Currently, mainland China cannot log into the Netflix platform normally. However, Netflix is still well-known in the domestic market. Countless Netflix works enter through various channels, and domestic audiences are not interested in it. Not unfamiliar. In 2015, Netflix made it clear that it would actively explore entering the Chinese mainland market, but in 2016 it stated that it would "use a cooperative approach to license content to Chinese content service providers and not directly enter the Chinese mainland market." In April 2019, it announced again Once it was clearly stated that it had “no plans to enter the mainland Chinese market in the near future.”
However, at the same time, there are also some domestic film and television works on the Netflix platform, such as the movies "The Wandering Earth", "The Next Us" and "Future Machine City", and the series include "White Night", "Anti-Black" and "To Our Simple Little People". "Beautiful", "Undocumented Crime", "River God", etc., but these film and television works on the Netflix platform are limited to domestic content overseas. In essence, the door to the mainland Chinese market is still closed to Netflix.
Under the current epidemic crisis, online content has once again ushered in the spring of explosion. Many domestic online platforms are also taking frequent actions. However, what is interesting is that the streaming media business is the most prosperous around the world. Netflix, on the one hand, domestic audiences are constantly cheering and anticipating its hit hit, but on the other hand, the domestic market is tightly guarded and Netflix has no plans to enter the market with an indifferent attitude. However, we don’t know whether the fertile market in mainland China will always exist as embarrassingly and stubbornly as it does now in Netflix’s global strategy in Asia.
The reference materials for this article are as follows:
"This is a review of Netflix's layout in Asia" (Laoyu)
"The Dilemma and Challenges of Netflix: An Epic Strategy for Hegemony in Asia" (Beijing News)
"Kingdom Zombie Parkour" , Netflix is building its Asian "kingdom"" (Poisonous Eyes)
"India becomes Netflix's largest Asian market" (Zhixiang.com)
"Netflix is rapidly expanding globally. Three important experiences worth learning from" (TNW Chinese version)
"Dismantling Netflix's global strategy: The next step to secure the Iron Throne is to enter the world" (All Media School)
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