Marketing Mix of Netflix: 7 Ps

Netflix is a leading online streaming services provider based in the United States. The brand enjoys global popularity and has acquired a very large subscriber base of more than 167 million people. The growth of Netflix is mainly a result of its focus on customer experience and a wide range of original content that can be accessed by users across 190 countries. Over the past several years, Netflix has continued to enjoy faster growth in popularity and sales mainly driven by original shows like Money Heist. The company has a wide range of content in several languages and genres. Apart from that the companies also focused on the use of technology to provide users a superior experience.  In 2019, the net revenue of Netflix grew to $20.15 billion compared to $15.8 billion in 2018. As competition has continued to intensify in the online entertainment industry, Netflix is facing increased competition from a large number of online streaming services providers as well as social media and gaming services. 

The real driver of popularity, sales, and revenue for Netflix is the technology and its user-friendly interface that allows users to stream videos across a wide variety of devices as well as the large amount of content that caters to the varying tastes and preferences of several consumer segments. The main target market for Netflix are millennial consumers. However, it also has a large amount of content that is suited for teenagers and children. The millennials are tech-savvy generation and therefore the largest demographic in the consumer base of Netflix. 

Read more about Netflix in this marketing mix including the seven Ps.

Product:

Since its foundation in 1997, Netflix has gone through several twists before it tasted real success. However, once it started climbing, the brand never looked back. Now, it offers a wide range of content in several languages and across several genres which includes some of the most popular shows like Money Heist. A large number of original movies and shows enjoy heavy popularity and demand in the global market. Shows like Money Heist, Tiger King, Stranger Things among many others enjoy huge demand and their popularity continues to grow. Netflix has continued to bet on original content. Instead of leasing content generated mainly by others, the company focused on creating its own content that included several famous movies, shows and documentaries. While on the one hand, original content helped it differentiate its brand from the others, it has also helped it find faster popularity among new customer segments. Before 2019, its business was divided in three segments that included the US streaming, international streaming and DVD segment. However, now the company is operating its business as one global segment.

Place:

Netflix is based in the United States. However, it is a global company that offers its services in 190 countries throughout the world. Since all of its business is carried out online, Netflix content can be accessed anywhere throughout the world. The number of Netflix subscribers is now past 167 million. While the United States is the leading market of the company, it started its international expansion in 2010 and now delivers content over the web to users in 190 countries. The head office of Netflix is located in California, United States. 

Price:

Pricing is an important factor that affects growth directly in the case of services provided online. The more competitive the pricing strategy, the faster can be the growth of the company and the larger will be its customer base. It is why Netflix has priced its services competitively so that a larger number of people from around the world can access its services. It has brought three plans that suit the needs of its target customer segment. There is a little difference in the quality of content as well as the number of devices on which the user can access content at a time across the three plans. The basic plan offers access to Netflix content only in Standard Definition. However, the other two plans offer access to content in HD and UHD and on two and four screens respectively. This pricing strategy covers the needs of most of the user segments since a large number of users in the Asian and third world countries want cheaper plans. While there is no limit on the amount of content one can access, the quality of content varies a little between the plans. 

Promotion:

Netflix has grown to become a very popular and familiar name in the world of online entertainment. Apart from the vast amount of content that it offers, the main source of its popularity is its focus on developing original content. However, its product quality has been a major contributor to its popularity and fame throughout the world. Its focus on product quality and dedication to customer experience has helped it engage users well. The company places the highest focus on customer experience and this is why the Netflix experience is as distinct and outstanding. Many of the original movies and shoes made by Netflix have acquired global fame like Money Heist and Tiger King. 

Apart from these things, Netflix also invests in marketing and promotion. It uses digital channels mainly for promotions and customer engagement. The company uses social media heavily for promotions and engagement. It uses Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter for promotions and to engage its customers worldwide. Its marketing expenses have grown fast during the past three years. From $1.44 billion in 2017, the marketing expenses of the company have grown to $2.65 billion in 2019. 

As an online streaming services brand. Netflix enjoys a very high level of brand awareness which is perhaps higher than any of its streaming services competitors. Moreover, continued focus on customer experience, technological innovation and original content has also allowed the company to gain higher customer loyalty and build a stronger reputation. The company has continued to strengthen its reputation and brand image by investing in good quality content.

People:

Netflix is an innovative company and not just in terms of product or customer experience but also in terms of HR management and organizational culture. It has established a unique organizational culture that is appreciated a lot. As of 2019, the company had approximately 8600 employees. The company has established a culture that fosters inclusion and collaboration.

Process:

Netflix delivers its services online. Anyone can buy a Netflix subscription and start streaming content over the internet and across many devices that are internet enabled. Apart from that Netflix also allows downloading and saving shows to the device. All that someone needs to stream movies and shows is an internet enabled device like a smartphone or a laptop or tablet and he can start streaming. However, 4G connection is also required since streaming on 3G can be difficult.

Physical Evidence:

A large number of companies provide their services online and since this is the era of 4G and a lot of businesses sell their services online worldwide. The only type of physical evidence in such cases is on the device you are using to access the service. It is true about all the streaming, social media and gaming services. Users purchase and consume a large variety of services online without any difficulty. However, Netflix is an established brand name and that does inspire some more trust among its customers. Netflix enjoys a very high level of brand awareness worldwide. So, apart from the content that people access online or download on their devices, there is very little that counts as physical evidence excluding the physical infrastructure of the company.