VIDEOLAND : a war with Netflix (Medium , Source)
Source1. Company introduction
Videoland was founded in 1984 by Nico Broersen and Gerard van Stijn. The company started out as a Dutch retail chain of physical video rental stores (Entertainment Business, 2020). Since 2010, Videoland has started Videoland on Demand. Video on Demand is a media platform that allows people to watch unlimited series and films without any commercials, at any time. Soon, more competitors followed with a Video on Demand platform. Consequently, Videoland closed its physical stores and shifted its total focus on the Videoland platform. Since 2015, the Videoland on Demand platform has been part of RTL Group. RTL Group is an established media company that is active in various European countries (van Dongen, 2019). The core transaction of the current Videoland platform is between media producers (content creators) and people that want to watch media (viewers). The Videoland platform is only available in the Netherlands (Videoland, 2020).
This report discusses the
business model of Videoland in chapter 2. In chapter 3, the report uses a
market analysis for insights into competitors and the industry. Chapter 4 describes two technologies that are the driving forces behind the
changes in the market.
2. Business Model
a. Business Model Canvas
This chapter describes the current business model of Videoland. For this analysis, the Business Model Canvas is used, developed by A. Joyce and R.L. Paquin (2016).
Key Partners
Key partners of Videoland are (1) the content creators on the platform, (2) the digital software company maintaining and hosting the technical aspect of the platform, and (3) internet service providers. First, a distinction in content creators can be made between content producers and content providers (Content Marketing Glossary, n.d.). Content producers are the filmmakers that are making the video content for the platform. Content providers gather content from the content producers and prepare it for publication. Videoland works together with both types of content creators as a partner (Content Marketing Glossary, n.d.). The German and French branches of RTL also produce content themselves that is available on Videoland (Dongen, 2019). Recently, RTL launched Videoland Academy. With Videoland Academy, Videoland seeks to sponsor new talented content creators by giving talent a grant to produce Videoland content (Videoland Academy, 2019). Second, Videoland partners with software companies that help host the company and do the maintenance and improvements of the website. For an online business, having reliable technical partners are important. Third, internet service providers like Ziggo are partners. Videoland leverages these partners to bring content to the viewers in the platform. When both parties cooperate, they can deliver content more efficient (Al-Youm, 2020).
Key Activities
Together with the key partners, Videoland facilitates a core transaction on its platform between content creators and viewers. The core transaction of the Videoland platform enables viewers to watch unlimited content. Content creators create this content and distribute it by content providers via Videoland. To get more customers on the platform, marketing is key. Analytics support the marketing activities used to target potential customers with the highest conversion probability. Analytics also support the experience of the viewer, as analytics support recommendation systems. Recommendation systems provide content recommendations based on viewing behaviour, improving the experience for the viewer. The key activities of Videoland include getting content on the platform, marketing, and optimizing the platform through analytics.
Key Resources
For the core transaction to happen on the Videoland platform, the platform needs participants, a value unit, and a filter (Z. Cao, 2020). These 3 categories of the core transaction require resources.
Participants include content creators and viewers. These participants are a key resource of the Videoland platform. Content creators are valuable as they bring content to the platform. Viewers are valuable because they pay a subscription fee. When there are content creators, there will be content on the platform, and it is likely that viewers will join. There is a positive cross-side network effect between the participants of the platform. The cross-side network effect is positive because as more content creators join the platform, there is more quality content for viewers to watch. When the viewers have more content to watch, the value to join the platform becomes greater and more viewers will watch the content. The more viewers again make it more interesting for content creators to get their content on the platform, as more viewers watch the content.
The value unit of the Videoland platform is the content. Videoland offers quality content via the content creators linked to the platform. This key resource is used as a source for differentiation, as Videoland tailors its content to the Dutch market. One of the unique selling points of Videoland is the collaboration with RTL. This collaboration allows Videoland to have a lot of local content on its platform. There are many types of content on the platform, including films, soaps, and series. All content on the platform is video content.
The filter of the platform is in the software of the platform itself. This software includes the recommendation system for viewers. The recommendation system helps viewers access the best-personalised content, thus experience. A recommendation system increases the value of the platform for viewers and is a key resource to leverage.
The participants on the platform, content and recommendation system are all valuable assets. According to the VRIN-model, different assets can bring a different amount of value (Talaja, 2012). The more value the assets bring, the more Videoland can leverage the resources as a source of competitive advantage. The platform, content and recommendation system are a source of differentiation, but they are not extremely rare (Talaja, 2012). This means that a lot of the resources are also available to competitors and provide not a lot of significant competitive advantage. The resources are imitable by competitors, as a resource can be obtained by competing businesses (Talaja, 2012). Exclusive deals and original content help with creating less imitable content. Some of the content on the platform is non-substitutable, as it is only available for viewers on the Videoland platform and not on, for example, linear tv (Talaja, 2012).
Value Proposition
The core interaction of the Videoland platform is the main reason that viewers sign-up for the platform. Yet, there are more platforms offering this service. Videoland differentiates itself in its value proposition by offering local quality content tailored for the Dutch market. Next to that, Videoland also creates content “itself” via the RTL Group that owns Videoland. This provides the Videoland platform with exclusive content that viewers can watch on the Videoland platform. This local content is not offered by other platforms, but available on the Videoland platform for an affordable price.
Customer Relationships
One of the essential functions of a platform is to facilitate (Z. Cao, 2020). Videoland wants its viewers to have as little friction as possible and thus tries to reduce this friction. Videoland wants to facilitate the viewers and content creators to get as much value from their core transaction and as easy as possible. An example of how Videoland does this is by reducing friction from their onboarding funnel and making the design of the Videoland platform more user friendly. Next to that, one of the essential functions of a platform is matching the value unit, via the right filter to the right viewer. Videoland does this using an optimized recommendation system, leveraging the data they extract from the platform viewers. Both reducing friction and optimizing the recommendation system support the relationship of Videoland with their viewers.
Channels
Videoland is available for access via the internet in web browsers or via applications on smart tv’s, game consoles, computers, smartphones, and tablets. Examples of channel providers are Xbox 360, Sony, Samsung, and Apple. All these companies provide a physical and digital infrastructure from which the Videoland application is available for access by its viewers. Videoland leverages online channels for marketing, like social media and tv commercials. This results in a steady growth of viewers, and again 45% more total viewing time for Videoland in 2019 compared to 2018 (RTL Group, 2019).
Customer Segments
As focusing on Dutch content is part of the value proposition, the target group for Videoland is the Dutch market. Videoland mainly focuses on viewers in the Netherlands that like local quality content for a good price (Interview: Videoland over de kracht van eigen content, 2016). Little is published on the exact target group of Videoland. The only selection known is that Videoland is more likely to be used by people under 40 years old (Telecompaper, 2013).
Cost Structure
The costs for Videoland are mainly in maintaining the platform. As Videoland is part of RTL Netherlands, there are only consolidated financial statements available. However, an estimation of the costs can be made if costs are compared to Netflix under the assumption that both platforms have the same relative cost structure. The costs of Netflix in 2019 include marketing (13% of costs), cost of revenues (62% of costs), Technology and development (8% of costs), and General and administrative costs (5% of costs) (Netflix, 2019). Marketing costs are all costs related to promoting the platform. The costs of revenues include amortization of the streaming content assets. Besides, these costs include streaming delivery costs (Netflix, 2018). Technology and development expenses consist of salaries for all technical personnel, as well as other costs incurred in making improvements to our service offerings, including testing, maintaining, and modifying the streaming delivery technology and infrastructure. Technology and development expenses also include costs associated with computer hardware and software. General and administrative expenses consist of payroll and related expenses for corporate employees. General and administrative expenses also include professional fees and other general corporate expenses (Netflix, 2018).
Revenue Streams
For a platform like Videoland, it is important to take the end-to-end principle into account with monetization. The impact of new layers of peripheral interactions must not impact the core interaction (Z. Cao, 2020). Since Videoland offers unlimited videos in its core interaction, Videoland did not choose to let customers pay per viewed piece of content. Instead, Videoland earns revenue based on a subscription model paid by customers (RTL Group, 2019). This subscription model interferes less with the core interaction because viewers can digitally watch unlimited content on the platform if they have a subscription. The type of monetization used is charging for access (Z. Cao, 2020).
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