MKT702-SERVICES MARKETING

Assignment 3

Group Members
Syed Muhammad Sabeehul Rehman (MBA-Executive) – 192200003
Muhammad Asgher (MBA-Executive) – 192200004
Fareeda Kalsoom (MPhil Management Sciences) – 192610019
Nayab Azmat (MPhil Management Sciences) – 192610021
Usman Ishaq (MBA-Executive) – 181200003
Javed Iqbal (MBA-Executive) – 181200010

GIFT UNIVERSITY
 Services Marketing
Assignment 03
Spring 2020

Date of Submission: 25 August 2020

Time of Submission: 04:00 PM

Kindly work in a group of six people at most and answer the following questions:

1. Pick a services sector identify how brands in your selected services sector are trying
to gain competitive advantage? Is it based on Cost, Niche, or solely based on product /
service differentiation? Kindly be prepared to justify your stance. In this regard, it is

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obligatory on your part to discuss it with an industry expert to validate your
opinions. An image with this person is compulsory. (Every group with a different
sector).

We have selected OTT Streaming Services sector for our assignment. Below are the major
brands in OTT Streaming Sector:
Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Hotstar, Disney+, Zee5, AltBalaji
Since the world has gone digital and everything is virtually available. Gone are the times
when audiences only relied on TV or Theatres (Cinema), people can now sit back in their
bedrooms, offices, cars, hotel rooms (anywhere) and watch whatever they want to watch on
their phones, laptops, TVs and computers. Internet has definitely changed the whole world
globally. Online Streaming services are now a big thing. Netflix being the first mover has
been the game changer in this scenario. Initially, it was only Netflix which offered the
services but other companies followed the suit and launched their own Online Streaming
platforms. We had a discussion about it with Madam Sobia Abid (Associate Professor Center
for Media and Communication Studies, University of Okara).
Netflix
Netflix being the first mover definitely has an edge over any other OTT platform but
that is not the only area where they can hold onto gain the competitive advantage. And with
the emergence of other platforms Netflix has for sure up their game and has been
reevaluating and evolving their competitive advantage simultaneously given the changing
scenarios of digital trends and audiences needs. Netflix’s initial days competitive advantage
was based on Cost. The company provided with cost effective subscription packages to its
users and provided them with firsthand experience. But with the passage of time it has
changed now. As other companies have provided the users with better and more cost
effective services. Currently, Netflix is trying to gain competitive advantage based on the
product differentiation. As they say, CONTENT is the king, Netflix has taken it in
consideration and has been creating its own original, high quality and unique content to
maintain the leader. Because with Disney and other media giants are pulling out their
licensed content to make it exclusively available on Disney+ and Hulu, and some other
constraints, Netflix is investing more on its Original Content. With 37% original content on
Netflix and 63% licensed content, Netflix is leading the industry. Moreover, Netflix is now
reducing its collection of movies and focusing more on TV Series because of the growing
popularity of the Web-series.
Prime Video
Giving a strong competition to Netflix is the Amazon Prime Video. As Amazon has

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farfetched household presence, Amazon Prime Video became a very much part of Amazon
users. Prime Video is competing on Cost. With less than $8.99 subscription for any video
quality and any film or series, not only that, subscribers can watch anything on multiple
screens with Prime Video, unlike Netflix’s 3 Tiers subscription plan.
Hulu
Hulu started its online streaming services around the same time Netflix has started,
but ever since its inception it has always seen some patchy growth because it was a giant
venture of Walt Disney, ComCast, 21st Century Fox, Time Warner, Providence Equity
Partners, News Corporation and NBS Universal. Now it is only owned by Disney. Since
Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are available globally, Hulu is only available in US. Yet,
Hulu is strong competitor of Netflix in US. Hulu is gaining the competitive advantage
because of its differentiation in service. It provides the content more quickly than ever, it
takes minimum a day or maximum a week for any new released show or movie to be
available on the platform, which is not the case with Netflix or Prime. Also it has product
differentiation as well, as it provides Live TV service.
Hotstar (Disney+ Hotstar)
Hotstar is India’s number one online streaming platform with around 300 million
active users, 8 million of them are the users of Disney+ Hotstar, giving a strong competition
to Netflix and Prime in India. The company is trying to gain competitive advantage based on
cost and niche. It is quite cost effective and providing the best subscription deals. That is
because content is not the king in the country like India.
Zee5
Just like Star Group, Zee group also launched its own streaming platform and has
been following the footsteps of Hotstar and Netflix. Just like Netflix has made some contracts
 with India and other regional media industries to produce the regional Original content, Zee
has collaborated with Pakistani makers to produce high quality series and movies while
generating content for the Indian audiences. Zee5 has not only collaborated with Pakistani
makers but it has also collaborated with another OTT Platform AltBalaji to co-produce web
content.
AltBalaji
AltBalaji is the OTT platform of Balaji Telefilms & Motion Pictures Limited. It solely
produces Original content and has been quite popular between youth as it focuses primarily
on Erotica and Youth oriented content. And has a niche market. And with Zee5 collaboration
it is producing content for both platforms.

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2. Recall hypothetical market structure and pick two brands i.e. one the industry
leader and the other a market follower. Make a nice table with two columns and
elaborate the basis for segmentation which you believe these two firms are employing
to segment the market based on:

(a) Market characteristics

(b) Needs
(c) Purchasing behaviour
(d) Consumption patterns

Note: It is expected that you will present factual data to support your argument.

Market Leader (Netflix) Market Follower (Zee5)

Market Netflix has global market. It has its users
Characteristics geographically diversified and hold
multicultural edge inmore than 190
countries.
Netflix uses Behavioral Segmentation
because of the diversification of its users
around the globe.
Multiculturalism plays a vital role also,
hence there is universality in content
production to attract regional audiences,
for instance Sacred Games, Leila, Ghoul
are Netflix Original but in Hindi
Language, attracting Asian market.
Needs Users are so obsessed with personalized
items and services, keeping this in mind,
Netflix provides its users to have a
personalized user account, (You can add
up-to 5 personalized accounts).
Also there is a personalization in genres
which are separately available for its users
to choose themselves.
Zee5 has its market primarily in India.
It uses Psychographic Segmentation.
Since Indian audience is more interested in
Hindi Language content, and feel more
satisfied for Hindi Content, Zee5 has
targeted this area.
But Zee has a name of its own in 170
countries, hence Zee5 aims for global
reach.
Pakistani Serials having a huge viewership
in India, Bangladesh and the neighboring
countries, Zee5 has made a contact with
Pakistani content creators for creating web
series for the platform and it is helping
Zee5 to grab market outside India.
Original content is also what users of Zee5
need and are hungry for. But language
plays a vital role here, Indian audience
resonates more with Hindi language.
Having vast user base in India, Zee5 also
uses personalized genre tabs to cater to its
customers need for regional vontent.
 Netflix uses its users’ data to learn
customers’ needs.
Fresh, Crispy and Original story telling is
the need of hour in digital media, and
Netflix is spending mostly in the Netflix
Original content creation.
Netflix make sure it listens to its users,
and their wants and have thrived over
more than 2 decades by creating content
that TV networks do not usually create.
Also, with a rapidly changing world, TV
Viewing habit is reduced, people want to
watch anything on-the-go and at any time
without waiting for a whole week for next
episode.
Netflix also has Netflix Kids service

exclusively for kids with Parental Control
option.
Purchasing Netflix’s hybrid payment plan plays a key
Behaviour role in purchasing behavior of customers.
It offer new users a first 30 days free
subscription, while keeping them engaged
with finest content to retain the users
providing them three payment plans.
Mostly people uses $12.9 per month,
payment plan.
Consumption Binge-watching is the ultimate key factor
Patterns here. Netflix’s users spend an average of 2
to 8 hours on Netflix.
In Post Covid Scenario, the consumption
pattern has changed swiftly, now an
average of 2 to 12 hours are normal.
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Zee5 offers its user minimum of rupees 10
for 24 hours service upto 1200 rupees per
month.
Pandemic has changed the purchasing
behaviour of Zee5 users, with theatres
(cinemas) being shut, OTT Platforms has
taken due advantage of it and Zee5 has
seen change in purchasing behaviour.
People use to enjoy free-trial period
initially, and never bothered subscribing,
but now it has changed.
Pre-Covid Consumption pattern of Zee5’s
users was quite low, up-to 2 to 5 hours
But post Covid, there has been change also,
there has been 35% increase in active users
and the average consumption is 2 to 8
hours now.

3. Pick a weakest brand of that category and try to reposition it based on:

(a) Segment innovation (is there a new segment which you believe is important for
this brand, yet ignored? Or, is there a new need which you believe is emerging but
not yet served by any competitor?)
(b) The psychographs, behaviour, and key demographics of this one segment
(c) Frame of reference
(d) Point of difference
(e) Reason to believe

OTT Streaming medium is growing day by day as market entry is free and obstacle-less yet
there are few who have struck a chord with the audience.
AltBalaji, an OTT Streaming platform run by Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms & Motion
Pictures, started off quite well 4 years ago having its unique strategy to stream only Original
content, but eventually it failed to generate revenues, instead went into losses because of the
quality of the content. Ekta Kapoor who is known for her melodramatic, heavy make-up, and
exaggerated soap serials on Indian Televison industry, who has had produced some x-rated
Bollywood movies as well, followed the same suit on OTT platform, also. The x-rated, soft
pornographic content in the name of Original Content has led to the platform to lose its
integrity and users. People certainly are not paying for shows like Boygiri, Gandii Baat,
XXX, Virgin Bhaskar and stuff like that. Even though the platform produced a romantic
drama series, “Broken but Beautiful”, which is beautiful. Even the collaboration with Zee5
could not save it. To compete on international level, the company must reposition itself in
terms on content creation.
a. & b) Market Segment:
AltBalaji must focus more on behavioural segmentation. The company’s current
focus is only young-adult, but it should focus more on producing content for each age
group’s needs, demands, and wants, and must change the content from x-rated to

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different genres.
The key demo-graphs, psychographs and behaviours of this new market segment
should be entertainment for all age group, from kids to old people, from school going
to retired person, from males oriented to female oriented content. Keeping in mind,
the income and occupation of the users. Keeping in mind the demographics AltBalaji
should focus on the consumers’ consumption patterns, needs and wants, genres of
content ranging from action to comedy to romance to drama to crime to politics to
regional content.
c) Frame of reference: AltBalaji already has marketed itself on producing ONLY
original content, and I believe it should stick true to that. However, it must end its
collaboration with Zee5.
d) POD: AltBalaji must provide only single quality video at the existing price plan Ultra
HD video streaming service. Which no other streaming platform is offering.
e) AltBalaji would be the only Digital OTT Streaming service user would get Original
Content only.