Netflix is based on a linear business model that monetises on subscription revenues (tiered plans) and is one of the biggest players in the Media & Content vertical in Digital Technology. In 2023, they added an ad-supported layer.

”Netflix is one of the world's leading entertainment services with 278 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, films and games across a wide variety of genres and languages.” Netflix.

Key Customer Value Proposition / Unique Selling Proposition

Netflix’s key value propositions & unique selling proposition are to provide engaging digital content (movies & TV shows) in convenient ways (TV, laptop, tablet, mobile phone). Unlike on TV, Netflix's content can be consumed on-demand and is not interrupted by ads. In 2023, Netflix introduced a cheaper layer for those who accept ads but most users are on the ad-free plans as of late 2024.

Value Creation

Value is created through a linear process where most inputs are sourced and then processed to digital content within the firm. Netflix-created shows/movies make up a majority of their content. This is a hallmark of the linear business model and a major differentiator from YouTube.

Overview

This article is structured in line with the elements of the business model canvas:
Key Partners
Key Assets & Resources
Value Propositions
Key Activities
Channels
Customer Relationships
Customer Segments
Revenue
Cost Structure

You will also get:

Key Partners

Netflix has a range of key partners that support value creation, delivery and growth.

Value creation partners

Key partners are essential in the value creation process. In their earlier years, Netflix was dependent on getting good licensing deals from other partners like studios and rights holders. In recent years, they have become more self-sufficient. On average 80% of their content is self-created.

Studios and production companies remain key partners because licensing can help to secure popular content. Overall, Netflix’s negotiation position is better than in the early years with the minority of their content coming from 3rd parties.

Other IP holders are also relevant, such as Marvel or others who provide licensed IP as part of self-created content.

Important in the creation of movies and shows are talent agencies to secure suitable actors, directors and writers for their productions. Directors, actors, writers and their guilds/unions are some of the most powerful players in the (US) film industry. The actors and writers strike of 2023 went for 4 months during which production of Netflix titles slowed considerably.

Distribution and technology partners

Content delivery partners include the various Internet Service Providers (ISPs) domestically as well as internationally. Netflix consumed 15% of internet traffic in 2019 and close to 20% in the US. These are pretty staggering figures for just a single company. Bandwidth limitations and latency can lead to a negative customer experience and increase churn. While this may appear like a simple infrastructure layer, there have been various threats over the past 2 decades within this space that Netflix needs to continue monitoring.

Technologically, most of Netflix’s functional IT is hosted on AWS. Their content, however, remains hosted on their own servers. In addition, they use Amazon’s Content Delivery Networks (CDNs).

Netflix has developed their own sophisticated assets consisting of infrastructure and algorithms, called Netflix Open Connect, ensuring the real-time delivery of content to their customers. One of the challenges is to do this simultaneously to millions worldwide in case of new launches via Netflix Open Connect standard.

Marketing partners

There is a micro cosmos of wider "partners" (stretching the limits of this term) and influencers whose opinions can sway users.

Promoters and influencers in the industry can help get the word out. This includes prizes and film festivals, such as Film Academy (Oscars), Cannes Film Festival and many others.

In addition there’s a huge ecosystem of magazines, TV shows, Blogs, Vlogs and others covering the film industry that can help with endorsing Netflix’s titles.

New partners

In 2023, Netflix introduced the ad-supported pricing layer. They have a number of new partners in this space with Microsoft as a key partner for delivering advertisements.

In summary, Netflix’s partnerships are crucial to create and secure high-quality content, deliver it efficiently and expand its reach.

Learn more about key partners in digital business models here.

Key Assets & Resources

The Netflix brand: while Netflix primarily promotes their new shows, they still build a brand through this type of promotion. They rank within the global top 100 brands
Content library – Netflix-owned content: (created or acquired) can have a more extended life cycle in that they can re-run after being fully amortised (i.e. generate revenues at no costs – any firm’s dream). They can also be licensed out to other content distributors and generate revenues that way
Content library – licensed content: licensed content still plays a big role, esp those evergreen series that are already well-known. A number of other streaming content providers, however, have announced they will stop their licensing to Netflix. Larger studios have their own plans to build streaming libraries. Reducing their dependency on others is one of the reasons why Netflix is pouring so much money into acquisition and creation of content
The app / website: the key resource to deliver the experience and content
Algorithms: constant analysis of data based on algorithms and improvement of the business, app, features, etc
Recommendations: falls under algorithms but is such an integral part of Netflix’s success that I call it out separately
Data: Captured data, such as behavioural data, preferences used e.g. for micro-segmentation into 2,000 taste communities and used for future investment decisions into content among other
Technology staff: technology is what made Netflix a streaming provider (they started as a DVD-mailing company) and you can see they are valuing their tech staff by their stock compensation schemes that go into this
Actors, writers, filmmakers: Netflix often uses indie and newcomers across these activities and gives them more creative freedom. With many other streaming providers ramping up their content creation it will be interesting to observe the supply/demand shift in this area
Prices: winning revered film prices is one of the best ways to promote their movies and platform, esp because this is exclusive content that people can only watch when they have access
Studios: Netflix has started acquiring their own studios and hiring staff in support of content creation

Learn more about key assets & resources in digital business models here.

Value Propositions

Netflix’ key value propositions are based on providing engaging digital content (movies & TV shows) in convenient ways (TV, laptop, tablet, mobile phone) that can be consumed on-demand and that is not interrupted by ads. More recently Netflix introduced a cheaper layer for those who accept ads - but a majority of users are on the ad-free plans.

Content library: a huge content library ("Unlimited Movies, TV shows")
Exclusive content: the most important category of content is exclusive content. All content platforms aim to have highly-desired exclusive content. It is also the category that they will make the most advertising for. (The countervailing risk is that some customers will come only for one show, binge-watch and unsubscribe until new seasons are available.)
Convenience and mobility: ability to watch anywhere and on "any" device. One of the advantages that Netflix has over many other (esp emerging streaming) competitors is their "installed--base" on a wide range of devices, such as "Smart TVs, PlayStation, Xbox, Chromecast, Apple TV, Blu-ray players and more."
No ads: no ad interruption just when it gets interesting
On-demand consumption: Unlike TV, one does not have to wait for a week for the next episode. Users can watch anytime
Ability to binge watch: They can also binge watch. All episodes of one season of a series become available at the same time. This is a great stimulus for customer advocacy and word-of-mouth
Simple pricing: Using a flat fee (3 plans to choose from) with unlimited access, no tiers, no premium content at additional charges, no pay-on-demand, etc
High-quality connection: the Netflix ISP speed index has become a benchmark for measuring connection speed. Netflix uses pre-positioning of content during non-peak hours, CDNs and other ways to get their content to geographically close to their consumers
Free trial: Free month to trial – in this period everything can be accessed (no premium content, features, etc that are excluded)
Easy cancellation: "Cancel at any time."
Personalisation: through a recommendation system that takes into account what each individual has watched and liked before (rather than a static “if you liked this, you may like that”)
Localisation: Increasing amount of localisation through translation (subtitles) not taking into account the fact it needs to ensure the meaning is translated (not just the words). Creation of international content (not just pumping out US shows)

Learn more about the value propositions of digital business models here.

Exclusive content plays a great role in competitive advantage & diversification from competition esp in the fast-growing space of ever-new streaming providers and rights holders entering this space

Customer Segments

Micro segmentation into 2,000 taste clusters determined by viewing history
Macro segments used for ad targeting (non-users), e.g.:
- Demographic: family, individual, etc
- Age bracket, gender, etc
- Geo-demographic: country, city vs rural, etc
- Language spoken, proficiency
- and many others
User segmentation based on usage parameters:
- Technology:
  - Device type TV, laptop, Tablet
  - Screen size
  - Connection type/speed
- Viewing behaviours, e.g. home, on-the-go, weekend/weekday patterns, binge watcher, etc
- First show/movie watched after subscribing
- Browsing behaviours: repeat watcher vs explorative
- etc

Learn more about the customer segments of digital business models here.

Channels

Netflix uses (like many other digital tech companies) thousands of channels directly and indirectly with more or less control for customer acquisition, retention and value delivery:

Their value delivery channels include many types of smart consumer electronics:
- Those with a screen, connection and computing capabilities: Smart TVs, smartphones, laptops, tablets and more
- And those with connection and computing capabilities, such as game consoles, set top boxes and more
Customer acquisition channels include:
- Social media for customer relations / promotion of upcoming shows/movies
- Media outlets to spread the word (magazines
- Film festivals for promotion

Learn more about the channels of digital business models here.

Key Activities

Creation of original (exclusive) content: is one of the most important activities. As more and more streaming services emerge, one of the most important factors of competitive advantage is the exclusive content on each service
Sourcing of 3rd party content: While the share of 3rd party content has reduced over time, it still plays a role
Development of new offerings: developing new offerings, pricing tiers and revenue sources is very important as has been witnessed by the nose-dive ans somewhat-recovery of the share price in 2022/2023
Marketing: marketing will always play a huge role and is conducted via different channels & methods

Learn more about key activities in digital business models here.

Customer Relationships

Netflix has an on-demand, self-serving relationship with their customers. No longer do people have to wait for linear programming to play the shows/movies that TV/cable channels do just to get interrupted by annoying ads every few minutes. Customers are empowered to watch anything, anytime without interruption. Add to this the ability to binge-watch entire seasons of TV shows. The times of cliffhangers followed by a week’s wait are gone. What’s more, the recommendation system suggests content that the user is likely to enjoy and may not have been aware of. All this leads to highly empowering customer relationships.

Ability to watch anything on demand and all episodes available at once gives a sense of self-control
The exclusion of ads reduces frustration and enhances loyalty
The recommendation system: provides personaisation
The whole theme, voice and style: entertaining, relaxed, light-touch, friendly
Self-service through App: basically all interactions are managed through the app and website, including help system
User support: via live chat, call or call through the app
Social media: Facebook and other for trailers and interactions

Learn more about the customer relationships of digital business models here.

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Revenue

The far majority of their revenues come from subscription fees at this stage. There are opportunities for other types of future revenues (incl tiers, premium content, licensing out their owned content, etc).

Cost Structure

The remarkable thing about Netflix's cost structure is how large their cost of revenue is in relation to all other costs. It consumes 58% of their revenues (!) and is about 3-times as high as all other cost combined in 2022.