Global Strategy

How Netflix Expanded to 190

Countries in 7 Years
by Louis Brennan

October 12, 2018, Updated October 12, 2018

Fernando Trabanco Fotografía/Getty Images

Summary. Netflix’s global growth is a big factor in the company’s success. It

operates in over 190 countries, and its international streaming revenues now
exceed... more
Netflix’s global growth is a big factor in the company’s success. By
2017 it was operating in over 190 countries, and today close to 73
million of its some 130 million subscribers are outside the U.S. In
the second quarter of 2018, its international streaming revenues
exceeded domestic streaming revenues for the first time. This is a
remarkable achievement for a company that was only in the U.S.
before 2010, and in only 50 countries by 2015.

Other U.S. internet companies have scaled internationally, of

course (Facebook and Google are two obvious examples). But
Netflix’s globalization strategy, and many of the challenges it’s
had to overcome, are unique. Netflix must secure content deals
region by region, and sometimes country by country. It also must
face a diverse set of national regulatory restrictions, such as those
that limit what content can be made available in local markets.
International subscribers, many of whom are not fluent in
English, often prefer local-language programming. And many
potential subscribers, accustomed to free content, remain
hesitant to pay for streaming services at all.

Furthermore, strong competition in streaming already exists in

many countries. In France and India, for example, homegrown
leaders offer local-language video content, thus depriving Netflix
of first-mover advantage. In some countries, like Germany and
India, rivals such as Amazon Prime were already established. Yet
the majority of Prime subscribers are in the U.S., and Netflix has
managed to make inroads into even those markets where Prime
arrived first. Now Netflix, with its global reach, has more
subscribers worldwide than all other pure streaming services
combined.

Netflix’s success can be attributed to two strategic moves — a

three-stage expansion process into new markets and the ways it
worked with those markets — which other companies looking to
expand globally can use too.

Netflix did not try to enter all markets at once. Rather, it

carefully selected its initial adjacent markets in terms of
geography and psychic distance, or perceived differences
between markets. For example, its earliest international
expansion, in 2010, was to Canada, which is geographically close
to and shares many similarities with the United States. Netflix
was thus able to develop its internationalization capabilities in
locations where the challenges of “foreignness” were less acute. In
doing so, the company learned how to expand and enhance its
core capabilities beyond its home market.

In that sense, the first phase of its globalization process was

consistent with the traditional model of expansion. But from the
experience and learning it gained in that process, Netflix
developed the capabilities to expand into a diverse set of markets
within a few years — the second phase of the process.

This second phase, involving a faster and more-extensive

international expansion, saw Netflix extend its footprint to some
50 countries, drawing on the lessons it learned in the first phase
in order to operate in a wider variety of markets. The choice of
those markets was influenced by their degree of attractiveness,
such as from shared similarities, the presence of affluent
consumers, and the availability of broadband internet. The
second phase helped Netflix continue learning about
internationalization and partnering with local stakeholders while
also growing its revenue. Since this phase involved expanding
into more-distant markets, it was supported by investments in
content geared toward the preferences of those geographies, as
well as technological investments in big data and analytics.

The third phase, during which a much-accelerated pace of entry

brought Netflix to 190 countries, used everything it had learned
from the first two phases. It had gained expertise in the content
people prefer, the marketing they respond to, and how the
company needed to organize itself. Now Netflix focused on
adding more languages (including for subtitles), optimizing its
personalization algorithms for a global library of content, and
expanding its support for a range of device, operation, and
payment partnerships. Six months after entering Poland and
Turkey in 2016, for example, Netflix added the local languages to
its user interface, subtitles, and dubbing. As with the markets it
had entered earlier, the company launched a service targeted at
early adopters, and then iterated quickly to add features to attract
a wider audience.

Recognizing that in some parts of the world, particularly

emerging and developing economies, mobile is the primary way
most people access the internet, Netflix also began placing a
greater emphasis on improving its mobile experience, including
sign-ups, credentials and authentication, the user interface, and
streaming efficiency for cellular networks. It has been developing
relationships with device makers, mobile and TV operators, and
internet service providers as well.

Netflix has worked with, and responded to, the new markets
it’s entered. The company has partnered with key local
companies to forge win-win relationships. In some cases, it has
joined with cell phone and cable operators to make its content
available as part of their existing video-on-demand offerings. For
example, when Vodafone launched a TV service for its customers
in Ireland, it included a dedicated Netflix button on its remote
controls. More recently, Netflix announced deals with Telefonica
in Spain and Latin America and with KDDI in Japan.

And while Netflix believes that “great storytelling transcends

borders,” in the words of Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content
officer, the company has responded to customer preferences for
local content: Currently it’s producing original content in 17
different markets. Importantly, Netflix sees such content
production as not just local-for-local, but also local-for-global. In
other words, it aims to have content attract an audience not only
locally, where it is produced, but also more widely. As such,
Netflix potentially reaps the benefits of investing in local content
all around the world.

To address the protracted process of signing content deals with

major studios on a regional or local basis, it has increasingly
pursued global licensing deals so that it can provide content
across all of its markets at once. Netflix has also begun to source
regionally produced content, providing a win-win for these
producers, whose local content can find a global audience.

The company is also applying its deep customer insight to

international markets, using that knowledge to create content
that appeals to a wide range of customer segments. Despite its
very rapid internationalization, Netflix implemented in all
markets the same customer-centric model of operations that had
been key to its success in the United States. It experiments with
customer usage data to determine which offerings work best.
Because it operates in so many countries, Netflix is able to try
different approaches in different markets. As the number of its
international subscribers grows, the performance of its predictive
algorithms continues to improve.

Netflix has demonstrated that developing country-specific

knowledge is critical for success in local markets. This knowledge
needs to be both broad and deep, extending across political,
institutional, regulatory, technical, cultural, customer, and
competitor domains. Understanding local cultures ensured that
Netflix could be sensitive to and respond to their differences. This
enhanced its credibility and helped it forge smooth relationships
with key stakeholders.

Taken together, the elements of Netflix’s expansion strategy

constitute a new approach that I call exponential globalization.
It’s a carefully orchestrated cycle of expansion, executed at
increasing speed, to an increasing number of countries and
customers. The approach has helped the company expand far
more quickly than competitors. Going forward, Netflix will face
increasing competition not only from other global players such as
Amazon Prime but also from new entrants and regional or local
players. In that regard, it will have to continue to expand its
blending of global and regional content.

For a variety of market and technological factors, including the

absence of high-speed broadband and a very low level of internet
penetration in many parts of the world, exponential globalization
was infeasible until a few years ago. With the growth of the
internet in general, including on phones, tablets, and smart TVs,
Netflix has demonstrated that this strategy is now a viable option.
But it requires a mastery of local contexts, including the ability to
acquire local knowledge and to demonstrate sensitivity and
responsiveness. With the increasing prevalence of winner-take-all
markets, companies operating in such markets will need to
pursue an internationalization strategy similar to Netflix’s. And
when it comes to Netflix’s next stage of growth, and how it will
respond to new challengers, the sequel appears likely to be as
captivating as the original.

LB
Louis Brennan is a professor at the Trinity
Business School at Trinity College Dublin. His
areas of teaching and research interest include
international business and operations strategy.

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