How Netflix Changed TV Forever

The 70th Primetime Emmy Awards in downtown Los Angeles last night saw a few attention-catching and even historic moments. Black-ish star Jenifer Lewis donned a bedazzled Nike sweatshirt on the red carpet in support of NFL player Colin Kaepernick’s controversial Nike ad and subsequent backlash. Oscars producer Glenn Weiss proposed to his girlfriend live on stage during his acceptance speech, an Emmys first. (Also, unprecedented: Last night’s broadcast pulled in 10.2 million viewers, the lowest ever ratings for the awards show.)

Unsurprisingly, HBO took home the most awards at 23, including the prestigious award for best drama series, maintaining its years-long streak. However, the No. 1 spot was shared by rival Netflix. This year marks the first time Netflix has claimed the top spot for most Emmy wins. The streaming service took third place at the 2016 awards and rose to the No. 2 spot last year.

Source: Business Insider    

Netflix is a pioneer in the on-demand media industry. It is a digital warehouse of TV shows, movies, documentaries, and educational shows. Those who pay a modest monthly fee gain unlimited access to its haul with the freedom to consume the content on any platform, be it TV, computer, or mobile device. Netflix is TV’s first serious contender in its nearly-century-long existence.

The streaming service started humbly as a provider of DVD rentals via mail. With its initial business model, Netflix was much more a rival of brick-and-mortar stores. When it rolled out its on-demand capabilities, it immediately became superior to the likes of Blockbuster and Movie Gallery. It didn’t take long for its competitors to fall to the wayside.

Acting on its motto of user flexibility over corporate efficiency, Netflix launched its first original series, House of Cards, in 2013. Since the immense success of the show, Netflix has drastically increased the amount of original content it produces. By offering captivating, on-demand content, Netflix has forced cable companies to reconsider the way they do business.

While networks greenlight new shows based on metrics, Netflix has offered contracts to showrunners for an entire season or two upfront. It also started giving entire seasons to audiences at once. (Binge-watching, anyone?) Most TV networks can’t afford to give up the ad dollars earned from the one-time-weekly dissemination model.

Netflix has also given showrunners creative freedom without corporate restraints, which has led to some of the platform’s biggest hits like Orange Is the New Black. Netflix is making it much harder for network television to secure top-notch talent.

In perhaps its best move against traditional networks, Netflix got aggressive in collecting data from its users. First used to help suggest appealing content to users, Netflix shifted and began to use the information to define which kinds of content it should create. Using this model has led to sky high rates of success with new shows.

Sealing the deal, a Netflix subscription is much more affordable than cable service. Starting at just $7.99 per month, Netflix is just a fifth of the price of some cable packages. Furthermore, there are no ads. No one likes sitting through 15 minutes of ads per 45 minutes of content, and that’s exactly how TV makes the bulk of its revenue. Canceling cable is the top fear of TV networks. If unbundled, they would have only their own merits to contend with. Netflix’s continuing success puts constant pressure on television networks.

 

 

Sources:

https://qz.com/1295998/netflix-is-making-it-harder-for-tv-networks-to-make-tv/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/on-demand/2016/11/21/how-netflix-changed-the-way-we-watch/

Adidas is down for the count

 

Adidas is headed in the wrong direction

Adidas is headed in the wrong direction

In a small, rain-soaked town in northern Bavaria, a German company is trying to design athletic apparel and footwear that will appeal to the masses in America. And they’re failing miserably.

Adidas, the world’s second largest sportswear company in the world, has a problem: the American consumer doesn’t think they’re “cool.”

“At the moment, Nike is cool, very cool,” said Tammy Smulders, head of marketing consultancy at SCB Partners, to Reuters. “If you ask a 20-year-old, they are not going to pick Adidas right now.”

Part of this is due to the disconnect between their headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany, and the US market. Analysts and even the company itself have acknowledged the difficulty in recruiting top design and marketing talent to live in a German farm town with a population of less than 25,000 people.

 

Being based in Bavaria has left Adidas out of the loop with US consumers

Being based in Bavaria has left Adidas out of the loop with US consumers

Their products, while functionally sound, have recently lacked the style and marketing necessary to permeate the American market.

Nike, on the other hand, has been more willing to push the envelope. A recent illustration is their introduction of neon-yellow shoes for their athletes at the 2012 London games, a bright color scheme that has become a staple over the past two years.

The Swoosh has also introduced several well-received footwear innovations in recent years. Flywire, Hyperfuse, and Flyknit technologies, for example, have been hits with the US consumer because they are both stylish and practical.

“[Nike] understands the US consumer. Adidas does not,” said Matt Powell, head of Forbes’ Sneakernomics blog.

But Powell doesn’t believe the disparity between the companies is due to technological innovations, but rather their ability to market them.

“Adidas has a very credible technology in Boost [a new shock absorbing system],” said Powell. “They just have not exploited it here.”

 

Footwear expert Matt Powell believes Adidas has the tech to compete -- they're just not promoting it right

Footwear expert Matt Powell believes Adidas has the tech to compete — they’re just not promoting it right

It certainly hasn’t helped that the North American faces of Adidas have been trending downward.

After signing a 13-year, $185 million extension with Adidas in 2012, Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose has dealt with a myriad of leg injuries that have kept him off the court for nearly two full seasons. While his $40 million in signature sales ranks fourth overall among athlete-endorsed basketball sneakers, it’s difficult to make a shoe look good when the lead endorser is wearing a suit on the bench.

Adidas’ other top endorser in North America, Rockets center Dwight Howard, has faired even worse. His line only moved a paltry $5 million in product. Big men generally don’t sell shoes as well as guards to begin with, and Howard’s Q Score, which measures “the familiarity and appeal of celebrities,” has fallen to 13. The average is 16.

Between the location of the company, its inability to market fashionable products, and its pitchmen failing to resonate, it becomes clear why Adidas has lost ground in the States.

Conversely, The fact Nike’s lead endorser, LeBron James, rarely wore his signature shoe and still generated huge returns speaks to the company’s Teflon status. As long as the shoe design appeals to the consumer, they’re willing to look the other way. This speaks to the underlying divide between the companies – that consumers feel Nike inherently makes a better and more desirable product.

The numbers back this up. Combined, Nike and its largest subsidiary, Jordan Brand, account for 60 percent of all US footwear sales, ten times the market share of Adidas. The gap is also substantial in their apparel sales, with the Swoosh enjoying a 30 percent cushion.

Nike is crushing Adidas in US

Nike is crushing Adidas in US

And with Nike making inroads in Adidas’ home turf of Western Europe, the increasing divide between the world’s two biggest athletic companies has only become more glaring.

Nike’s nearly $28 billion in total sales for 2014 dwarfed their German rival’s most recent sales figures. In 2013, Adidas’ total sales were €14.49, equal to a little more than $18 billion. It represented a 2 percent drop from the year prior.

Adidas is headed in the wrong direction, and they’re looking for answers.

Where does Adidas go from here?

The Trefoil realizes it has to make its brand sexy again, both in America and internationally.

Adidas fears its headquarters in sleepy Bavaria has lead to being out-of-touch with the US market. To assuage this, they poached three of Nike’s top designers last month and pegged them to open a new design studio in Brooklyn this winter.

They’re also looking beyond athletes to help make an impact on the American market. Collaborations with hip-hop artists such as Big Sean, ASAP Rocky, and Snoop Dogg have been geared towards drawing the younger demographic back into the fold.

Adidas has also partnered with fashion designers Jeremy Scott and Raf Simmons in an effort to target the high-end casual shoe market, where products can run for several hundred dollars.

These moves point to a concerted effort from Adidas to reposition itself as a company that not only see itself as a sportswear brand, but a lifestyle brand.

Still, Adidas has a ways to go before catching Nike on this front, where the Swoosh has benefited from having artists turn up online wearing their performance and casual wear. In essence, celebrity is just as important as athlete product endorsement.

“[hip-hop artist] Wale wearing a pair of Durant’s is just as important as [Durant] wearing a pair Durant’s,” said Ian Stonebrook, writer for NiceKicks.com. His weekly “Celebrity Sneaker Stalker” column routinely ranks as the most-viewed page on their website.

Signing Kanye West to a design deal may be the biggest indicator Adidas has caught on to this phenomenon. West had previously designed two popular shoes for Nike – the Air Yeezy – but was upset over his compensation.

Adidas hopes the coup will cut into Nike’s stranglehold on cool.

“[Kanye’s] influence on the market is unmatched…he’s ahead of LeBron” said Stonebrook. “This could be the biggest move since Jordan.”

Adidas is banking on Kanye West bringing some cache back

Adidas is banking on Kanye West bringing some cache back

And if it isn’t, and their marketing continues to be second-rate, Adidas could see a change in leadership. With shares of ADDYY down more than 30 percent on the year, investors have started to grumble about the performance of CEO Herbert Hainer.

Powell believes this is a necessary move for Adidas to truly become a competitor again in North America. “The US must become design and product center for the brand,” said Powell. “Current management does not see that.”

It’s become apparent the latest maneuvers from Adidas will bring change in one form or another – either in market share or in the boardroom.