Ultimate destination of all contents
Channel
In stride of our vision to be the content gateway for digital entertainments, we had the goal of continuing to expand our content offering for our users.
Yet, acquiring content is increasingly expensive as demand for content continues to rise among OTT players. Producing content is both expensive and resource-intensive, and also requires long lead times.
Our strategy was instead of focusing on creating original contents, we focused on TVOD contents and channel partnerships which helped us to expand our content offering quickly and efficiently. Our business doubled the content by acquiring TVOD deals and channel partnerships with content partners.
Business Objectives
Increase Content Offering
Drive MTU & Generate new streamline of Revenue
Expanding User Base & Fuel Growth
Customer Problem
Limited contents genre varieties
"I want to access a diverse range of movies and shows from different genres and languages, but my current streaming platform content is too limited."
Exclusive / Latest Content Accessibility
"There are specific shows/movies which are exclusive (holdbacks) to certain platforms, but I don't want to subscribe to them all."
Content Discovery convenience
"I find it hard to discover new shows or movies that align with my interests on my current streaming platform."
High Costs
"I want to access premium international content, but the cost of subscribing to multiple individual platforms is too high."
New term called Stream-flation is even created, outlining customers frutsration in increase of pricing across OTT Platforms
Research
By understanding the needs and consumption patterns of people who pay extra on top of basic subscription to watch contents, we explore opportunities for features, design, content, and pricing that can be applied to the Coupang Play channel business.
Findings
Paid content usage patterns by user types
User type
Traits
In depth interviewed on
three different user groups
A: Users who watch specific contents
B: Users who pay to watch specific contents
C: Users who use IPTV
Don't mind spending a bit of money to watch my favorite genre
Subscribe to an app dedicated to the specific genre
After watching all the titles of favorite genre, subscribes to another service that deals only with the specific genre to watch more of that genre
Subscribes to the service where the genre is updated fastest
Since these users only pay to watch the genres they like, they don’t mind if the subscription fee is a bit expensice
Willing to spend money to watch the latest movies and trending content
Subscribe for a month to binge - watch the latest and trending content then cancel subscription
Mainly watch free content but spends on contents they really want to watch
Usually purchase latest movies that couldn’t be watched from the theaters or ones that have been recently released.
Try to use coupons before they expire or utilize it when making a payment
Have perception of newer the content is, the more expensive it is
Occasionally purchase content that children want to watch.
Prefer to let the children watch on a larger screen like TV rather than small screens like tablet or mobile device
Purchase content that can be watched together with children
Watch on the TV at home instead of making a hassle going to the theater with children
There are so many contents available for free that it seems unnecessary to make extra payments to watch something
You can enjoy plenty of content with just a minimal subscription
Mainly watch free content
Subscribes to minimal number of services
Purchase only specific content that they really want to watch
Has perception that after time, paid contents become available at lower price or free
Purchase Behavior
annual subscription
episode individual purchase
entire season purchase
subscribe for a month
individual purchase (TVOD)
use coupons
subscribe for a month
individual purchase (TVOD)
use coupons
subscribe only one platform
sometimes make individual purchase (TVOD)
Individual Purchase (TVOD) User Journey
Subscription User Journey
Overall Summary & Insights
Reasons for Purchasing Paid Content
💡 When all the free works among the specific content one likes have been watched, one starts looking for paid content.
💡 To watch the content one desires, they subscribe to the service offering the content for just one month, binge-watch, and then cancel the subscription.
💡 They make individual purchases for the latest movies, movies that are currently showing in theaters or have been recently taken down, and movies they wanted to see in theaters but missed.
💡 Purchases are made to watch on a TV for a larger screen, better quality, and sound.
Consumption patterns
💡 Even if the prices for the latest movies are high (9,000~11,000 KRW), they are considered cheaper than watching in theaters.
💡 It is recognized that older content tends to be cheaper, and there is less price burden felt (200 KRW per episode, 1,000~2,000 KRW per movie).
💡 Discounts when paying have a positive impact and even increase the willingness to make additional purchases (e.g., annual subscription discounts when subscribing to other services, season purchase discounts over individual episode purchases for drama series).
💡 Due to affiliate points of IPTV, discount coupons, and advertisements, individual purchases are often made on IPTV.
💡 Rather than subscribing by broadcaster or provider, there is a preference for subscriptions based on content type, genre, category, or packages chosen by oneself.
Other
💡 Content with good reviews tends to arouse curiosity and desire to purchase (reviews within the app, YouTube reviews, Naver blog reviews).
💡 Apart from the content itself, the quality of the smart TV app, subtitle quality, streaming quality, and ease of use also have an impact.
💡 If the content one wants to watch is offered at a reasonable price on Coupang Play, there is a willingness to cancel subscriptions to other services.
Data
Data report states that Coupang Play has the highest retention due to the pricing
First image shows that Coupang Play has a high retention rate among users who have used the app at least once.
Second image shows that the reason for users to continue using Coupang Play is competitive pricing
Coupang Play operates with a business model similar to Amazon Prime. Coupang, the largest e-commerce platform in Korea, offers a monthly membership subscription that includes discount benefits, delivery advantages, and access to Coupang Play. Our users find the membership to be very cost-effective, which is why we boast the largest user base in Korea with the highest retention rate. We view this as an opportunity to elevate our platform to become the premier marketplace for content.
Business Strategy
Current subscription pattern
Users subscribe all A,B,C and D to watch different contents from each platforms.
Users may continue subscription or unsubscribe depending on available contents.
Channel subscription goal
A becomes the content gateway to contents from B,C,D.
Users can subscribe channels selectively by content types. Users don’t need to subscribe fully nor pay full subscription price of B,C,D. They can pay reasonable price to selectively watch contents.
