Due to public interest, Streaming services are becoming more popular and diverse! This leads to increased competition and demands different marketing strategies. In addition to constant updates, a Streaming service needs to find new ways to stand out and retain its customers, so they don't switch to another platform.
This case presented is still in the growth process, as is the Streaming market. It was selected for the Smartbis Blog due to its future vision and marketing model. Follow the case of Band Play, previously announced as Band Plus.
About the company
Band is the Brazilian TV broadcaster you probably already know. So, let's skip that part and talk about how the company organized itself for the creation of this Streaming service. The broadcaster has an innovation startup called Vibra, which was responsible for the planning and execution of this project.
Vibra understood it had strong competitors in this market, giants, established and diverse. Therefore, it focused on differentiation. To avoid being just another Streaming service, it pondered on how the future of this market could be and what are the current public needs besides the desire to watch whatever they want whenever they want.
Thus, Band Play was consolidated, offering movies, soap operas, radio shows, news, games, and interaction all in one place! It was launched in 2021, so it is still undergoing improvements and currently receives various criticisms. Releasing such a project to the public is a very risky strategy. On one hand, feedback from the target audience can cooperate for genuinely good improvements. On the other hand, the need for various changes can cause frustration in the audience and harm the Streaming's reputation.
In any case, we will follow along to see how this process develops. Currently, access to the Streaming is free, it still doesn't contain a variety of movies, focusing only on Band's programs.
Loyalty Strategies
Vibra envisions an audience that desires various services in one place, so it has made available radio shows, soap operas, comedy shows, and news. Additionally, it provides quizzes regarding its highest-rated programs. Still, the company promised a lot and showed little compared to what it spoke.
Apparently, the Streaming service is in a testing phase, which is why its subscription has not yet been charged and it is being provided for free. The company promised in their interviews a loyalty program that scores the customer for every episode watched, subscriptions, prizes, original productions, and an e-commerce. How all of this will be integrated, we do not know yet.
This pre-launch started early and was carried out with the aim of creating good expectations in the audience that is already downloading the App of the Streaming service. The pre-launch strategy has proven to be one of the most efficient in achieving sales and customers currently. The difference, in this case, is that the platform was not delivered complete at launch. As I mentioned above, it is unknown whether this detail will be an advantage or detrimental to the company.