case study on netflix

Table of Contents

Netflix target audience , what are the key principles of netflix marketing, marketing strategy of netflix, digital marketing strategy of netflix, 5 key takeaways from netflix marketing approach, conclusion , a case study on netflix marketing strategy.

Netflix was founded in 1997, offering online movie rentals with less than 1000 titles. Soon, it switched to the subscriber-based model, and in 2000 Netflix introduced a personalized movie recommendation system. By 2005 Netflix had over 4.2 million subscribers and started work on a video recommendation algorithm. And finally, in 2007, Netflix began its streaming services and original content creation. By 2016 Netflix had over 50 million subscribers; the story continues today as it is a worldwide presence in the video-on-demand industry. 

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Netflix marketing strategy is undoubtedly a guide for digital marketers worldwide. It is a learning experience to know how this digital media streaming company outperformed all others in the market. 

Netflix's target market is young, tech-savvy users and anyone with digital connectivity. The audience of Netflix is from diverse age groups and demographics. 

However, most of the audience are teenagers, college-goers, entrepreneurs, working professionals, etc. Netflix aggressively works on content expansion and personalization to expand the user base. They separate the kids' and adults' audiences based on their maturity levels. 

Netflix is a fantastic example of an integrating marketing strategy . It is integrated, agile, and customer-driven to make the maximum impact. Netflix follows a customer-centric model to deliver a seamless experience. The platform follows integrated marketing for effective targeting and makes the best use of content marketing for data analytics. 

• Customer-centricity: Netflix focuses on creating a solid connection with its customers by engaging them personally and personalizing their viewing experience. They also use clever marketing tactics to get people to watch their shows.
• Integrated viewing experience: Multi-device and up-to-date no matter where you view it from, makes the experience combined.
• Innovation: Modern marketers must use data analytics to create experiences that delight consumers. Netflix uses customer data analytics to get content recommendations because it knows which movies its customers like to watch. For example, if a Netflix user likes Rocky, it will also offer them sports documentaries. As you manage your business, you, too, need to use data analytics for effective marketing and website optimization.  

Netflix uses data-driven and customer-centric marketing strategies that work in the digital age. Netflix's success relies on constant analysis and optimization, so you can use these tools for marketing your business online.

Netflix's marketing strategy is a surefire example of innovation and modern-day technology growth. The platform has been eager to bring the changes per market need or user demand. The evolution of the marketing tactics from time to time is one of the core reasons behind its success. 

Netflix proves that a brand can connect with customers easily through regular analysis and optimization. Simply put, Netflix's advertising strategy is full of agility, data-collection, user-centricity, personalization, and dedication. Major and minor brands can follow such a strategy and boost brand exposure and market value. 

Let's walk through 5 effective strategies of Netflix's advertising strategy that led them to the most disruptive business model. 

1. Use Personalized Content

Netflix is an excellent example of how personalized content can improve user satisfaction. Netflix knows what TV shows and movies its users like to watch. It uses this information to create customized recommendations for them. This allows them to find the content they enjoy without searching through many lists. It also ensures that users are always getting the latest and greatest content. This level of personalization is critical for online users because it enhances their experience and makes them more likely to return to a site in the future. 

2. Ensure Multi-mode Experience

Starting with a DVD service, Netflix's journey has been successful because of its multi-device strategy. You can open Netflix on TV, computer, smartphone, and tablet with seamless content continuity being watched. The company shows zero restriction in meeting the customers wherever required. Netflix follows both online and offline promotion strategies to boost user engagement. Be it any medium; their marketing strategy remains aligned wherever it can work. 

3. Blend Technology With Marketing Tactic

You wouldn't find two Netflix accounts with the same interface or suggestions. The recommendation shows order is as per user activity and ever-changing. They change the artwork frequently to add a sense of newness. Netflix puts modern-day technology to good use. The platform keeps on having new features to gain maximum engagement. Machine learning is a proven technology trend to transform marketing research to the next level. The blend of ML into advertising is what helps Netflix Marketing Strategy. 

4. Target Emails Like Any Other Marketing Channel

It is wrong to say or consider that email marketing is dead. Netflix is one solid example of a company making the most out of email marketing. They are one step ahead and pairing the email campaigns with machine learning systems. It helps gather more user data and preferences—further, the data segments into multiple user groups for precise and effective customer targeting. So, email marketing can introduce Netflix to new users and show relevant recommendations to the old users. One essential tip from Netflix email marketing is to be creative and take risks. Those old boring emails wouldn't help get such an impact as Netflix today. 

5. Create a Buzz With Better Interactions

Netflix has used the best content marketing strategy in the last decade. The company thinks of an out-of-the-box way to grab quick attention from users. They are bringing standalone products and unmatched experiences. On top of everything, the platform has a seamless communication channel to boost momentary awareness and recognition. The platform allows the audience to be involved in the story and make decisions. This unpredictable move is a proven game-changer for revolutionizing future television. The incomparable buzz in the platform keeps the user stuck to binge-watching. The users feel high engagement in the hopes of finding a happy ending. 

Hence, Netflix happens to be a unique example and inspiration for many fellow companies. They have done a commendable job in content, branding, business model, and product. Netflix marketing strategy has a lot to offer to market enthusiasts and students.

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A Case Study on Netflix’s Marketing Strategies & Tactics

As the spread of COVID-19 has affected most industries and economies worldwide, people have been forced to stay contained at home to prevent the spread of coronavirus. People have also been bored to death as they have nothing to do.

In this locked-up scenario, your best partner could be your Netflix account which contains thousands of interesting movies, series, and shows. We were discussing which brand to take up for this week’s case study, and then one of our team members got an idea, let’s take the famous OTT platform Netflix which has managed to entertain a large population in no time.

Today, we are going to discuss the story of a platform that is providing us streaming services, or as we call it video-on-demand available on various platforms- personal computers, iPods, or smartphones. Netflix cut through the competitive clutter and reached out to its targeted audience by curating some interesting  brand communication strategies  over the years.

Let’s get into the success story of Netflix’s Journey.

Netflix was founded on August 29, 1997, in Scotts Valley, California when founders Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings came up with the idea of starting the service of offering online movie rentals. The company began its operations of rental stores with only 30 employees and 925 titles available, which was almost the entire catalog of DVDs in print at the time, through the pay-per-rent model with rates and due dates. Rentals were around $4 plus a $2 postage charge. After significant growth, Netflix decided to switch to a subscriber-based model.

In 2000, Netflix introduced a personalized movie recommendation system. In this system, a user-based rating helps to accurately predict choices for Netflix members. By 2005, the number of Netflix subscribers rose to 4.2 million. On October 1, 2006, Netflix offered a $1,000,000 prize to the first developer of a video-recommendation algorithm that could beat its existing algorithm Cinematch, at predicting customer ratings by more than 10%.

By 2007 the company decided to move away from its original core business model of DVDs by introducing video on demand via the internet. As a part of the internet streaming strategy, they decided to stream their content on Xbox 360, Blu-Ray disc players, and TV set-top boxes. The ventures also partnered with these companies to online streaming their content. With the introduction of the services in Canada in 2010, Netflix also made its services available on the range of Apple products, Nintendo Wii, and other internet-connected devices.

In 2013, Netflix won three Primetime Emmy Awards for its series “House of Cards. By 2014, Netflix made itself available in 6 countries in Europe and won 7 creative Emmy Awards for “House of Cards” and “Orange Is the New Black”. With blooming streaming services, Netflix gathered over 50 million members globally. By 2016, Netflix was accessible worldwide, and the company has continued to create more original content while pressing to grow its membership. From this point, Netflix was unstoppable and today it has a worldwide presence in the video-on-demand industry.

Business Model of Netflix

The platform has advanced to streaming technologies that have elevated and improved Netflix’s overall business structure and revenue. The platform gives viewers the ability to stream and watch a variety of TV shows, movies, and documentaries through its software applications. Since Netflix converted to a streaming platform, it is the world’s seventh-largest Internet company by revenue.

Now, let’s have a look at the business model of Netflix. 1. Netflix’s Key Partners:

• Netflix has built more than 35+ partners across the world. They have partnered with different types of genres for subscribers to select from and enjoy watching.
• Built alliances with Smart TV companies like LG, Sony, Samsung, Xiaomi, and other players in the market.
• Built alliances with Apple, Android, and Microsoft platforms for the purpose of converting business leads from mail-in-system to streaming.
• Built alliances with telecom networks like Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone.

2. Netflix’s Value Proposition:  Netflix aims to provide the best customer experience by deploying valuable propositions. Here is how the online streaming brand strives to do so:

• With a 24*7 streaming service, users can enjoy shows and movies in high-definition quality from anywhere whether they are at home or traveling.
• Users get access to thousands of movies and tv shows and Netflix Original movies or shows.
• New signups can avail of a 30-day free trial and have the option of canceling their subscriptions anytime.
• Receive algorithmic recommendations for new items to watch.
• At Netflix, users have the flexibility to either turn on notifications and suggestions or keep them switched off.
• Netflix’s “user profiles” give leverage for users to personalize their user accounts and preferences. The User profiles allow the “admin-user” to modify, allow or ever restrict certain users.
• Sharing account options is one of the rarest features a movie platform can provide. Sharing accounts feature on Netflix allows spouses, friends, or even groups to share an account with specific filters and preferences already set.

3. Netflix’s Key Activities

• Maintain and continue to expand its platforms on the website, mobile apps
• Curate, develop and acquire licenses for Netflix’s original content and expand its video library.
• Ensure high-quality user recommendations to retain the customer base
• Develop and maintain partnerships with studios, content production houses, and movie production houses.
• Operate according to censorship laws. Netflix always promotes and operates within the boundaries of censorship.

4. Netflix’s Customer Relationships:  Netflix has designed a customer-friendly platform that offers:

• Self-Setup:  Netflix platform was originally designed to ensure that it is simple and easy to use. Developers of the website ensured to associate elements and themes that serve, promote friendliness, and provide self-setup.
• Unbelievable Customer Experience:  Customers can solve their queries by reaching the Netflix team through the website portal, emailing inquiries, and directly reaching the representative on call or live chat.
• Social Media Channels:  Netflix also engages its audience through social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. It advertises and offers deals to gain high attraction customers and enhance its customer base.
• Netflix Gift Cards:  Netflix offers its customers special promotional discounts and other gift cards as a part of their subscription plan.

Netflix’s Revenue Model

Netflix gained major popularity when the platform launched online streaming services. Let’s have a look at how the platform earns.

• Subscription-Based Business Model:  Netflix offers monthly subscription fees with three different price options basic, standard, and premium plan. Today, Netflix has over 125 million paid members from over 190 countries and generates $15 billion annually.
• Important partnerships:  Built alliances with a wide range of movie producers, filmmakers, writers, and animators to receive content and legally broadcast the contents required by aligning licenses.
• Internet Service Provider:  One of the most influential tactics implemented was its ability to build alliances with a wide range of movie producers, filmmakers, writers, and animators to receive content and legally broadcast the contents required by aligning licenses.

Netflix was able to establish a well-reputed image worldwide and increased its customer base day by day. When it comes to giving competition, the brand has devised various digital marketing strategies and has gained wide popularity on digital media platforms. With the help of the best digital marketing services, they have kindled the excitement and craze in the people to travel and host.

Digital Marketing Model of Netflix

In less than 4 years, Netflix has gathered a major share of the Indian market. Today a majority of households in India subscribe to Netflix, and that number is expected to rise this year and further in the years to come. The product is designed so well, that you remain engrossed in the content they deliver. They adopted top digital marketing strategies. Consult the best brand activation agencies. Further, let’s talk about a few of the digital marketing principles that Netflix has successfully implemented to gather customers.

1. Personalised Content Marketing:  People love using Netflix because they get a broad range of things to watch. Netflix’s library of TV shows and movies from all over the world is there for consumers to choose from at any time.

The reason that Netflix won the personalization game is that its advanced algorithm continues to rearrange the programs overtime on the basis of your viewing history. Hire some of the best  performance marketing agencies  for personalized content.

2. Website Development:  Netflix has designed its website with a user-friendly interface that allows customers to rate TV shows and movies, which then goes through Netflix’s algorithm to recommend more content they might enjoy. With the onsite optimization for the website, they have optimized each and every page for enhanced customer experience.

To easily get in the minds of customers, they have optimized their website for content by title, by an actor’s name, or even by a director’s name. By leveraging the  best website development services , they added a host of personalization features to their website with clean looks no matter which platform you are using.

3. Email Marketing:  Netflix tapped on email marketing techniques as a part of its digital marketing strategy and as a key component of customer onboarding and nurturing. New Netflix customers receive a series of emails that make content recommendations and encourage new users to explore the platform. Netflix marketers invest hours in building creative email marketing campaigns designed to engage and delight recipients. With the help of the  best email marketing services , they continue to enhance the experience of the customers

4. Search Engine Optimization:  Netflix makes use of search engine optimization services for the sake of improving organic research and establishing its brand presence. The brand aimed at the  best search engine optimization services  to drive traffic organically and adopted both on-page and off-page SEO strategies. They optimized their content with potential keywords that show up high in search results. They also tapped the strategy of International SEO to gain organic leads from the worldwide stage.

5. Social Media Optimization:  Today, social media platforms have become an integral part of digital marketing strategy. If you want to connect with your audience in real time, then it is the best platform to establish your brand image. As social media plays a vital role in the lives of people, Netflix decided to leverage the  best social media optimization services  that made them earn billions. They made use of the following platforms:

Through  creative social media optimization strategies,  Netflix has garnered more than 61 million Facebook followers. In just one year, the brand added 11 million followers to its account. Netflix posts nearly 90% of videos and the rests images. Videos featured on Netflix’s

Facebook pages are typically clips from interviews with the actors from the upcoming movies, clips from the upcoming movies and TV shows, offering audiences a sneak peek into what’s in store for them. Besides videos, the OTT platforms share images, GIFs, funny memes, and simple text posts featuring questions about current movies and TV shows.

Netflix carries 19 million followers. The majority of Netflix’s posts on Instagram are images, post scenes from TV shows featuring engaging captions to get a conversation going, and behind-the-scenes clips and interviews with actors. A recent video featured a behind-the-scenes bloopers video from the set of Stranger Things, which garnered 1.2 million views and almost 3,000 comments. Netflix uses a simple approach to posting, with most posts not featuring any hashtags at all.

Netflix carries 6.8 million followers on Twitter and has tweeted over 30,000 times. Netflix is renowned for its witty replies and comebacks on Twitter, and the brand tweets an average of 14 times a day. This shows just how important engagement is for the brand and how much it values brand awareness. These are the digital marketing techniques that the famous OTT platform adopted from time to time to the subscribers’ engagement and retention. Hence it has yielded high returns for their business.

Campaigns of Netflix

1. Netflix: The Spoiler Billboard:  Netflix’s new campaign uses spoilers of its most popular shows, including Stranger Things, Money Heist and Narcos, to promote social distancing amid the COVID-19 crisis, and while the effort is getting a lot of buzzes, it’s a fake.

2. FU2016:  To launch season four of the political drama House of Cards, Netflix worked with BBH New York and built a fake presidential campaign around the show’s lead character Frank Underwood. The campaign became the top trending topic on Facebook and Twitter during the debate, and it won a Grand Prix in the Integrated category at Cannes in 2016.

3. The Censor’s Cut:  The streaming company wanted to advertise Narcos Mexico in Thailand. Netflix worked with JWT Bangkok and cut around the offending images within each scene, leaving a clear enough outline that anyone could still identify what had been removed. The campaign achieved the opposite effect of what censorship is supposed to do by reaching 34 million people.

Conclusion Netflix is a rare example of a company doing everything right. From its branding and content right down to its business model and product, the company has always excelled at making smart, strategic decisions. With its large market share and focus on numbers, Netflix has managed to develop a deep understanding of its audience that very few others have. With this knowledge, paired with a strong, affordable product, there’s no limit to what this brand can do in the future.

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Experential

Netflix Product Strategy: A 2020 Case Study

Gibson Biddle

Previous VP of Product at Netflix.

Table of Contents

Netflix was the world’s largest streaming service in 2020 with over 193 million subscribers and climbing. Software as a service (SaaS) companies took notice and wanted in on the secret sauce to Netflix’s product strategy.  

What was their secret to onboarding new users and customer success?

I’m going to share a few models to help you define your product strategy. Each of these models will be brought to life with a mock 2020 articulation of Netflix's product strategy .

But First: How Netflix Started

Netflix’s product vision began with a simple goal – to get big on DVD. When Netflix started out, they were a DVD rental company, and customers had DVDs delivered to them via postal services. Then, the company’s vision evolved to become a leader in the streaming market. Going digital enabled Netflix to expand worldwide. Having achieved all of the above, Netflix is currently placing a strong focus on original content.

What is a Product Strategy?

Product strategy is a key part of product-led growth (PLG) . It’s a plan that helps your company establish a specific product vision and how teams work together to successfully achieve it. 

Before we begin to explore Netflix’s product strategy, it’s important to understand why product strategy is so important and necessary. 

Firstly, a strategic product plan helps us to communicate an inspired vision of the future . It’s one thing to have an idea in your head, but you need the right strategies in place to help communicate that vision to others.

Secondly, combining innovation and invention is no easy task. Inventing new solutions and features can be chaotic, and it’s almost impossible to be innovative without any chaos. However, products change, and company decisions cannot happen at random. There must be discipline, and a product development strategy is effective at blending these two forces.

A product development strategy is about forming hypotheses to what I call the DHM model . In other words, you need it to delight customers and do so in a margin-enhancing way. 

Finally, you need a product strategy to help facilitate prioritization . We must prioritize some things over others, and having a strategy in place can help you to do that while also communicating a plan.

As product leaders, we can do anything, but we can’t do everything . 

3 Product Strategy Frameworks 

A product strategy framework is a guiding light for every department in your SaaS company. I want to briefly introduce three models for product strategy because I’ll be sharing (in later sections) how to put each to use in the context of Netflix’s 2020 product strategy. 

Here are three models (or frameworks ) to define your product strategy:

• Get Big, Lead, Expand (GLEe) model is a product strategy model that helps provide a longterm vision. It’s about growing the company to get big in its first 5 to 10 years and then expanding into different chapters of growth later. 
• Grow, Expand, Monetize (GEM) model helps different departments like marketing, finance, and Product teams to align with each other. How do you prioritize growth, expansion, and monetization?
• Delight, Hard to Copy, Monetize (DHM) model is about delighting your users in hard-to-copy ways.  

The purpose of these models includes: 

• Encourage people to think long-term
• Build cross-functional alignment
• Help people to form hypotheses to compete long-term 

Netflix’s Product Strategy Framework: DHM

If you’re a product leader, like Netflix in 2020, your main job is to delight customers in hard-to-copy margin-enhancing ways.

So, how did Netflix’s product leaders achieve this?

Netflix uses a DHM framework.

The company offers customers a very convenient service with a wide selection of movies and TV shows they can stream instantly anytime, anywhere. Customers can navigate Netflix’s selection very easily, and they get a lot of value for their money. Plus, Netflix offers customers a range of high-quality and entertaining original content.

How Netflix’s Product Strategy Increases Profits

A key part of Netflix’s product strategy is to increase profits so they can reinvest in making an even better product in the future. I refer to this as margin-enhancing and Netflix effectively increases profits in various ways.

Let’s take a closer look at the last point in the graphic above [– right-size original content investment. 

Since Netflix wants to offer a wide range of movies and TV shows to suit all types of tastes and preferences, the company likes to invest in original content. However, they want to pay the right amount for this content. 

To do this as accurately as possible, Netflix predicts how many people will watch a certain TV show or movie and then line up the cost of investment with their prediction.

For example, Netflix predicted that 100 million people would watch their original series Stranger Things . Therefore, they were willing to invest $500 million in that series. The series Bojack Horseman was predicted to gain 20 million viewers, so the right-size investment in that show was estimated to be $100 million.

What Made Netflix’s 2020 Product Strategy Hard to Copy

In 2020, Netflix wasn’t the world’s biggest streaming service for nothing. It was very hard for other companies and streaming services to copy what Netflix did, and that made it difficult for competitors to compete.

Netflix is a trusted brand. You can trust Netflix to keep your personal details private. Their brand promise is “movie enjoyment made easy,” and they achieve this by providing viewers with personalized service and the freedom to watch on almost any device with an internet connection.

Here’s why Netflix is hard to copy:

• Unique technology
• Network effect 
• Economies of scale

The brand promise of Netflix is movie enjoyment made easy. The company is a movie subscription service that delivers fast, easy entertainment in a friendly, straightforward way. 

Netflix Product Team’s Priorities

The product team at Netflix prioritizes monthly retention as the company’s high-level engagement metric. The team prioritizes other metrics too, including growth and monetization.

When the COVID pandemic hit in 2020, movie theaters were closed, and more people had free time at home. The company’s product team focused on key high-level product strategies (see below):

Here’s an example of the Netflix 2020 rolling roadmap, which shows how Netflix is implementing each strategy every quarter:

Netflix Case Studies

Now, let's look at some ways Netflix was able to win their users' attention by offering additional products.

Case Study 1: Netflix Party

Netflix Party (now Teleparty ) is a Chrome extension app that has become increasingly popular since COVID-19. It allows users to watch the same movie at the same time. They can even chat with each other while watching a movie or TV show. 

In an isolated time, such as a lockdown during the pandemic, many people enjoyed using this Chrome extension to watch movies with friends and family long-distance.

But is this an idea that Netflix should execute itself?

In the past, Netflix has tried a few variations of social experiments, including Friends in 2009, Xbox Party Mode in 2010, and Tell a Friend in 2018. All three were killed off because not enough people used the features.

However, Netflix Party has proven to be quite a success. In 2020, the app grew from 500 thousand to one million in just 60 days and acquired 10 million downloads. This data shows a substantial proof of concept, making it a possible worthwhile investment for Netflix. But the question remains – will this delight in hard-to-copy, margin-enhancing ways?

Well, this extension is hard to copy, and it would take competitors years to mimic something of this scale. It has the potential to enhance profits via word-of-mouth and increase retention. 

Case Study 2: Auto-Cancel Inactive Members

Should Netflix auto-cancel inactive members ?

In 2020, one-half percent of Netflix members hadn’t used the service in the last 12 months. However, those members were still paying for the service despite rarely using it.

Some might argue that a better alternative would be to send those members an email notification alerting them to the fact they’ve been inactive for so long. The email could say something like, “Would you like to cancel?” Then, the user could decide whether they wanted to continue paying for the monthly subscription or cancel their membership.

If members say no, then their service would continue as normal. If they say yes, then their membership would be canceled. However, what happens to the members who don’t respond? Should their membership be auto-canceled?

In 2020, if Netflix were to auto-cancel all of the inactive members, the company would lose $100 million. Clearly, introducing the auto-cancel option was not a great way to enhance profits, as the company would be losing millions of dollars each year. But what about the delight and hard-to-copy side of their product strategy?

Offering the auto-cancel feature for inactive users may delight customers since Netflix automatically stops payments. The user could always rejoin if they choose to do so.

Auto canceling inactive Netflix users, in my opinion, would be a worthwhile strategy for Netflix to implement and here’s why:

I think that product teams and product leaders can learn a lot from Netflix’s winning 2020 product strategy, which can help you make more strategic day-to-day decisions and implement product strategies that will help you reach your vision and goals.

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Netflix Marketing Strategy: A Powerful Name in the Entertainment Industry

In 1997, Netflix emerged as an online movie rental service, boasting a modest collection of fewer than 1000 titles. But their vision was infinite, which led them to revolutionize the industry.

Slowly shifting to a subscriber-based model, Netflix introduced a groundbreaking personalized movie recommendation system in 2000. By 2005, with a staggering 4.2 million subscribers, Netflix was already pioneering the video recommendation algorithm.

In 2007, the world witnessed its seismic dive into streaming services and original content creation. Fast forward to 2016, and Netflix had captivated a vast 50 million subscribers, solidifying its universal reign as a dominant force in the captivating realm of video-on-demand.

It marked a turning point in the industry, as Netflix pioneered streaming content directly to consumer devices.

Today, their story unfolds, reshaping the future of entertainment worldwide. In this Netflix case study, we will talk about Netflix marketing strategy, its competitors, its target audience, and much more.

Netflix Case Study

Netflix disrupted the traditional television model by offering an alternative way to consume content. Instead of depending on scheduled broadcasts or buying physical media, subscribers now could stream an extensive catalog of on-demand content at their convenience. This change empowered audiences with more control over what they watch and when.

• Original Content Production:

Another disruptive move by Netflix was its venture into original content production. By creating critically acclaimed series like “Stranger Things” and “House of Cards,” Netflix challenged the supremacy of traditional networks. This methodology allowed them to differentiate their platform, attract more subscribers, and grow a loyal fan base.

• Global Expansion:

Netflix’s disruptive influence extended beyond the United States. Through strategic expansion, they brought their streaming service to several countries worldwide, rapidly becoming a worldwide entertainment provider. This global reach not only disturbed worldwide reach not just disturbed local entertainment industries but also presented diverse cultures and perceptions through their international content offerings.

• Changing Industry Dynamics:

The success of Netflix forced traditional TV networks and cable providers to adapt their business models. They witnessed a significant shift in audience behavior as more consumers chose streaming services over traditional television. It led to the emergence of other streaming platforms and the “cord-cutting” concept, where audiences started canceling their cable subscriptions and choosing streaming services.

• Netflix’s Impact on Viewing Habits:

Netflix also influenced viewing habits, making binge-watching culture familiar. By releasing the entire seasons of shows at once, they encouraged spectators to consume content constantly, challenging the traditional weekly episodic setup.

Overall, Netflix’s innovative approach to streaming, original content production, global expansion, and changing the viewing habits of audiences have placed them as a transformative force in the entertainment industry. Their success has inspired other streaming platforms and forced traditional players to change to this new form of content consumption.

• Netflix Target Audience:

In this section on understanding the target audience of Netflix, we delve into the detailed demographics that Netflix caters to. It involves different factors like interests, age groups, and consumption patterns.

• Age Groups:  Netflix appeals to a wide range of ages, from teenagers to adults and beyond. Their content library includes diverse genres and categories that cater to different age demographics. For example, they have a wide selection of animated shows and movies for younger viewers and a variety of content targeted toward adult audiences.
• Interests:  Netflix carefully curates its content to cater to various interests. They offer multiple genres, including drama, comedy, thriller, documentary, sci-fi, and many more. By providing a diverse selection, Netflix ensures something for everyone, catering to different preferences and interests.
• Consumption Patterns:  Netflix identifies and adapts to the changing consumption patterns of its audience. Netflix has made its platform accessible across various devices, including smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, and laptops.

It allows users to enjoy their favorite shows and movies at their convenience, whether at home or on the go. Additionally, Netflix’s focus on binge-watching and releasing entire seasons of original content simultaneously matches the trend of viewers consuming content more constantly.

By understanding these demographics, interests, and consumption patterns, Netflix can tailor their content offerings, marketing strategies, and user experience to engage its target audience effectively.

This understanding helps them make informed decisions in content acquisition, creation, and marketing strategy to capture and retain their desired customer base.

The Netflix marketing strategy encompasses several vital aspects. Let’s break down each sub-point to provide a comprehensive explanation:

Netflix Marketing Strategy

• Personalization: The Power of Data-driven Insights

Netflix leverages data-driven insights to personalize user experiences. They collect and examine vast amounts of data on user behavior, viewing habits, and preferences.

Then, this data is used to offer personalized movie and TV show recommendations, creating an engaging experience for individual subscribers. By understanding personal tastes and interests, Netflix enhances customer satisfaction and increases engagement.

• Content Curation: A Unique Variety

One of Netflix’s strengths is its massive content library. They invest heavily in content creation, producing various original shows, documentaries, and movies.

By curating diverse licensed content from different genres and countries, Netflix ensures something for every audience’s taste.

This Netflix marketing strategy appeals to a broad audience, attracting and maintaining subscribers who look for variety and quality in their entertainment choices.

• Seamless User Experience: Accessibility and Convenience

Netflix focuses on providing a seamless and user-friendly experience across multiple devices. Subscribers can access their favorite content through smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, and computers, allowing them to enjoy their preferred shows and movies anytime and anywhere.

The platform’s insightful interface and user-friendly features contribute to a hassle-free and enjoyable viewing experience, reinforcing customer loyalty.

• Word of mouth Marketing through the Power of social media

Netflix has successfully harnessed the Power of social media to generate word-of-mouth marketing. They actively engage with subscribers on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, encouraging discussions, sharing behind-the-scenes content, and creating buzz around their shows and movies.

User-generated content, memes, and viral campaigns related to Netflix’s content also contribute to the widespread organic promotion, further expanding their reach and brand awareness.

• Embracing Innovation to Stay Ahead in a Competitive Landscape

Netflix consistently embraces innovation to stay ahead in a highly competitive industry. They invest in cutting-edge technologies and continuously experiment with new features, interfaces, and functionalities to enhance the user experience.

In addition, Netflix’s willingness to take risks by producing unique and unconventional content has earned them critical praise and attracted a dedicated fan base.

By pushing boundaries and embracing creativity, Netflix maintains a strong position in the market.

These sub-points collectively demonstrate the multifaceted Netflix marketing strategy, which revolves around personalization, content creation, seamless user experience, social media engagement, and a commitment to innovation. This approach has been essential in Netflix’s ascent as a global entertainment powerhouse.

Netflix Digital Marketing Strategy

The Netflix marketing strategy illustrates innovation and growth in the modern era of technology. The platform continually adjusts to market requirements and user demands, making it a prime example of staying ahead of the curve.

One of the significant factors contributing to Netflix’s success is its ability to connect with customers through regular analysis and optimization.

They influence data-driven insights to understand customers and tailor their marketing efforts accordingly. This user-centric approach allows them to deliver personalized recommendations and experiences, helping them build a deeper connection with their subscribers.

Agility is a keystone of Netflix marketing strategy. They quickly adapt to emerging trends, technologies, and consumer behaviors, ensuring they stay relevant in a rapidly evolving landscape.

By keeping a finger on the pulse of their target audience, they can anticipate and meet their changing expectations.

The collection and analysis of data play a vital role in Netflix marketing strategy. They gather extensive user data, including viewing habits, preferences, and engagement metrics.

This data fuels their decision-making process, allowing them to make informed choices in content acquisition, production, and promotion. By leveraging data insights, Netflix maximizes the effectiveness of its marketing campaigns and improves customer satisfaction.

Another critical aspect of Netflix’s digital marketing strategy is personalization. They excel at delivering personalized recommendations, leveraging algorithms that analyze user behavior and preferences.

This level of customization enhances the user experience and encourages continued engagement, ultimately driving customer loyalty and retention.

Netflix’s dedication to its marketing strategy is evident in its commitment to continuous improvement. They constantly test and optimize their marketing campaigns to deliver the best possible results.

By leveraging A/B testing, performance metrics, and user feedback, Netflix fine-tunes its marketing efforts for maximum impact.

In summary, Netflix marketing strategy revolves around agility, data collection, user-centricity, personalization, and a relentless dedication to optimization.

Following Netflix’s example, major and minor brands can learn valuable lessons in boosting brand exposure, enhancing market value, and connecting with customers in the digital landscape.

Lessons for Other Brands:

Individualized Pleasure:

Netflix masters the art of personalized content, tailoring recommendations based on your unique preferences. Say goodbye to endless browsing!

With Netflix, you’ll always find the latest and greatest shows and movies catered just for you. This personalized touch improves your experience and keeps viewers returning for more.

Seamless Everywhere:

Netflix ensures you can enjoy its captivating content anytime, anywhere. Whether on your TV, computer, smartphone, or tablet, the Netflix experience seamlessly transitions between devices.

They leave no stone unturned in meeting you wherever you are. Netflix marketing strategy works across online and offline channels, ensuring you’re constantly engaged.

Tech meets Strategies:

Netflix never settles for the ordinary. The technology-infused Netflix marketing strategy keeps things fresh and exciting.

With continuously changing artwork and machine learning-driven recommendations, they attract your attention. Netflix knows how to blend technology and marketing tactics well to give its audience an unforgettable experience.

Email Awesomeness:

Netflix takes email marketing to the next level, leveraging machine learning to craft targeted campaigns. By gathering user data and preferences, they send personalized recommendations and introduce new content to expand your horizons. Get ready for creative and risk-taking emails that make a lasting impact!

Interactive Buzz:

Netflix is a master of creating buzz and keeping you hooked. They offer standalone products and unmatched experiences, inviting you to be a part of the story and make decisions.

The platform’s communication channels keep you engaged, eagerly awaiting the next binge-worthy adventure and a thrilling, happy ending.

So, get ready to experience the magic of Netflix’s innovative strategies. With personalized pleasure, seamless accessibility, awesome emails, and interactive buzz, Netflix has revolutionized the way we consume entertainment.

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The Power of Digitalization: The Netflix Story

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• Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira 20 , 21 ,
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The evolution of technology, and mainly the evolution of the Internet, has improved the way business is done. Nowadays, most services are offered through a website or through an app, as it is much more convenient and suitable for the customer. This business transformation made it possible to get a faster and cheaper service, and companies had to adapt to the change, in order to fulfill customers’ requirements. In this context, this paper relates to this digital transformation, focusing on a case study about Netflix, a former DVD rental company and currently an online streaming leader. We aimed to understand Netflix’s behavior alongside this digital wave. Thus, we performed a survey, which had 74 answers, mainly from Portugal, but also from Spain, Belgium, Italy, Turkey, Georgia and Malaysia. Of the people who answered the survey, 90.1% were stream consumers, but only 59.1% had premium TV channels. From those 90.1%, 58.3% also said that they watched streams between two and four times per week, but the majority of premium TV channel subscribers (63.8%) replied that they watch TV less than twice in a week. We see a trend in which the traditional TV industry is in decline and streaming as a service has increased in popularity. Consumer habits are changing, and people are getting used to the digitalization era. Netflix is also confirmed in our survey as the market leader of the entertainment distribution business, as stated in the literature, and the biggest strength of this platform is its content.

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Au-Yong-Oliveira, M., Marinheiro, M., Costa Tavares, J.A. (2020). The Power of Digitalization: The Netflix Story. In: Rocha, Á., Adeli, H., Reis, L., Costanzo, S., Orovic, I., Moreira, F. (eds) Trends and Innovations in Information Systems and Technologies. WorldCIST 2020. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1161. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45697-9_57

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Netflix Five Forces Analysis & Recommendations (Porter’s Model)

Netflix’s external environment is examined in this Five Forces analysis of competitive forces and external factors based on Michael Porter’s model. The company provides streaming services and movies, series, and games. Online business operations facilitate Netflix’s international market reach but also position the company against multinational competitors in the industry. This Five Forces analysis of Netflix accounts for the multinational operating environment and the factors of the five forces, namely, competitive rivalry, customers’ power, suppliers’ power, threat of substitution, and threat of new entry. Netflix’s long-term success depends on its competitive advantages and strategies for overcoming competitive pressures illustrated in this Five Forces analysis.

This Five Forces analysis indicates that competitive advantages and effective competitive strategies ensure the achievement of business goals that realize Netflix’s mission statement and vision statement despite competitive challenges in the industry. The achievement of the company’s goals and performance targets are subject to the five forces, but carefully designed strategies can successfully promote Netflix’s business growth despite competition in the entertainment and content streaming industry.

Summary: Porter’s Five Forces Analysis of Netflix

The external factors linked to competitors, customers, suppliers, substitutes, and new entrants create a challenging competitive environment for entertainment content streaming services. This Five Forces analysis of Netflix illustrates the following intensities of the five forces:

• Competitive rivalry: Moderate
• Buyer power: Moderate
• Supplier power: Weak
• Substitution threat: Moderate
• New entry threat: Weak

Recommendations. This Five Forces analysis establishes the significance of competition and variables linked to subscribers in influencing Netflix’s competitiveness and strategic positioning. Although the industry has aggressive competitors, production capabilities and original content are competitive advantages that limit the impact of competition. The core competencies and competitive advantages detailed in the SWOT analysis of Netflix can provide support for strategic efforts to mitigate the effects of competitors, buyers, and suppliers assessed in this Five Forces analysis. For example, the company’s original movies and series help reduce its dependence on content suppliers or producers. It is recommended that Netflix further develop its content production capabilities to improve competitive advantages based on original content that attracts target customers. These competitive advantages mitigate the influence of media and entertainment competitors and limit the impact of customer/buyer power and the threat of substitutes.

Another recommendation is for Netflix’s diversification and product development strategies, which reduce the effects of the competitive challenges detailed in this Five Forces analysis. Netflix’s generic competitive strategy and intensive growth strategies include objectives for new products and business operations in addition to movies and series production and streaming. The company already offers games as part of its product development and diversification strategies. However, with the competition and buyer power in this Five Forces analysis case, it is recommended that Netflix continue developing more games to improve its position as a provider of gaming content that strengthens the popularity of its movies and series used as basis for such games.

Competition/Competitive Rivalry: Moderate

This component of Porter’s Five Forces analysis assesses the degree of competition and competitors’ impact on Netflix. The following external factors lead to the moderate force of competition on Netflix:

• Low differentiation of streaming services
• High differentiation of content producers
• Subscribers’ moderate switching costs

Most streaming services are similar in function and types of content available. In this Five Forces analysis of Netflix, such a competitive condition strengthens rivalry by making it easier for viewers to transfer between streaming services. However, high differentiation of content producers reduces competitive pressure by discouraging viewers from transferring to other service providers that may not have the same content. For example, some Netflix originals are not available from streaming and content-producing competitors, like Disney , Sony , NBCUniversal, as well as YouTube ( Google (Alphabet) ), Apple TV Plus, Amazon Prime Video, Facebook (Meta) , and Microsoft Movies & TV (Films & TV). Netflix subscribers also experience moderate costs when switching to other streamers, such as additional membership or subscription fees and lack of access to some original content. As a result, many customers keep accounts with multiple streaming services. The strategic factors in this Five Forces analysis illustrate that competition is significant but limited because of original content that functions as a competitive advantage of Netflix.

Bargaining Power of Netflix’s Customers: Moderate

Customers’ influence on prices, profits, market share, and business performance is assessed in this component of the Five Forces analysis. The following external factors reinforce the moderate bargaining power of Netflix’s customers:

• Small size of individual subscribers
• Subscribers’ moderate price sensitivity

A subscriber’s payment is small and has insignificant individual impact on Netflix. In Porter’s Five Forces analysis model, this small size limits or reduces individual customers’ effect on the online company. Also, subscribers’ switching costs limit buyer power over Netflix. For example, switching may come with additional expenses and loss of access to the company’s original movies and series, which are a competitive advantage that discourages subscription cancellations. However, Netflix is subject to the price sensitivity of subscribers. The Five Forces analysis model considers this external factor as a contributor to customers’ bargaining power, as streaming competitors can use affordability as a competitive advantage. The external factor of price sensitivity is included in decisions for Netflix’s marketing mix (4Ps) , particularly strategies for pricing the streaming service. Overall, these factors enable moderate customer power in this Five Forces analysis case.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Weak

This component of Porter’s Five Forces analysis refers to suppliers’ influence on the cost of supply or inputs and, thus, Netflix’s business costs, performance, and competitiveness. The following external factors lead to the limited and weak bargaining power of suppliers over Netflix:

• Large number of content producers
• High switching costs for content producers/suppliers

Netflix’s most significant suppliers are content producers, such as local and multinational media and entertainment companies. Considering the uniqueness of each movie, series, or game, these suppliers have a high degree of differentiation. In this Five Forces analysis of Netflix, high differentiation is an external factor that increases the bargaining power of suppliers by making their content desirable and not easily replaced. However, the large number of content producers reduces their individual bargaining power. Furthermore, suppliers experience high switching costs in this Five Forces analysis case. For example, because of Netflix’s international market reach, many suppliers are unlikely to pull out of Netflix, although popular multinational entertainment producers can do so more easily. Netflix’s operations management ensures that the streaming service optimizes business performance while managing strategic concerns involving content producers and their weak bargaining power established in this Five Forces analysis.

Substitutes/Substitution Threat to Netflix: Moderate

The impact of substitution and the competitiveness of substitute products are assessed in this component of Porter’s Five Forces analysis model. The following external factors are responsible for the moderate threat of substitution affecting Netflix:

• Moderate costs of switching to substitutes
• Moderate availability of substitutes
• Subscribers’ moderate propensity to substitute

Substitutes for Netflix satisfy customers’ entertainment needs. In this Five Forces analysis case, substitutes include live shows and performances, free TV channels, and content on discs, tapes, and other media. Although these substitutes offer entertainment, customers are only moderately likely to switch to them because of various costs, like additional spending and inconvenience, in contrast to the affordability and convenience of accessing online content from Netflix. Also, many substitutes have limited availability with inflexible schedules or locations. This external factor limits the substitution threat in this Five Forces analysis case. Moreover, many customers are satisfied with Netflix’s online content and streaming services and are only moderately likely to use substitutes, such as during moments of boredom or when seeking different activities. Overall, this component of the Five Forces analysis of Netflix establishes the moderate threat of substitution.

Threat of New Entrants/New Entry: Weak

This component of Porter’s Five Forces analysis assesses the likelihood of new competitors and their impact on Netflix’s prices, profits, and business performance. The following external factors lead to new entrants’ weak threat to Netflix:

• Moderate cost of doing business
• High supply chain costs
• High cost of reaching critical mass for network effect

Netflix’s operations in the entertainment and content streaming industry involve moderate costs for developing and maintaining IT infrastructure. Also, developing original content is costly, while getting support and content from various media companies requires time and accompanying processing, business, and legal costs. These strategic factors reduce the threat of new entry in this Five Forces analysis of Netflix. Moreover, new entrants need to spend considerable time and capital before reaching critical mass, which is the point where they already have enough content and subscribers to easily attract more subscribers and content producers. This component of the Five Forces analysis establishes that new entrants pose a weak threat to Netflix.

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How Netflix Moved Operations to the Cloud and Saw Revenue Boom: A Digital Transformation Case Study

Remember the time you had to request mail-order DVDs to catch the latest flicks while munching popcorn on your couch?

Me neither.

It’s strange to think that about a decade ago, streaming giant Netflix had a business model built around direct mail.

Request a movie, put a few in your queue for next time, and let the anticipation build as you wait for your first DVD to arrive on your doorstep.

Now, our instant gratification bells ring daily as we pour through episode after episode of new material. And, we can barely remember the (dark) time where we waited days for entertainment instead of having it literally at our fingertips.

The shift from mail-in orders to a cloud streaming service improved customer satisfaction and made Netflix billions.

The company’s move to the cloud came with a hike in customer loyalty and a brand that competitors still fight tooth and nail to beat in the market.

Netflix serves as the ultimate digital transformation case study.

They transformed their entire business model and charted unprecedented waters. Here’s how to use their model as inspiration for your contact center’s digital transformation.

How to move your operations to the cloud, Netflix style: A digital transformation case study.

21 years after they started renting DVDs, Netflix now sits at a valuation of almost $145 Billion .

They came to market as a disruptor of traditional video stores like Blockbuster and Family Video.

Netflix founders Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph wanted to bring customer-centricity to the video rental market. At the time, renting videos was inconvenient and costly, with customers often plagued by expensive late fees.

They created an entirely new way to watch movies and consume content. And as time went on and subscribers grew, they continued to shift to keep pace with new consumer demands.

In 2007 , they took their first step into the world of streaming video. They offered customers a streaming subscription in addition to the more traditional DVD rental service, giving customers the option to chart their own path.

Since then, they’ve seen exponential growth in subscribers and revenue. Let’s take a look at their trends over time. We’ll skip over the first few years of the company’s infancy and jump to the year the company went public.

Here’s how Netflix has grown since 2002.

That incredible growth trajectory, and willingness to change, made Netflix stock skyrocket by 6,230% in a 10-year period.

And, they did it all without crazy price hikes, keeping customers top-of-mind.

While Netflix has adjusted prices over the years, they strike a balance by adding more value and services for the dollar. In 2019 , the Basic plan increased by $1 a month (adding up to $12 annually). While the Standard and Premier plans rose by $2 per month, (adding up to $24 annually, for each plan).

Meanwhile, the company is putting some $15 billion towards creating new content binge-watchers will love.

After this price change, Netflix saw a slight blip in subscriber growth, with growth in Q2 coming in low. But, analysts don’t think for a second it’s the beginning of a downward trend. In fact, a similar event happened back in 2010 when Netflix moved to a pricing model that broke out streaming and video rentals. And they clearly rebounded.

When you put the numbers into perspective, you see this is the first dip in subscriber growth in nearly a decade. That’s pretty remarkable. And, revenue still increased for the quarter. It’s clear the value of the digital innovator’s services still outweighs the cost for most.

Plus, if you can post positive revenue numbers for over a decade and become a multi-billion-dollar company in about 20 years, you’re doing alright.

Here’s what Netflix did to reach these lofty heights. And, how you study the same tactics to lead your contact center through a successful digital transformation.

Stay true to your vision.

Netflix started out with the idea to make it easier and less expensive for people to watch movies.

But they didn’t want to stay in the DVD game forever. They had the foresight to predict that consumer behaviors would continue to shift. And, they wanted to stay ahead of the competition.

Only, they didn’t sacrifice their vision when it came time for company-wide changes. Instead, they realigned their business strategies to fit their vision, even as consumers and trends shifted.

What you can do:

As you make digital shifts in your contact center and your company, keep your vision constant. While tons of other factors may orbit around you, your vision keeps you grounded.

Use your company vision to guide your decision-making. And, use data and trends to predict how your customer behavior will shift.

As you shift to keep pace with your customers’ needs, align your operations to your customer behaviors to realize your vision.

Reinvent the wheel if the old one doesn’t solve customer problems.

Netflix soared from seed idea to a $145-billion-dollar valuation in only 21 years. (Wow, they did that in less time than it took big tech vendors to break CSAT scores.)

And they didn’t get there by spinning up a new-and-improved version of Blockbuster.

Ted Sarandos, Head of Content at Netflix said when he came on board at the early stages of the company founder Reed Hastings used his vision to scale and innovate at Netflix.

“We never spent one minute trying to save the DVD business,” said Sarandos .

The company leaders didn’t stick to traditional best practices because they no longer worked for modern customers.

Instead of piggybacking off what other companies did, Netflix solved problems differently. And, they solved them better. The proof is in a bankrupt Blockbuster and dwindling Family Video stores.

Want to know what you’re missing when you only look at digital transformation best practices? Pop over to our article on the topic.

Tailor your path and contact center strategies to your specific business needs. Focus on listening and understanding your customers, with the help of better data and customer surveys .

Find out what’s causing your customers’ pain. See what common questions your customers have. Work with your sales team to find out why customers are fleeing competitors. Discover why they choose your products and services in the first place. Then, work with your contact center and company leaders to develop the methods to solve these pains.

Don’t get caught up in what your competition is doing. What they’re doing might work, but your actionable data and customer information can guide you to a way that works better.

If you’re going to be consumed by one thought, let it be this one: how might we better serve our customers?

Don’t force your customers down a single path.

In the early phases of Netflix, internet speeds weren’t built for streaming movies. People who tried to download and view movies online were only frustrated by the lengthy, often interrupted experience of watching a film online.

Netflix didn’t want to enter the streaming market until the right infrastructure was available to support a platform with high-quality and high-speed content. They didn’t want to taint their brand from day one, linking the Netflix name to all the baggage that came with poor streaming experiences.

At the same time, they were watching postage prices. The price of postage kept rising, and internet speeds were on the ups. By watching how the market and internet infrastructure changed, they identified the right moment to launch their first streaming service.

They tested their streaming service with lower-quality video, first. They wanted to gauge interest and customer experience without canceling their bread-and-butter DVD service.

Those who wanted access to the crisp DVD picture could still order movies to their doorstep. Others who wanted instant access could forgo the high-quality picture for convenience, instead.

Your contact center and customer experience will change. It has to. But as you make changes and shift your operations to the digital era, keep options open for your customers.

Just because chat and email are on the rise as popular customer service channels doesn’t mean every customer wants to use them. Use past data and communication history to learn more about your customers. Then, coach your agents to handle each interaction based on the customer’s preferences.

Bringing changes to your contact center has the potential to transform your customer experience for the better. But, without careful intention, it can also cause friction. Introduce changes to your customers slowly, and make sure your agents are always there to offer extra help through the process.

Use data and trends to personalize your customer experiences.

This one’s huge. It’s how Netflix keeps customers engaged with their platform, and how they coined the term binge-watching

As Netflix made changes in their operations, they watched their data like a hawk. They looked for trends on how people watched content, what kept them watching, and how personalization fueled content absorption. Then, they used an algorithm to serve up content tailored to their customers’ specific interests.

“Like a helpful video-store clerk, it recommended titles viewers might like based on others they’d seen.” – Twenty Years Ago, Netflix.com Launched. The Movie Business Has Never Been the Same , by Ashley Rodriguez for Quartz .

And, as their new cloud-based business let them scale globally, their data points multiplied.

Previously, Netflix could only mail DVDs to U.S. customers. Shipping DVDs overseas wouldn’t have been financially sustainable while keeping prices fair for all customers. Moving to an online business model allowed Netflix to target and reach new audiences without taking on the costs of shipping globally.

Doing this not only scaled their business, but it diversified their data and made their algorithm smarter. Enter, extreme personalization and binge-watching fever on a global scale.

Track and analyze data from your customer interactions. Create custom reports and dashboards to distill important findings from your data. Then, use the trends and patterns you find to personalize your customer service experiences.

From the way you send customer surveys to the tone your agents use, your interactions tell you what your customers want. Lean into your analytics for valuable insight into how to help your customers.

And, use the data to transform your contact center too. Customer data is a powerful tool to drive business change. If your metrics show customers aren’t happy, your company leaders want to know about it. And, they’ll want to fix it. There’s no better case for company transformation.

Netflix took risks to transform their business. But, there’s no bigger risk than stagnation. Staying the same doesn’t help you reach your contact center goals. Innovating and trying out your big ideas is what separates the leaders from the laggards.

Can your tech vendor survive in your digital transformation?

Learn how to choose vendors who make your transformation strategy possible.

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How Netflix Became A Master of DevOps? An Exclusive Case Study

Find out how Netflix excelled at DevOps without even thinking about it and became a gold standard in the DevOps world.

Table of Contents

• Netflix's move to the cloud

Netflix’s Chaos Monkey and the Simian Army

Netflix’s container journey, netflix’s “operate what you build” culture, lessons we can learn from netflix’s devops strategy, how simform can help.

Even though Netflix is an entertainment company, it has left many top tech companies behind in terms of tech innovation. With its single video-streaming application, Netflix has significantly influenced the technology world with its world-class engineering efforts, culture, and product development over the years.

One such practice that Netflix is a fantastic example of is DevOps. Their DevOps culture has enabled them to innovate faster, leading to many business benefits. It also helped them achieve near-perfect uptime, push new features faster to the users, and increase their subscribers and streaming hours.

With nearly 214 million subscribers worldwide and streaming in over 190 countries , Netflix is globally the most used streaming service today. And much of this success is owed to its ability to adopt newer technologies and its DevOps culture that allows them to innovate quickly to meet consumer demands and enhance user experiences. But Netflix doesn’t think DevOps.

So how did they become the poster child of DevOps? In this case study, you’ll learn about how Netflix organically developed a DevOps culture with out-of-the-box ideas and how it benefited them.

Simform is a leading DevOps consulting and implementation company , helping businesses build innovative products that meet dynamic user demands efficiently. To grow your business with DevOps, contact us today!

Netflix’s move to the cloud

It all began with the worst outage in Netflix’s history when they faced a major database corruption in 2008 and couldn’t ship DVDs to their members for three days. At the time, Netflix had roughly 8.4 million customers and one-third of them were affected by the outage. It prompted Netflix to move to the cloud and give their infrastructure a complete makeover. Netflix chose AWS as its cloud partner and took nearly seven years to complete its cloud migration.

Netflix didn’t just forklift the systems and dump them into AWS. Instead, it chose to rewrite the entire application in the cloud to become truly cloud-native, which fundamentally changed the way the company operated. In the words of Yury Izrailevsky, Vice President, Cloud and Platform Engineering at Netflix:

“We realized that we had to move away from vertically scaled single points of failure, like relational databases in our datacenter, towards highly reliable, horizontally scalable, distributed systems in the cloud.”

As a significant part of their transformation, Netflix converted its monolithic, data center-based Java application into cloud-based Java microservices architecture. It brought about the following changes:

• Denormalized data model using NoSQL databases
• Enabled teams at Netflix to be loosely coupled
• Allowed teams to build and push changes at the speed that they were comfortable with
• Centralized release coordination
• Multi-week hardware provisioning cycles led to continuous delivery
• Engineering teams made independent decisions using self-service tools

As a result, it helped Netflix accelerate innovation and stumble upon the DevOps culture. Netflix also gained eight times as many subscribers as it had in 2008. And Netflix’s monthly streaming hours also grew a thousand times from Dec 2007 to Dec 2015.

After completing their cloud migration to AWS by 2016, Netflix had:

And it handled all of the above with 0 Network Ops Centers and some 70 operations engineers, who were all software engineers focusing on writing tools that enabled other software developers to focus on things they were good at.

Migrating to the cloud made Netflix resilient to the kind of outages it faced in 2008. But they wanted to be prepared for any unseen errors that could cause them equivalent or worse damage in the future.

Engineers at Netflix perceived that the best way to avoid failure was to fail constantly. And so they set out to make their cloud infrastructure more safe, secure, and available the DevOps way – by automating failure and continuous testing.

Chaos Monkey

Netflix created Chaos Monkey, a tool to constantly test its ability to survive unexpected outages without impacting the consumers. Chaos Monkey is a script that runs continuously in all Netflix environments, randomly killing production instances and services in the architecture. It helped developers:

• Identify weaknesses in the system
• Build automatic recovery mechanisms to deal with the weaknesses
• Test their code in unexpected failure conditions
• Build fault-tolerant systems on day to day basis

The Simian Army

After their success with Chaos Monkey, Netflix engineers wanted to test their resilience to all sorts of inevitable failures, detect abnormal conditions. So, they built the Simian Army , a virtual army of tools discussed below.

• Latency Monkey

It creates false delays in the RESTful client-server communication layers, simulating service degradation and checking if the upstream services respond correctly. Moreover, creating very large delays can simulate an entire service downtime without physically bringing it down and testing the ability to survive. The tool was particularly useful to test new services by simulating the failure of dependencies without affecting the rest of the system.

• Conformity Monkey

It looks for instances that do not adhere to the best practices and shuts them down, giving the service owner a chance to re-launch them properly.

• Doctor Monkey

It detects unhealthy instances by tapping into health checks running on each instance and also monitors other external health signs (such as CPU load). The unhealthy instances are removed from service and terminated after service owners identify the root cause of the problem.

• Janitor Monkey

It ensures the cloud environment runs without clutter and waste. It also searches for unused resources and discards them.

• Security Monkey

An extension of Conformity Monkey, it identifies security violations or vulnerabilities (e.g., improperly configured AWS security groups) and eliminates the offending instances. It also ensures the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and DRM (Digital Rights Management) certificates were valid and not due for renewal.

• 10-18 Monkey

Short for Localization-Internationalization, it identifies configuration and runtime issues in instances serving users in multiple geographic locations with different languages and character sets.

• Chaos Gorilla

Like Chaos Monkey, the Gorilla simulates an outage of a whole Amazon availability zone to verify if the services automatically re-balance to the functional availability zones without manual intervention or any visible impact on users.

Today, Netflix still uses Chaos Engineering and has a dedicated team for chaos experiments called the Resilience Engineering team (earlier called the Chaos team).

In a way, Simian Army incorporated DevOps principles of automation, quality assurance, and business needs prioritization. As a result, it helped Netflix develop the ability to deal with unexpected failures and minimize their impact on users. 

On 21st April 2011 , AWS experienced a large outage in the US East region, but Netflix’s streaming ran without any interruption. And on 24th December 2012 , AWS faced problems in Elastic Load Balancer(ELB) services, but Netflix didn’t experience an immediate blackout. Netflix’s website was up throughout the outage, supporting most of their services and streaming, although with higher latency on some devices.

Netflix had a cloud-native, microservices-driven VM architecture that was amazingly resilient, CI/CD enabled, and elastically scalable. It was more reliable, with no SPoFs (single points of failure) and small manageable software components. So why did they adopt container technology? The major factors that prompted Netflix’s investment in containers are:

• Container images used in local development are very similar to those run in production. This end-to-end packaging allows developers to build and test applications easily in production-like environments, reducing development overhead.
• Container images help build application-specific images easily.
• Containers are lightweight, allowing building and deploying them faster than VM infrastructure.
• Containers only have what a single application needs, are smaller and densely packed, which reduces overall infrastructure cost and footprint.
• Containers improve developer productivity, allowing them to develop, deploy, and innovate faster.

Moreover, Netflix teams had already started using containers and seen tangible benefits. But they faced some challenges such as migrating to containers without refactoring, ensuring seamless connectivity between VMs and containers, and more. As a result, Netflix designed a container management platform called Titus to meet its unique requirements.

Titus provided a scalable and reliable container execution solution to Netflix and seamlessly integrated with AWS. In addition, it enabled easy deployment of containerized batches and service applications.

Titus served as a standard deployment unit and a generic batch job scheduling system. It helped Netflix expand support to growing batch use cases. 

• Batch users could also put together sophisticated infrastructure quickly and pack larger instances across many workloads efficiently. Batch users could immediately schedule locally developed code for scaled execution on Titus.
• Beyond batch, service users benefited from Titus with simpler resource management and local test environments consistent with production deployment.
• Developers could also push new versions of applications faster than before.

Overall, Titus deployments were done in one or two minutes which took tens of minutes earlier. As a result, both batch and service users could experiment locally, test quickly and deploy with greater confidence than before.

“The theme that underlies all these improvements is developer innovation velocity.” 

-Netflix tech blog

This velocity enabled Netflix to deliver fast features to the customers, making containers extremely important for their business.

Netflix invests and experiments significantly in improving development and operations for the engineering teams. But before Netflix adopted the “Operate what you build” model, it had siloed teams. The Ops teams focused on deploy, operate and support parts of the software life cycle. And Developers handed off the code to the ops team for deployment and operation. So each stage in the SDLC was owned by a different person and looked like this:

The specialized roles created efficiencies within each segment but created inefficiencies across the entire SDLC. The issues that they faced were:

• Individual silos that slowed down end-to-end progress
• Added communication overhead, bottlenecks and hampered effectiveness of feedback loops
• Knowledge transfers between developers and ops/SREs were lossy
• Higher time-to-detect and time-to-resolve for deployment problems
• Longer gaps between code complete and deployment, with releases taking weeks

Operate what you build

To deal with the above challenges and drawing inspiration from DevOps principles, Netflix encouraged shared ownership of the full SDLC and broke down silos. The teams developing a system were responsible for operating and supporting it. Each team owned its own deployment issues, performance bugs, alerting gaps, capacity planning, partner support, and so on.

Moreover, they also introduced centralized tooling to simplify and automate dealing with common development problems of the teams. When additional tooling needs arise, the central team assesses if the needs are common across multiple development teams and built tools. In case of too team-specific problems, the development team decides if their need is important enough to solve on their own.

Full Cycle Developers

Combining the above ideas, Netflix built an even better model where dev teams are equipped with amazing productivity tools and are responsible for the entire SDLC, as shown below.

Netflix provided ongoing training and support in different forms (e.g., dev boot camps) to help new developers build up these skills. Easy-to-use tools for deployment pipelines also helped the developers, e.g., Spinnaker. It is a Continuous Delivery platform for releasing software changes with high velocity and confidence.

However, such models require a significant shift in the mindsets of teams/developers. To apply this model outside Netflix, you can start with evaluating what you need, count costs, and be mindful of bringing in the least amount of complexities necessary. And then attempt a mindset shift.

Netflix practices are unique to their work environment and needs and might not suit all organizations. But here are a few lessons to learn from their DevOps strategy and apply:

• Don’t build systems that say no to your developers

Netflix has no push schedules, push windows, or crucibles that developers must go through to push their code into production. Instead, every engineer at Netflix has full access to the production environment. And there are neither strict policies nor procedures that prevent them from accessing the production environment.

• Focus on giving freedom and responsibility to the engineers

Netflix aims to hire intelligent people and provide them with the freedom to solve problems in their own way that they see as best. So it doesn’t have to create artificial constraints and guardrails to predict what their developers need to do. But instead, hire people who can develop a balance of freedom and responsibility.

• Don’t think about uptime at all costs

Netflix servers their millions of users with a near-perfect uptime. But it didn’t think about uptime when they started chaos testing their environment to deal with unexpected failure.

• Prize the velocity of innovation

Netflix wants its engineers to do fun, exciting things and develop new features to delight its customers with reduced time-to-market.

• Eliminate a lot of processes and procedures

They limit an organization from moving fast. So instead, Netflix focuses on hiring people they can trust and have independent decision-making capabilities.

• Practice context over control

Netflix doesn’t control and contain too much. What they do focus on is context. Managers at Netflix ensure that their teams have a quality and constant flow of context of the business, rather than controlling them.

• Don’t do a lot of required standards, but focus on enablement

Teams at Netflix can work with their choice of programming languages, libraries, frameworks, or IDEs as they see best. In addition, they don’t have to go through any research or approval processes to rewrite a portion of the system.

• Don’t do silos, walls, and fences

Netflix teams know where they fit in the ecosystem, their workings with other teams, dependents, and dependencies. There are no operational fences over which developers can throw the code for production.

• Adopt “you build it, you run it” culture

Netflix focuses on making ownership easy. So it has the “operate what you build” culture but with the enablement idea that we learned about earlier.

• Focus on data

Netflix is a data-driven, decision-driven company. It doesn’t do guesses or fall victim to gut instincts and traditional thinking. It invests in algorithms and systems that combs enormous amounts of data quickly and notify when there’s an issue.

• Always put customer satisfaction first

The end goal of DevOps is to make customer-driven and focus on enhancing the user experience with every release.

• Don’t do DevOps, but focus on the culture

At Netflix, DevOps emerged as the wonderful result of their healthy culture, thinking and practices.

Get in Touch

Netflix has been a gold standard in the DevOps world for years, but copy-pasting their culture might not work for every organization. DevOps is a mindset that requires molding your processes and organizational structure to continuously improve the software quality and increase your business value. DevOps can be approached through many practices such as automation, continuous integration, delivery, deployment, continuous testing, monitoring, and more.

At Simform, our engineering teams will help you streamline the delivery and deployment pipelines with the right DevOps toolchain and skills. Our DevOps managed services will help accelerate the product life cycle, innovate faster and achieve maximum business efficiency by delivering high-quality software with reduced time-to-market.

Hiren Dhaduk

Hiren is VP of Technology at Simform with an extensive experience in helping enterprises and startups streamline their business performance through data-driven innovation.

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• Published: 03 April 2024

Subtitling Saudi Arabic slang into English: the case of “The Book of the Sun” on Netflix

• Sukayna Ali 1 ,
• Hanan Al-Jabri 1 ,
• Amer AL-Adwan   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1624-3755 2 &
• Wan Rose Eliza Abdul Rahman 3  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  11 , Article number:  481 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

Metrics details

• Language and linguistics

The aim of this study is to analyze Saudi Arabic slang expressions and examine their subtitling into English. The data utilized in this research consists of slang terms identified in the film titled “The Book of the Sun”, available on the streaming platform Netflix, along with their corresponding English translations. This study primarily examines three key dimensions of slang expressions: originality, conciseness, and humor. It also explores the subtitling strategies used to render these slangs and the effectiveness of such strategies. The study’s findings indicate that all identified slangs (100%) are created by assigning new meanings to pre-existing established words in a creative way. Some of them are made concise by mapping them into faʕʕala verb template. Additionally, the subtitler has employed specific strategies to convey the intended meaning of these slangs, namely generalization, paraphrase, official equivalent, direct translation, and cultural substitution. However, the study posits that the strategies employed are ineffective in conveying the intended meaning of slang expressions.

Introduction

Verbal communication can exhibit either a formal or informal nature, contingent upon various factors (Wolfram and Schilling, 2015 ). A key distinguishing characteristic between informal communication and formal one is the use of expressions deemed inappropriate in formal settings or written discourse (Harared, 2018 ). These expressions encompass profanities, idiolects, dialects, and slang, among others. The focus of the current study is on the latter category, slang.

Films typically endeavor to mimic authentic dialog to create realism and engage audiences. Therefore, it is not surprising to frequently see the incorporation of slang expressions in films. Slang, being an integral component of informal discourse across linguistic contexts, naturally finds its place in cinematic dialog. It is believed to have existed since the inception of language itself, serving as an inherent component of any language used in everyday communication (Frazer and Eble, 1997b ). Although slang is often perceived as less acceptable in society, there is a clear trend indicating a significant rise in the use of slang expressions in movies and television shows (Zhou and Fan, 2013b ). Utilizing slang expressions pose little issue for viewers sharing the same linguistic background as that of the film. However, it can present a challenge for viewers from diverse cultural backgrounds who speak different languages.

Translation serves as a medium for facilitating intercultural communication, enabling the transfer of a source text to individuals with different linguistic backgrounds (Munday, 2007 ). However, the task of translating culture-bound terms introduces challenges across various dimensions (Abdelaal, 2019 ). Zojer ( 2011 ) further asserts that culture-bound expressions manifest in various forms, including sociolects, dialects, and slang. Nevertheless, subtitling presents a more significant challenge compared to written translation, as it necessitates unique approaches to address challenging terms. This is primarily due to the inherent limitations of the subtitling medium, which constrain the possibility of immediate solutions (Al-Jabri et al. 2023 ). The task of subtitling slang introduces additional difficulties given that slang varies not only across cultures but also within the same culture among different social groups (Allen, 1998 ). Considering that slang terms are often associated with lower social status language, not all subtitlers possess the necessary skills to handle them adequately (Hashish and Hussein, 2022 ). Moreover, it is worth noting that the use of slang often carries a heightened emotional tone, adding to the challenges encountered in its translation (Sornig, 1981 ). As Fawcett emphasizes, “a constant headache in all forms of translation is posed by phraseology marked as familiar or slang” ( 2014 , p 157). Consequently, it falls upon subtitlers to devise effective strategies for accurately conveying the intended meaning of slang expressions. This ensures that the translated content is as enjoyable for the target audience as it was for the original viewers. However, this endeavor is far from straight forward, especially when translators are required to translate from A language into B language, which many academics consider less ideal (Al-Jabri, 2017 ).

This research paper aims to address a relatively underexplored area within the field of Arabic-English translation studies, namely the subtitling of slang expressions. To the best of researchers’ knowledge, the existing body of research on the subtitling of cultural terms, and slang in particular, primarily focuses on translation from English into Arabic rather than the reverse. The emphasis on the English-Arabic direction is not arbitrary; it is driven by the rise and global expansion of video streaming services, such as Netflix, which have recently facilitated the streaming of Arabic content to English-speaking audience.

The exploration of Arabic content in the domain of subtitling is relatively recent, and this is particularly true for Saudi content. The availability of Saudi works on streaming services is somewhat limited. According to Ja’fari ( 2020 ), only six Saudi films were released on Netflix in 2020. As previously mentioned, this research examines instances of Saudi slang identified in the film “The Book of the Sun”, which was released on the streaming platform Netflix in 2020. The narrative of the film revolves around a group of Saudi adolescents aiming to realize their ambitions through creating and sharing content on YouTube. The film’s focus on a group of young people makes it a valuable resource for studying the specific slang expressions spoken by this age group. This research focuses on the analysis of Saudi slang terms, specifically examining their originality, brevity, and humorous nature (where applicable). It also investigates the strategies used to translate these slang expressions and assesses their effectiveness in accurately conveying the intended meanings. Given the English-speaking audience’s unfamiliarity with these slang terms, a literal translation is impractical. The objectives of the study are to:

Identify examples of Saudi Arabic slang terms and analyze their characteristics in terms of originality, conciseness, and humor.

Investigate the strategies employed to render these slang terms from Arabic into English.

Assess the effectiveness of the strategies used in subtitling these slang terms from Arabic to English.

The present study is organized as follows. Following this introduction, “Slang” offers a comprehensive explanation of the term “slang”, including its defining qualities and a review of previous research on slang in the English-Arabic language pair. “Subtitling” is devoted to elucidating the concept of subtitling. “Subtitling Strategies” outlines the subtitling strategies that will be used in the study, whilst “Methodology” describes the methodology adhered to in this research. “Findings and Discussion” is devoted to presenting the results and their discussion. Finally, “Conclusions” serves as the concluding section, summarizing the study’s findings and offering suggestions for future research.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, slang is defined as “the special vocabulary used by any set of persons of a low or disreputable character; language of a low and vulgar type” (Oxford English Dictionary, n.d. ). Flexner ( 1960 ) argues that slang is a subset of vernacular language that is not widely accepted as proper or formal usage. In contrast, Andersson and Trudgill ( 1990 ) propose that slang encompasses a broader range of language beyond vernacular language, asserting that slang is a composite that often incorporates foreign vocabulary. Frazer and Eble ( 1997b ) define slang as a dynamic collection of informal words and phrases used by individuals to establish or reinforce social identity within a group or align with societal trends or fashions. According to Coleman ( 2015 ), a term is likely to be considered slang if it is confined to individuals who share common interests, activities, or age groups. Mattiello ( 2005 ) suggests that slang, typically common among a specific group of users, is often used to express unity or rapport among its members. Allen ( 1998 ) notes that the slang used by a specific group is not easily comprehensible by those outside of that group. Zhou and Fan ( 2013b ) found that factors such as gender, occupation, and age influence the use of slang.

Linhua ( 2006 ) suggests that the process of creating new slang involves both the formation of novel words and phrases and the attribution of new meanings to existing terms. Regardless of the group of users, such as adolescents, criminals, college attendees, or social media users, there are certain characteristics commonly associated with slang. Fromkin et al. ( 2017 ) argue that slang possesses metaphorical, playful, elliptical, lively, and transient qualities. Andersson and Trudgill ( 1990 ) note that slang is characterized by its creative formation and conscious usage, as speakers rarely employ slang unconsciously. This deliberate use of slang serves to highlight linguistic distinctiveness and indicate affiliation with specific social groups. According to Zhou and Fan ( 2013b ), there are distinct differences between slang and standard English in the following respects:

Humor: Slang terms are often intended to elicit humorous effects. One instance of slang in American discourse is “NATO”, which originally stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The slang “NATO” is used to describe someone who only talks about intentions without actually implementing them.

Conciseness: Slang phrases are typically succinct and easier to articulate. This can be achieved through apocope, as in the case of "vamp" being a shortened form of "vampire" or by substituting an evocative monosyllable for a longer term, such as "veep" to refer to the vice president.

Originality: Slang often emerges from linguistic creativity and the act of renaming objects or concepts. This might involve inventing new terms or altering existing ones. For instance, the term “flying coffin” is slang for airplanes.

Instability: It is unusual for slang terms to last for extended periods. However, many slang terms serve a practical function and eventually shift into standard English. What one generation finds novel and engaging may become outdated and obsolete for the next.

Slang, one of the cultural terms that pose challenges in subtitling, has been the subject of numerous studies across various language pairs. For instance, investigations have been conducted into the translation of slang in subtitling (see for instance, Hamaida, 2007 “French-English”; Eftekhari, 2008 “Iranian-English“; Ningrum, 2009 “English- Indonesian”; Barzegar, 2012 “English-Persian”; Ferklova, 2014 “English-Czech”). In relation to the English-Arabic language pair, most existing research tends to incorporate examples of slang while addressing the broader subject of subtitling cultural concepts. In other words, the majority of these studies do not directly focus on slang as a dedicated subject of investigation. Instead, they primarily examine terms that are specific to certain cultures in a broader context (see for example, Homeidi, 2004 ; Balfaqeeh, 2009 ; Bahumaid, 2010 ). However, Hashish and Hussein’s study (2022) specifically focused on the practice of slang subtitling in the context of English-Arabic translation. Their research indicated that due to the absence of comparable slang terminology, the predominant strategy used in Arabic subtitles was paraphrasing, followed by euphemisms and omissions.

As mentioned earlier, the research on subtitling slang from Arabic to English is relatively sparse. Only one study has been identified on the subject, specifically Al-Kharabsheh and Yassin’s ( 2017b ) research, which investigates the translation of slang and colloquialisms in the film “The Dupe“ movie from Palestinian vernacular to English. Their analysis identifies three primary challenges associated with translating Arabic slang into English for subtitling purposes: the misinterpretation of certain slang terms with religious connotations, the omission of some slang terms from subtitles, and the significant loss of cultural meaning.

The conventional approach of initiating research papers on audiovisual translation by recounting the early phase of the discipline and its evolution is now considered outdated, given its recognition as an established branch of translation studies (Bogucki and Deckert 2020 ). However, it is important to note that the development of audiovisual translation is still ongoing. In fact, its expansion is recognized as a direct result of research in specific field. Pérez-González ( 2019 ) defines audiovisual translation as the various practices, procedures, and outcomes stemming from the translation of multimodal content across different languages and cultural contexts. According to Baldry and Thibault ( 2006 ), the production and understanding of multimodal material rely on the use of diverse semiotic resources, often referred to as multimodal modes.

Subtitling is widely recognized as the primary method used for translating audiovisual content, playing a crucial role in the evolution of the translation field in recent years (Díaz-Cintas, 2013 ). According to Díaz-Cintas and Remael ( 2021 ), subtitling is a translation technique that involves the written rendering of the original dialog exchanges spoken by various characters. These are typically displayed at the bottom of the screen, along with any other textual information that appears on screen (such as letters) or is audibly transmitted through the soundtrack (such as song lyrics).

Subtitles can be linguistically classified as either interlingual or intralingual (Gottlieb, 2005 ; Zdenek, 2019 ). Intralingual subtitling refers to the practice of displaying a textual rendition of the spoken dialog on screen in the same language as the original audio. On the other hand, interlingual subtitling involves providing textual translation from one language to another.

The limitations of space and time impose constraints on subtitles (Hervey and Higgins, 1992 ). Spatial considerations encompass several elements, including the number of lines and characters per line, the positioning of subtitles on the screen, the choice of typeface, and the color of the text. According to Diaz-Cintas ( 2018 ), it is recommended to limit the length of subtitles to a maximum of two lines, ensuring they occupy no more than one-twelfth of the screen. Additionally, it is suggested that the average number of characters per line should be about 35. To minimize the possibility of viewer distraction, neutral typefaces are typically chosen, and white subtitles are predominantly used. Time constraints refer to the limited duration that a subtitle is intended to be visible on the screen (Diaz Cintas and Remael, 2021 ). Another technical challenge is the conversion of the spoken message in the source language to written text in the target language where “many oral features, such as pauses, repetitions, false starts, etc. that are very common to spoken discourse, get “cleansed” to adapt to the code of written language” (Pedersen, 2005 , p. 167).

As previously stated, this current study examines the practice of subtitling from Arabic to English, classifying it as interlingual subtitling. The research focuses on analyzing the subtitles available on Netflix. Founded in 1997 by Hastings and Randolph in the United States, Netflix began as a postal DVD rental business (Schmidt, 2020 ). Customers would request their chosen films and receive them by postal in the form of a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD). After viewing, customers would return the DVD to Netflix. It was not until 2017 that Netflix launched its video streaming services in the United States (Osur, 2016 ). By 2016, Netflix had expanded its services to all countries, excluding North Korea and Syria. Nowadays, Netflix has grown beyond content distribution to produce a substantial number of highly acclaimed original works (Osur, 2016 ; Pedersen, 2018 ). De Silva ( 2021 ) asserts that the extensive variety of content, high-quality original programming, and widespread appeal to various demographic groups are key factors driving people to subscribe to Netflix.

Subtitling strategies

Lorscher ( 1991 , p. 76) defines a translation strategy as “a potentially conscious procedure for the solution of a problem which an individual is faced with when translating a text segment from one language to another”. In the same vein, Chesterman ( 1997 ) argues that a translation strategy is a process that involves textual manipulation to achieve a desired relationship between the source text and the target text.

Numerous scholars within the field of subtitling have developed typologies of subtitling strategies. Some typologies were developed for general subtitling purposes (see Lomheim, 1999 ; Gottleib, 1992 ), while others were specifically designed to address particular challenges in subtitling, such as cultural terms and humor (see Nedergaard-Larsen, 1993 ; Díaz Cintas and Remael, 2007 ). The investigation of slang in subtitles can be approached through a culture-specific typology, as these terms are cultural-specific.

One of the most frequently applied typologies in subtitling is Pedersen’s ( 2005 ), which was created to handle with cultural references. His typology includes the following strategies:

Official equivalent: This strategy involves using the pre-existing target language rendition of the cultural elements. In the context of slang, this approach involves replacing Arabic slang terms with their English slang equivalents.

Retention: This strategy involves keeping the original terminology from the source material without any alterations. This is mostly seen in conjunction with proper nouns.

Specification: This strategy refers to the act of retaining the cultural reference in its original, untranslated form while adding additional information to enhance its specificity.

Direct translation: This refers to the act of translating a source term directly, without any interpretation or modification. This could be particularly useful for rendering names of organizations and institutions.

Generalization: This linguistic strategy entails generating a target element that has a broader scope than the cultural reference in the source text, which pertains to a specific entity or concept.

Cultural substitution: This strategy involves replacing a cultural word with an alternative phrase that is familiar for the intended audience, or paraphrasing the term in question. Paraphrasing can either involve eliminating the cultural phrase while retaining the intended meaning, or discarding the original meaning and eliminating and substituting it with an equivalent term that fulfills the same objective.

Omission: This refers to the act of eliminating a cultural reference altogether.

Methodology

As previously mentioned, the present research analyses Arabic slang terms and determines the strategies used for subtitling them in the Arabic film “The Book of the Sun” into English. The film selected for this research is presented in the Saudi dialect. The data were obtained by watching the original film on Netflix platform with its English subtitles. The researchers manually identified instances of slang terms through repeated viewings, relying on their proficiency as native Arabic speakers. According to Chomsky’s ( 1986 ) widely cited notion, individuals with native language proficiency are considered qualified to assess linguistic choices within that language. Moreover, the researchers employed the definition of slang outlined by Oxford English Dictionary, as detailed in “Slang”, as the yardstick for identifying examples.

In order to improve the efficiency and organization of the research, the identified slang terms are categorized into three types: negative, positive, and neutral. Using the distinctions between slang and standard language outlined by Zhou and Fan ( 2013b ) in “Slang”, each of the examples in the upcoming section will be analyzed in terms of humor (where applicable), originality, and conciseness. The fourth distinction emphasized by Zhou and Fan will not be analyzed, as it is not feasible to evaluate the lifespan of slang in the current study due to the need for years-long measurement. It is worth emphasizing that the qualities of slang terms delineated by Zhou and Fan ( 2013b ) pertain exclusively to American slang. However, numerous previous studies have shown the universality of these properties, as evidenced by the works of Andersson and Trudgill ( 1990 ), and Linhua ( 2006 ). After analyzing the slang under consideration, the subtitler’s strategy is investigated and evaluated in terms of whether the qualities associated with the Arabic slang are retained. This research employs Pedersen’s ( 2005 ) typology of subtitling culture-specific terms, discussed in “Subtitling Strategies”, to analyze the strategies used. All examples include a back translation into English to illustrate how they are rendered by the subtitler.

As previously mentioned, the data for this study comprises the film titled “The Book of the Sun”, which became available for streaming on Netflix in 2020. The official premiere of the movie took place in Jeddah followed by Riyadh. The narrative of the film unfolds in 2010 and focuses on a student named Husam who is about to complete his secondary education. However, he became deeply involved in videos production during the peak of Saudi YouTube’s content creation era. During his final year of education at school, he is engaged in producing low-budget horror film. Assisting him in this endeavor are his closest friend, Maan, his competitor, Ibrahim, and their physics instructor, Orabi. The film was chosen due to the abundance of slang terms utilized in its dialogs. This stems from the fact that the main characters are high school seniors, an age commonly associated with frequent use of slang. Furthermore, to the best of the researchers’ knowledge, this is the only Arabic film on Netflix featuring teenage protagonists exclusively, ensuring a sufficient number of examples for data analysis and discussion.

Findings and discussion

Data analysis revealed the presence of 36 slang terms in the film. A total of 22 instances of negative slang terms were identified, accounting for 61% of the overall occurrences. The data reveals that there was a total of 5 positive slang expressions, making up 14% of the sample. In contrast, 9 instances were neutral expressions, representing 25% of the overall count. In the following section, a comprehensive analysis will be conducted on a representative sample of examples from each category. The table below illustrates the findings of the discussion in numbers.

The number of examples selected for discussion correlates with the overall number of instances identified in each category.

Negative slang

In Arabic, the word “Bazir” generally denotes either seeds of plants or children (Mu’jam Al-Waseet, n.d.). According to the NTC’s Gulf Arabic-English Dictionary, which concentrates on the colloquial Arabic spoken in the gulf region, the slang bazir in the Saudi dialect means child. Therefore, using this slang to refer to adults is derogatory, as it implies that the targeted person lacks maturity and fails to display the attributes typically associated with adulthood. The Gulf dictionary gives the example of هذا بزر ما عليك منه which translates to English as “This is (only) a child. Ignore him, do not pay attention to him” (Qafisheh, 1997 , p.41). The aforementioned slang exhibits creativity, as it is derived from a metaphorical association between the nascent seeds that symbolize the first stage of a plant’s growth and an individual displaying signs of immaturity. Simultaneously, this analogy elicits a comedic effect, as comparing an individual who is nearing the end of their adolescent to a seed can evoke amusement.

The strategy used for translating this slang term is omission, as the subtitler appears to have judged it adequate to translate only the other adjective in the utterance. The use of this strategy is considered inaccurate, as it leads to a loss of the intended connotations associated with the aforementioned slang.

The slang lasaʕa is derived by attributing an additional meaning to the preexisting word lasaʕa, which originally denotes the action of stinging (Mu’jam Al-Waseet, n.d.). The creation of this slang demonstrates the three characteristics outlined by Zhou and Fan ( 2013b ). First, the act of creating this slang term demonstrates creativity, as it entails drawing a parallel between the experience of getting stung (either by an individual or a bee, for instance) and the act of being caught by a camera while speeding on roads, subsequently incurring a financial penalty. The commonality lies in the experience of discomfort, as both being stung or fined for speeding are generally undesirable. Second, this slang has a humorous impact, aptly conveying the emotional distress experienced after being caught for excessive speed. Finally, this slang term is concise, as it condenses the phrase "make you pay a fine" into a single word.

The subtitler employed the strategy of generalization by substituting the Arabic slang with a more generic verb, namely "pay." This translation fails to accurately convey the precise intended meaning of the Arabic slang, and thus results in a reduction of its connotations.

The slang in this example is “نصبع”, which translates to “giving someone the finger”. In both standard and colloquial Arabic, the word إصبع means finger, and it is always a noun (Mu’jam Al-Waseet, n.d.). However, this slang term creatively transforms the Arabic noun into a verb using the Arabic morphological pattern “فعّل”, which denotes hyperbole. As a result, the slang term not only condenses a rather profane meaning into a single-word term, but it also does so in an exaggerated way. Needless to say, the term conveys a humorous effect due to its profanity and linguistic creativity.

In English, the term was subtitled as give the finger , employing the strategy of using an official equivalent, which delivers the same meaning. However, the impact is somewhat toned down due to the loss of brevity and hyperbole, which are prominent linguistic features of the original Arabic slang.

In this example, the slang word is “قعري”, which translates to “my bottom”. In standard Arabic, the word "قعر" refers to the lowest part or point of something, such as قعر البئر the bottom of the well (Mukhtar Alsahah, n.d. ). By adding the personal possessive pronoun “ي”, the meaning is transformed to indicate the speaker’s butt , serving as a means to belittle Orabi. The slang word is both concise and humorous, as it compares Orabi to one’s butt.

The subtitler used the equivalent English slang term ass , which corresponds to the Arabic slang term قعري.

The slang term in this example is the phrase حتجيب العيد which translates to “ you will bring Eid . This phrase, which consists of just two words, is widely popular not only in Saudi Arabia, but across the Arab World. The expression indicates that the person to whom the phrase is directed is causing trouble. This slang is frequently employed to talk about someone who aims to fix something but instead ends up ruining it. It’s akin to when a fool prematurely informs people of Eid’s arrival, intending to bring them joy. Nonetheless, the results are not as intended (Islam Question and Answer, 2023 ).

The term is creative as it draws on the cultural connotations of the term عيد, giving it new layers of meaning that suggest a troublesome situation. Although the slang is a phrase, it is composed of only two words, aligning with the characteristic brevity of slang. Moreover, it conveys a humorous effect due to its unexpected and metaphorical nature.

The subtitler employed the strategy of paraphrase, translating it as you will get us in huge trouble . Although the core meaning is transferred successfully, the original communicative function is lost. More creative translations could be effective in this context, such as the idiomatic expression you’ll put us in a pickle .

Positive slang

Example (1):

In this example, the speaker uses the slang term حريقة, which literally translates to burning fire . In Arabic, this term is used to describe a situation where fire has started and flames are visible (Mu’jam Al-Waseet, n.d.). However, this concise slang word transforms the negative connotations of the word into positive ones, using it to describe something as amazing or exceeding expectations.

The subtitler resorts to the strategy of paraphrase, using the word incredible to convey the intended meaning, although this sacrifices some of the communicative effect. The subtitler could have used the term dope , which is popular among young people and serves as slang for excellent .

Example (2)

Generally speaking, the word صاروخ in Arabic means a projectile propelled over long distances by gases expelled from its bottom (Mu’jam Al-Waseet, n.d.). Similar to the previous example, the slang صاروخ “ rocket ” transforms the negative associations of the word into positive ones, using it to describe a girl who is extremely attractive. The comparison here draws upon the association between the destructive power of a rocket and the potent impact of a beautiful girl’s allure. Similar to most examples, the Arabic slang term is both creative and concise, additionally conveying humorous effect through the association it makes.

The English subtitle hottie demonstrates a strategy of cultural substitution, which retains the original meaning. However, a more direct equivalent that could be used is the slang term bombshell , which corresponds more closely with the Arabic term.

Neutral slang

The general meaning of the verb سلَك in Arabic pertains to cleaning, specifically in the context of clearing drains and chimneys (Almaany Dictionary, n.d. ). The slang in this example is حنسلكله which translates to we will unclog for him . While unclogging a drain indicates removing something that is blocking the way so things pass smoothly, this slang suggests the humorous humoring a person so he will think things are going well with no obstructions. This creative slang draws a humorous comparison between the act of unclogging a drain and the act of humoring a person, all condensed into a single word. The fact that Arabic uses attached pronouns makes the process of composing a one-word clause or sentence easy and acceptable even in colloquial Arabic. The current slang, for example, comprises the verb نسلك unclog , the subject (attached pronoun) نحن we , and the object (attached pronoun (هو him .

The Arabic slang is replaced by leave in the subtitles, which neither retains the original meaning nor preserves the communicative effect.

The slang word used in this example is intriguing interesting choice as it is borrowed from the English word date . The speaker creatively adapted this word into the Arabic morphological pattern يفعّل, resulting in the term بديّت, which means “to have a date”.

Although it is borrowed from the English word “date”, and used as such in the English subtitle, it does not convey the same effect. The creativity of the Arabic slang draws from the effect of borrowing, which is lacking in the English subtitle. The effect might have been better reflected had the subtitler opted for the French word rendez-vous , which is familiar to the target audience.

Conclusions

The aim of this study is to examine slang expressions used in Saudi Arabic and assess their translation into English subtitles. The study focused on thoroughly analyzing the selected examples of slang before investigating the strategies used by the subtitler to express them. The purpose of following this procedure is to showcase the unique characteristics of slang and ascertain if these characteristics are maintained or eliminated in subtitles. The findings of the study suggest that the attributes of creativity, conciseness, and humor are largely lost throughout the translation process, even when slang is replaced with English slang in the subtitle. This is shown by the prevalent use of the generalization strategy by the subtitler, which was employed 13 times, followed by the paraphrase strategy, which was used 11 times. The study shows that when slang is replaced by a more general term or paraphrased, the specific characteristics linked to it will not be effectively communicated to the target audience. Rephrasing or generalizing the information would undoubtedly enhance the comprehension of the English-speaking audience more efficiently than just eliminating slang or translating it verbatim. Nevertheless, it would not elicit the same level of influence on the intended recipients as the source slang. In addition, the translation of just six Arabic slangs into their English counterpart slangs emphasizes the substantial linguistic and cultural differences between the two languages as English in many cases lacks direct equivalents for Arabic slang terms.

Data availability

Data collected for the study is available at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/OJEGWF

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Sukanya Ali: writing the initial draft and collecting data; Hanan Al-Jabri: analyzing data; Amer Al-Adwan: review & editing; Wan Rose Eliza Abdul Rahman: conceptualization, methodology.

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Ali, S., Al-Jabri, H., AL-Adwan, A. et al. Subtitling Saudi Arabic slang into English: the case of “The Book of the Sun” on Netflix. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 481 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02965-y

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One such revelation involved Project Ghostbusers , an alleged Meta initiative to intercept data traffic from rival Snapchat to gain competitive intelligence.

Another aspect of the competition claim involves Meta's relationship with Netflix, a deal that allegedly helped Meta maintain monopoly power over social media advertising.

As outlined in a June 14 letter [PDF] last year by plaintiffs' co-lead counsel Brian Dunne of Bathaee Dunne LLP, by mid-2017 Facebook Watch had become competitive with Netflix, which posed a problem because Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix and co-CEO at the time, was also member of Facebook's board of directors.

"Over the next year, in a period of high apex-level communications between Hastings and Facebook’s CEO and COO (Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg), the companies struck an agreement in which Facebook abruptly cut original programming from Watch beginning in May 2018, withdrawing from direct competition with Netflix, in exchange for increased signals (specific types of data used for Facebook’s ad models) sharing and ad purchases by Netflix," Dunne wrote.

"This agreement hurt one Facebook product (Watch) in order to serve the company’s primary goal of protecting its monopoly position in the United States Social Advertising Market, a digital advertising submarket in which Facebook commanded a substantial price premium and worked to maintain its competitive moat through any means at its disposal."

The letter represents an effort to convince the judge overseeing the case to compel Netflix to produce internal documents related to the plaintiffs' claims. In a separate document production letter [PDF] from April 14, 2023, Dunne seeks support to compel Hastings to respond to a demand for documents.

Hastings, Dunne wrote, "personally directed the companies’ relationship, from advertising spend, to data-sharing agreements, to communications about and negotiations to end competition in streaming video."

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The special relationship between Meta/Facebook and Netflix, the plaintiffs argue, was fundamentally anticompetitive. Dunne's April 2023 letter describes how Hastings joined the board of Facebook in June 2011 and within a month announced an integration to share Netflix user data internationally with Facebook, and also lobbied Congress to allow such data sharing in the US.

"By 2013, Netflix had begun entering into a series of 'Facebook Extended API' agreements, including a so-called 'Inbox API' agreement that allowed Netflix programmatic access to Facebook’s user’s private message inboxes, in exchange for which Netflix would 'provide to FB a written report every two weeks that shows daily counts of recommendation sends and recipient clicks by interface, initiation surface, and/or implementation variant (e.g., Facebook vs. non-Facebook recommendation recipients),'" Dunne wrote, citing an agreement and email entered into evidence.

The letter also says that Facebook provided Netflix with access to the "Titan API," a private API that allows approved partners to access "among other things, Facebook user’s 'messaging app and non-app friends.'" The wording of "Inbox API" description makes it sound as if Netflix could read the private messages of Facebook users, but that's not the case, according to Meta.

Netflix did not respond to a request for comment.

"Meta didn’t share people’s private messages with Netflix," a company spokesperson told The Register , citing a 2018 post explaining the arrangement. "As the document says, the agreement allowed people to message their friends on Facebook about what they were watching on Netflix, directly from the Netflix app. Such agreements are commonplace in the industry. We are confident the facts will show this complaint is meritless."

The commonness of such agreements, however, doesn't necessarily mean they're legal. The Network Bidding Agreement between Google and Meta/Facebook, known as "Jedi Blue," is currently being challenged in Texas' antitrust lawsuit [PDF] against Google. ®

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Facebook let Netflix peek into user DMs, explosive court docs claim

T he social media giant Meta allegedly allowed Netflix to access Facebook users' direct messages for nearly a decade, breaking anti-competitive activities and privacy rules, explosive court documents claim.

The court documents, which were unsealed last week, are part of a major anti-trust lawsuit filed by U.S. citizens Maximilian Klein and Sarah Grabert, who claim Netflix and Facebook "enjoyed a special relationship" so that Netflix could better tailor its ads with Facebook .

Facebook received millions of dollars in ad revenue from Netflix as part of these close ties, guaranteeing ad spending of $150 million in 2017, the lawsuit claims. 

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The lawsuit also claims Netflix's co-founder, Reed Hastings, joined Facebook’s board of directors and then was instrumental in the closure of Facebook Watch – a streaming service competitor to Netflix.

The lawsuit was filed in April 2023 and demands the court have Hastings respond to the plaintiff’s claims.

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"For nearly a decade, Netflix and Facebook enjoyed a special relationship. Netflix bought hundreds of millions of dollars in Facebook ads; entered into a series of agreements sharing data with Facebook; received bespoke access to private Facebook APIs; and agreed to custom partnerships and integrations that helped supercharge Facebook’s ad targeting and ranking models," the lawsuit states.

APIs (application programming interface) are pieces of software that allow two or more computer programs or components to communicate and share information with each other.

The API agreement allowed "Netflix programmatic access to Facebook’s private messages inboxes, in exchange Netflix would ‘provide to FB a written report every two weeks that shows daily counts of recommendations sends and recipient clicks by interface, initiation surface, and/or implementation variation (e.g. Facebook vs. non-Facebook recommendation receipts).’"

"In August 2013, Facebook provided Netflix with access to its so-called ‘Titan API,’ a private API that allowed a whitelisted partner to access, among other things, Facebook users’ ‘messaging app and non-app friends,’" the documents claim.

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Meta has said in the past that it does not disclose people’s private messages to partners without their knowledge and that the API access only gave partners an ability to reach inboxes, i.e. to send messages to users via API.

FOX Business reached out to Meta and Netflix for further comment but did not immediately receive a response. Facebook changed its name to Meta in 2021 as its CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled metaverse, a virtual reality space.

In 2018, the New York Times published a report citing hundreds of pages of Facebook documents, alleging Facebook had authorized Spotify and Netflix to access users' DMs. 

The publication reported that the connections helped Facebook gain explosive growth and bolstered its ad revenue streams. 

Meta has already been fined for sharing users' information without permission. 

In 2022, Ireland fined Meta $284 million after data about more than half a billion users was leaked online. 

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Full names, phone numbers, locations and birthdays of users who used the platform between 2018 and 2019 were leaked online by a "bad actor" who Meta said exploited a security vulnerability, reports the Daily Mail.

That same year, Meta agreed to pay $725 million to settle a security breach case related to Cambridge Analytica, a British social media engineering company.

The firm had paid Facebook for access to the personal information of about 87 million Facebook users, which was then used to target U.S. voters during the 2016 campaign that culminated in Donald Trump's election win.

Original article source: Facebook let Netflix peek into user DMs, explosive court docs claim