A Netflix experience : reimagining the direct-to-consumer platform

Abstract

As the streaming wars intensify, Netflix cannot rely solely on its first-mover advantage to remain at the top and must continue to find ways to differentiate itself from competitors. While Netflix is known for having disrupted content delivery, there are still many innovations it can make to the content itself. By examining uses and gratifications research (i.e., the theory that audiences seek out media to fulfill certain needs), this paper identifies a set of needs for why audiences turn to media that consistently emerge across time and mediums; these needs, which will be referred to as the fundamental gratifications, drive consumer behavior. The paper then explores how Netflix, as a direct-to-consumer platform not constrained by some of the technological and storytelling-related limitations of traditional film and TV, can better fulfill some of the fundamental gratifications. Specifically, Netflix can better gratify the need for: · social connection by enabling features such as in-video comments and synchronous viewing. · immersion by enhancing the worldbuilding capabilities of the Netflix platform through the use of transmedia storytelling. · achievement by offering an Apple Arcade-like mobile gaming subscription on the Netflix platform. The successful execution of these ideas would make Netflix not simply a platform to watch content, but a place to interact with friends and an immersive home for exploring storytelling universes. In an age where consumers prefer experiences over material goods and services, Netflix has the potential to offer a true entertainment experience, while competitors get stuck behind providing simply streaming services.