How START Makes Its Way to TVs and Other Gadgets: Vendor Partnerships
There is a lot of work by many experts lying between a new TV show coming out of post-production and the user watching it. START is a D2C (direct-to-client) streaming service that uses a subscription-based business strategy. Our app has to be installed on an average of 2 million new TVs to get 3 to 10 thousand new subscribers. Naturally, this is a lengthy and challenging route. As a Key Partner Manager, I’ll describe the process we go through and the way the world of vendors and apps on SMART TVs functions.
We first examine the market for the sale of SMART TVs in order to determine who is worthwhile to collaborate with. In Russia, people from Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and other cities with populations of one million or more are generally better off and, therefore, tend to buy more premium-tier Samsung and LG TVs. Their gadgets are the most cutting-edge, they produce stunning images, and customers who intend to watch VOD (video on demand) content see it as a crucial factor. Since 2012, their consumers have amassed a great number of active devices with Smart TV functionality and also are the most affluent segment, so Samsung and LG have significantly widened our sales funnel.
Some of the most popular B-tier TV manufacturers in Russia are Xiaomi, Hisense, Haier and TCL. Several causes have contributed to the considerable increase in Moscow and Saint Petersburg’s share of their sales this year, but other regions still buy them in great numbers. B-tier TVs are more affordable than South Korean A-tier manufacturers’ products. Another reason for the spike in their sales was the temporal suspension of the installments payment model for costly LG and Samsung models. B-tier devices are better suited for the regions due to several factors: there are not too many well-off customers, the Internet connection quality and speed are usually lower, and many consumers tend to be linear viewers (that is, they watch what TV channels show at the moment). Therefore, these devices strike the perfect balance between low cost and agreeable quality. In this case, START’s funnel is narrower.
We attempt to cover as many types of devices as possible, notwithstanding the complexities and restrictions that the funnel analysis may reveal. We are one of the few companies on the market represented on even legacy operating systems dating as far back as 2012.
Our goal is to use all available tools to get the user to buy a START subscription. Some of these tools may include vendor-provided content promotion platforms. To appear on the partner’s showcase, we must send the content feed (a feed is a stream of content that you can scroll through) and suggestion lists. Both of these are used by the partner to create and fill the showcase. Pursuant to the law from the Russian Ministry of Digital Development, pre-installation is a free option that vendors offer. However, in order to avoid being relegated to the bottom of the list where viewers seldom wander, we must use alternative options and negotiate with vendors over both the terms at which we can use their advertising inventory and the technical platforms on which we will be represented, even if the manufacturer has stopped supporting those platforms.
For instance, Samsung phased out the Orsay platform in 2015 and shifted to Tizen OS. Two years after Orsay was no longer supported, in 2017 (the year START was established), we began negotiations with Samsung. We were able to persuade our partner of the significance of having our app available on Orsay-based home devices, and as a result, we are now covering the entire range of Samsung devices.
Samsung has a huge selection of advertising tools available both within and outside the devices. We debate and use all available placement formats, including various special projects, to boost coverage and awareness. For a long time, we had an agreement that restricted the distribution of 4K UHD material to Samsung devices. However, in 2021, we came to the conclusion that we should not restrict the format to only one platform and that it would be more appropriate to make 4K UHD content available to all homes.
There was a similar situation with LG; they too abandoned Netcast in 2015 and moved to a single webOS platform. In 2017, we had to persuade our colleagues from LG of the significance of putting our app on Netcast-based legacy devices dating as far back as 2012. LG provides even more space to advertise content and the app itself, and not just in Russia. For instance, in the CIS nations, we extensively advertise our premieres with banners, and our app is currently placed in the primary launcher (the app that displays a home screen, apps, widgets, app drawer, etc.) on all webOS-based devices.
Sony has a list of Sony Select suggested apps. Once the TV turns on, the user may immediately see our app in the sixth spot and can launch START from there. Sony devices are based on the Android TV and Google TV platforms.
We had issues registering new subscriptions on Android TV since the Google Play Billing mechanism was disabled. Since June 1, developers in countries without Google Play Billing support have been given permission to include a card payment option in their apps, and it only took us until mid-July to introduce this feature for all apps on this platform.
The Chinese company Xiaomi, whose devices also are based on Android TV, has a storefront app called PatchWall. By entering into a contract with this vendor, we gained access to extra content marketing features. As a result, our content is now featured in a branded line under “TV Shows” and is placed in the VIP area. Xiaomi also offers the Mi Box and Mi Stick digital media players. These are essentially SMART TVs contained in a tiny flash drive-sized gadget that we roll out our app on, which gives us additional coverage.
Devices by Haier are based on Android TV, too. Haier’s Evo storefront app offers a variety of choices for promoting content. We use it for banner placement, featured sample content, exclusive originals, co-exclusives, catch-ups (previous broadcasts), and catch-forwards (live watching). On top of that, we have integrated our content feed into the app, where it serves as a base for the storefront. We keep an eye on the premieres and views and update it twice a month accordingly.
Hisense devices run the VIDAA operating system. We’ve been featured on them since 2014: our app is shown in the main screen’s launcher, so when the TV turns on, the user sees it right away.
We also feature content, provide the feed, and refresh the collections twice a month in the TCL Channel storefront app for the Chinese company TCL, small in Russia so far but big in America and China.
The Philips TV Collection app store is available from the Dutch company Philips, run by TP Vision. We made a deal with them to put up banner ads.
It is crucial to remember that if all you do is upload your video service to the app store or launcher without telling the user about it, it is unlikely to convert to new traffic, new sign-ups, etc. Any marketing efforts with vendors should sync with marketing campaigns. Here’s how we do it: the marketing team informs customers in digital and other channels about the START online cinema and our awesome unique content not available on any other services, and does it before or simultaneously with the promotion of our app and content on the vendor’s platform.We are aware that a significant portion of users (as many as 33%) prefer to watch content on mobile devices. START has been available on Google Play and in the App Store since its launch.
We have also been present in the Huawei App Gallery since almost two years ago. We covered 15 million active devices after the launch, including those by Honor, which has since become a separate company. By the way, Huawei presented two of its first TV models last year, and START was one of the first Russian online movie theaters featured there.
We’ve intended to increase our market share and get into all the app stores for a while, and the issue with subscription payments through Google Play Billing made us finally act on this intent. We needed to direct Android users to a convenient subscription page where they could pay hassle-free. We then launched on Xiaomi GetApps in late July. This app store is compatible with all Android devices, while all Xiaomi smartphones come with it pre-installed, and their sales in the Russian Federation have surpassed Samsung’s. We received more coverage as a result, not just in Russia but also in other countries. This is a big accomplishment for us since START is positioned as a global streaming service available anywhere with Internet access.
It is crucial to consider the particulars of a certain market when going global. For instance, subscriptions tied to digital media players are highly developed in Europe, and SMART TV has just lately begun to overtake the formerly popular but much more expensive satellite TV. Understanding the market for these devices is essential because it affects how viewers become subscribers in the conversion funnel. We consider our consumers’ income levels, the kind of content they choose to watch, their readiness to pay for subscriptions, and whether they are linked to an operator who already uses another service. This way we can gradually narrow the funnel and determine how many subscriptions we can anticipate from a certain provider.
START is an international project allowing people from any country to use the app in the language of their choice. This is why we always talk with all of our partners about expanding the app’s reach outside Russia and the CIS. This year, we even achieved placements on the TiVo Series 5–7 digital media players offered by Canadian and American operators, and in the winter we were the first Russian streaming service to enter the main LG launcher for devices on the Balkan Peninsula. However, in March 2022, due to geopolitical situation we made the decision to remove these placements.
To sum things up, D2C at START means a complicated collaboration of all departments in production, packaging, marketing, and distribution of content. You can’t simply develop an app, upload it to one TV store and call it a day. We work to ensure that our streaming service is compatible with all platforms and devices available in any given country or region. We also want all big premieres and screenings to be promoted through vendor options and marketing. Our Partner Relations Department frequently and systemically negotiates with SMART TV platforms, concurrently developing new integration formats to broaden our coverage each day and give us new loyal subscribers.
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