How Netflix does Stranger things with Big Data
Most people admit to binge-watching Netflix for hours on end, so how does the online streaming service hold our attention? Big data, it turns out, holds the key.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings set out to prove Goldman wrong by creating a company dedicated to predicting which films would keep us glued to our seats. Huge amounts of data power Netflix's "recommendation engines" and affect the films the company invests in. Netflix has grown into a tech powerhouse whose streaming technologies have revolutionized how we view, pay for, and discuss entertainment since its founding in 1997. The word "Netflix" has become a verb.
Netflix's popularity hinges on its ability to visualize data and extract useful insights. They can easily and quickly modify algorithms, answer insights, and solve problems using appropriate data and analytical techniques. Consumer behavior can be predicted using viewing patterns as a key data point. The time of day a movie or TV show was watched, the time spent choosing movies, and even how much playback was paused were all factors.
Netflix was able to begin analyzing their consumers and supplying them with relevant and personalized content thanks to measurable characteristics. Netflix’s tagging system aids them in suggesting and recommending other films and shows based on previous viewing history. Users are more likely to click and engage with the material as a result of these suggestions. Netflix went from a reactive to a constructive strategy to get the best out of big data. They spent six years gathering enough data to ensure that they had all of the ingredients for a hit show based on their big data. By using viewers’ viability, Netflix was able to create a show that had all of the ingredients to be a success. Netflix has been steadily implementing this captivating formula for production and has earned positive feedback. Not only that, but thanks to targeted reviews and advertising, Netflix has been able to reduce its promotional marketing budgets by targeting only the most appropriate and valuable people at a time. Seriously, it doesn’t need to be advertised. Netflix has established itself as a brand.
The transition of a DVD mailing company to an online streaming media with over 125 million subscribers across more than 190 countries. Netflix has changed the way we consume media.
So how did the company go from DVD rentals to winning the global market in video streaming?
When Netflix first launched, it allowed users to build a list of movies they wanted to see in the future but didn’t have time to watch right now. When people had more free time, Netflix reminded them of those films. However, something strange and unpredictable happened as a result of it. Netflix discovered an anomaly in their results. Users were filling queues with a variety of movies they wanted to watch, but when reminded of their choices, they rarely clicked on them. It’s a natural human tendency to try to imagine ourselves in the future with the aim of increasing our self-worth by adding all genres of movies to the list. In light of this discrepancy, Netflix has chosen to avoid asking people what they want to see in the future. Instead, they began developing a new model based on millions of data from similar customers.
So, how did Netflix catch Peoples' deception and win?
It’s the Big Data that does Stranger things to the growth of a prolific global storyteller — Netflix
“Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.”
— Steve Jobs
So getting closer to customers wasn’t that easy, but the development of Big Data made a revolutionary change to the working of the whole company. Understanding customer behaviour is the most centric tool in a company. A personalized unique experience is given for each user. Netflix is ad-free and claims to not do paid product ads, so why are brand names prominently featured in Netflix shows and movies? In reality, Netflix engages in product placement. Thereby getting a large amount of income source for the company. Even if no money switches hands between Netflix and the brands it covers, promoting brands in its content is a wise business move for the streaming site, which could explain why Netflix originals are littered with logos and items.
Netflix is basically a book to read, and it’s critical to do your research and learn everything there is to know about each business. How they operate, how they use technology, How they transitioned from one type to another, or even how they are highly ranked in the global market.
Rather than studying microprocessor architecture from the 1980s and 1990s, I hope our curriculum includes the study of top companies and their development!
