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The case study illustrated strategic, marketing, financial and operational challenges faced by Netflix in India's growing SVoD market. This case is appropriate in courses such as Strategic Management, Business Strategy, Marketing Management and International Marketing for postgraduate MBA students, other graduate-level management programs and undergraduate-level students. The case was developed to raise awareness among students, to understand the complex nature of the technology-driven industry, to survive in the highly competitive market, to set up a company that serves the huge Indian market. This case delves into the dynamics of marketing on the Indian market, characterized by unorganized players such as local cable television; torrent downloads and organized and established players, low digitalization rates, language barriers, low internet penetration, lack of infrastructure, price-sensitive consumers. Due to up-gradation in technology, internet penetration, an increase in smartphone users, and the market has undergone a notable amount of change, due to a lot on new entrants, competitions, substitutes. The case states various obstacles, for a multinational company while entering the market such as India and how they are required to strategize, mold their marketing mix, need to analyze en-cash their strength, overcome their weakness, take maximum advantage of opportunities and modify their strategies to face huge challenges. The specific learning outcome of the case will help students to understand the strategy that multinational companies can adopt to sustain, compete in emerging countries such as India and within that emerging market such as streaming videos on demand (SVoD). This case will help students to understand the importance of internal and external resources, which help multinational companies to make strategies based on these resources. The case study offers learners the opportunity to explore the strategy in a dynamic environment. This case also highlights the critical issues that should be addressed by multinational companies when entering into a foreign market. The case highlights the importance of analyzing the competitive environment in which it’s going to compete and sustain. It can be used to introduce Ansoff’s growth matrix, internal and external factor analysis and porter’s five forces in the delivery of course for both regular and executive programs. The case should be offered in the middle term periods of the course. Additionally, the case could be used in marketing courses to indicate the importance of scanning the business environment in marketing activities for any organization. The case illustrates the strategies that companies can undertake to expand the market, introduce new products, as per the requirement of business environment and concerns linked with innovating approaches to support the organization to satisfy a larger number of price-sensitive consumers from varied backgrounds.

Netflix has been optimistic about the potential growth of the Indian market. It will grow slowly and gradually and become profitable. The SVoD market in India has been price sensitive. There are no plans for cheaper prices. Netflix had a long way to go. The pricing model of Netflix was a hurdle in its growth, but the future of Netflix in India was bright. There have been numerous challenges in terms of government regulations, pricing structure and an increase in the number of competitive players on the market. Netflix believed that Indian audiences enjoyed “Bollywood” film productions but watched low-quality soap opera content on television. Television audiences were a massive untapped market for their brand of original, exclusively produced content. Can Netflix come up with a marketing and growth strategy, or else they might be looking to lose market share and revenue. Should a new product such as Amazon and MI fire stick be introduced in the existing market like their competitors? Should they enter the existing market with existing products, or should they seek a new market in India, such as the rural market, the Pyramid market, the Tier II market and the City III market? Should they diversify into a new market with new products? How Netflix should plan its market communication if it wants to launch a new product or if it wants to reposition its existing product. Netflix had to rethink its strategies and also needed to address these issues so that they could travel smoothly on Indian roads. High marketing budget and aggressive promotions helped Netflix India to make a profit in its first year.

Postgraduate MBA students, other graduate-level management programs and undergraduate-level students.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

A secondary research method was used to collect data for this case. The authors have made use of newspaper articles and articles by experts published in the public domain.

This case discusses the dilemma faced by Amazon Prime Video in India regarding content. Amazon Prime Video attained success and rapid growth in India ever since its entry into the Indian over the top (OTT) market in 2016. However, the pursuit of attractive and bold content landed Amazon Prime Video in a legal tangle in India. Amazon Prime Video was accused of hurting the religious and political sentiments of Indians by broadcasting bold shows like Tandaav, Family Man, Mirzapur, Family Man 2, etc. Litigations against Amazon Prime Video were filed in the Indian courts by members of religious and political organizations. Protests and online campaigns on Twitter caught the attention of internet influencers in India. The key dilemma faced by the protagonist in this case is whether to continue streaming attractive content that may be controversial and may occasionally hurt the religious/political sentiments of some Indians or stream only safe content that may be deemed as boring by its young target audience.

Undergraduate and postgraduate students studying marketing management and international business courses in business management and commerce streams can use this case.

The learning outcomes of this study are as follows:1. Analyze the pricing strategy followed by Netflix in India;2. Examine the challenges faced by media companies, including over-the-top (OTT) service providers, in developing content for target consumers in emerging markets; and3. Evaluate the dynamics of the Indian OTT industry and understand the effect of external and internal factors on the growth of Netflix in India.

This case discusses the dilemma faced by Netflix in India regarding pricing and content. Netflix was accused of hurting the religious and political sentiments of Indians by broadcasting bold shows such as Sacred Games and A Suitable Boy. Netflix is caught in a dilemma between its pursuit to achieve its target of achieving 100 million subscribers from India versus continuing its profitable high pricing strategy. Another key dilemma is regarding the streaming of attractive bold content which may occasionally hurt the religious/political sentiments of some Indians or stream only safe content which may be deemed as boring by its young target audience.

Undergraduate and postgraduate students studying Marketing courses in Commerce and Business Management streams can use this case.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

A secondary research method was used to collect data for this case. The authors have made use of newspaper articles and published articles written by journalists and experts, which are available in the public domain.

This case discusses the hurdles faced by Netflix in India. Netflix experienced rapid growth ever since its entry into the Indian over-the-top (OTT) sector. The aggressive pricing strategies by OTT competitors put Netflix in a defensive position in India. Netflix introduced the low-priced mobile-only plan to attract price-sensitive Indian consumers. However, this was not sufficient. Netflix was forced to reduce the price of all its plans in December 2021. The dilemma faced by Reed Hastings (Founder and Co-CEO, Netflix) was whether the revised price was low enough to hold on to existing subscribers and attract new subscribers in India. Netflix was caught between the rock and the hard place in its pursuit to achieve its target of achieving 100 million subscribers from India versus continuing its skimming-pricing strategy. This case highlights the compound challenges of low household income in India and high-income inequality resulting in a lower available market for multinational service providers such as Netflix. The pricing plans and features of OTT competitors in India have also been discussed in sufficient depth to facilitate analysis and classroom discussion by the target audience.

Undergraduate students studying marketing management and basic marketing courses in business management and commerce streams can use this case. This case can also be used for marketing specialization courses at the undergraduate level.

After completing the case, students should be able to understand: the importance and uniqueness of the individual market and developing a suitable marketing strategy. The concept of value creation and learn the importance of developing the right value proposition to compete and succeed in a market. The target audience and how to create the right marketing mix. Competition in a digital landscape and the importance of developing an appropriate strategy to counter its rivals and position the brand effectively.

During his visit to India in December 2019, Netflix’s founder and chief executive officer Reed Hastings talked about a series of steps the company had taken in the recent past to successfully face stiff competition and move towards achieving its stated target of 100 million viewers. These steps involved significant changes in their marketing mix such as reworking their pricing, developing a rich portfolio of Indian content and building various partnerships. Since Netflix’s launch in India (December 2016), it faced fierce competition from players such as Hotstar and Amazon Prime, both of whom had developed a rich portfolio of Indian content and adopted a very aggressive pricing strategy thus, making these changes essential. At the time of their launch, Netflix had set a very ambitious target of gaining 100 million viewers within five years (by 2021) while adopting a premium pricing strategy and positioning themselves uniquely based on their international content. They quickly learned that they would have to reevaluate their approach if they wanted to achieve their target on time. The changes announced by Hastings were an effort in that direction. The moot question was whether these steps would help Netflix India reach its goal. This challenge was further compounded by an almost 40% hike in data tariffs by three major wireless carriers considering most Indians watched over-the-top media content on their mobile phones.

The case is designed for undergraduates, as well as for fundamental marketing courses in the Master of Business Administration and other graduate level programmes. It can be taught in the Principles of Marketing, Marketing Strategy and International Marketing courses. It is ideal for topics such as understanding the operation of a digital business in a new market, customer value creation and value drivers, brand and brand positioning, product promotion, strategies for business growth and expansion, fighting competition in a digital landscape.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

Following are the learning outcomes: recognize the significance of project management as an integrated approach for managing projects in an unprecedented situation. Identify the issues related to managing contemporary projects such as shorter product life cycles, changing customer preferences and last-minute risks. Evaluate the role of sub-domains of project management such as project prioritization, project negotiation, project portfolio system, project risk assessment and management and project stakeholder management.

It is the year 2020, and the entire world is struggling to cope up with the crisis caused by the corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic. Normal life has come to a standstill. All industries have realized the significance of developing innovative strategies to move to the new normal situation. This case describes the plight of TVR Cinemas, a business vertical of Tiya Group, which caters to the business of production and distribution of Bollywood and Hollywood movies in India. With the lock-down of the Indian subcontinent, the multiplex business is badly hurt. With new norms of sanitation, social distancing, and a ‘stay home stay safe policy’ the company has to devise new ways to sustain in the market. This case invites students to put themselves in the shoes of the company project manager, Mr. Ramchandani, to provide recommendations about deciding ways to release seven pipe-lined Bollywood movie projects, deciding on the appropriate over-the-top (OTT) partner for tie-ups, and devising strategic steps to recover the reputation of the company by launching an OTT platform themselves.

The case is useful for introducing basics of project management along with decision making for projects in an uncertain situation. This case can be used for the students of undergraduate/postgraduate/executive level across the modules of project management/project risk management and negotiation management.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and logistics.

Airtel, the leading mobile operator in India was going to launch the “Airtel Zero” platform that would charge service providers and OTT providers on the internet for mobile data traffic but would allow end consumers free access to the web sites that were signed up for the platform. The case revolves around the questions of pricing these data services to the service providers in a market where the price to one set of customers (the end consumer) was not independent of the price to another set of customers (the OTT service providers) - typical of two sided markets. Issues of net neutrality and competition have been considered alongside.

The case study “PVR Limited at a Crossroads” has been designed with the requirements of strategic management. The learning objectives are as follows:

• Situational analysis – understand the global and Indian media and entertainment industry PESTEL.

• Strategic planning – internal and external environmental analysis – strength, weakness, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis helps in achieving the strategic plan.

• Strategy development – to accomplish the turnaround plan, various alternatives are developed; choosing from the possible alternatives is a part of strategic planning.

PVR Limited (PVR) is the largest premium film exhibition company in India. In their annual report for 2019–2020, Chief Executive Officer Gautam Dutta acknowledged, “It was the first time in our more than two-decade history that we witnessed over 100 million patrons entering our premises in a year”. However, with the onset of Covid-19 pandemic in January 2020, things changed for the entertainment industry in India. There were fears of an eminent third wave and the detection of a new Covid-19 variant, Omicron, added to these fears. Being a major player in the game, PVR felt the impact. And even when the business started to reopen, social distancing remained a concern and ticket sales were impacted. Over-the-top viewership rose dramatically at the cost of the multiplex. The lockdown halted film productions worldwide, leading to a shortage of content. Other revenue streams, such as food and beverage, convenience fees and advertising, also came to a halt. Given the circumstances, Dutta was facing the twin dilemma of how to bring customers back to cinema in a post-pandemic world without in any way compromising the security of its patrons and keeping costs under control while investing in social distancing, safety measures and entertainment infrastructure to enhance the cinematic experience.

This case was written for use in Strategic Management classes at the undergraduate and MBA levels. It can be used in both management studies and executive development programs. It is suitable for courses on strategic management and strategic planning focusing on a turnaround strategy. Additionally, the case could be used in consumer behaviour courses in management as the focus of the case is well aligned with discussions related to change in consumer behaviour.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

This case talks about the role that can be expected to be played by a disabled woman in an organization and shows how a disabled woman can assume a leadership position and be a role model.

This case identifies the qualities that help a person from a minority group succeed in the corporate environment; examines the contribution that a disabled person, especially a woman can make to an organization; analyzes transformational leadership; assesses the importance of inclusive design in today’s products; and recognizes the corporate role in ensuring an inclusive culture that encouraged disabled people.

The case “Sumaira Latif at P&G: pioneering inclusive design and accessibility to all” provides an in-depth look at the efforts of Sumaira “Sam” Latif (she), Accessibility Leader at P&G, to incorporate inclusive design in the company’s product packaging. Sam – a blind woman and mother of three – had always struggled to use various everyday products. Her personal struggles drove her to find ways to fix such problems for people with disabilities. So, after a decade of experience at P&G, when she got an opportunity to interact with the top management, she convinced them that catering to the disabled was not charity, but a smart business move. Sam also put forth the role she could play in helping P&G make products with an inclusive design. Impressed with her, P&G made her Special Consultant for Inclusive Design, a position specifically created for her. Sam created the widely lauded tactile indicators which helped the blind differentiate between shampoo and conditioner bottles. P&G then promoted her to the position of Company Accessibility Leader, wherein she played a pivotal role in bringing inclusive design to more of P&G’s products. Sam also played a critical role in making P&G adopt certain technologies to help the blind shop for the company’s products independently, apart from ensuring that all P&G ads were audio-described. However, Sam had an ambitious vision to infuse inclusive design into all products, which required her to bring about a culture change in the CPG industry. She was also faced with the predicament of how to ensure that audio-described ads became a media buying standard, considering the wide-scale resistance to it. How can Sam succeed in making the CPG industry develop inclusive design, the way she convinced P&G to do it?.

Graduate and post-graduate programs.

Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

The learning outcomes are as follows: to understand and examine the strategies that help platforms fight competition and manage networks; to analyse the role of platform governance in the management of the networks and partners’ trust; and to evaluate the strategic risks of disintermediation and multi-homing firms face while trying to sustain profits and capture value.

The case presents the dilemma faced by Deepinder Goyal, the young founder and CEO of Zomato in formulating the growth strategy for its food delivery platform, struggling to retain its market leadership position amid intensifying competition and other challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Zomato has become a public company with an IPO announced in mid of July 2021. Therefore, there is growing expectation for profitability among its shareholders and investors considering tailwinds of COVID-19 crisis, which have given the push towards adoption of food delivery among the customers. This has also resulted in increased competition in the industry. On other hand, there is growing dissatisfaction among its restaurant partners who have been hit hard by COVID-19 and struggling for survival. CEO Deepinder has to find how he will ensure the long-term growth for Zomato to tap the growing food delivery market in India and regain its restaurant partner’s trust.

The case is intended for post-graduate courses (MBA, PGDM) on digital business strategy or strategic management of technology-oriented businesses. The case can be used to understand the nature of competition and different strategies for platform-based businesses in the digital world. The case can also be used to study the role governance can play in efficient value creation and capture on the platform by the partner entities. Finally, the case also highlights how are platform businesses are coping with the Covid challenge. There are no specific prerequisites but knowledge on basic strategy concepts and platform business concepts will be good for better understanding. Level of difficulty is medium.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.