GoPlay and Hooq Optimistic with the Development of "Video on Demand" in Indonesia

Although there are many Video on Demand (VOD) applications in Indonesia, none of them has been able to become a major player or player keyplayer. Its changing nature makes VOD service inoperable, referring to a stable formula.

Seeing this problem, DailySocial through the #Tuesdaystartup session, we tried to thoroughly explore the problems and challenges that until now there are still many local and foreign VOD service players. The speaker presented is the CEO GoPlay Edy Sulistyo and Country Head hooq Indonesia Guntur S. Siboro.

The unique habits of the Indonesian people

While running a business in Indonesia for the last 4 years, Hooq noted the unique habits of the Indonesian people. Starting from using internet data quota in smartphone which is very important to the use of wifi to access various needs on the internet. According to Hooq, this makes it difficult for them to be able to provide services that only rely on applications.

For this reason, Hooq then established strategic partnerships with telecommunications operators, services broadband, to platform super apps. The goal is simple, so that Hooq can be accessed anywhere and anytime.

"The difference that we have felt in the past (2016) since Hooq launched until now is, the payment options are still very limited in number. Only using credit cards as launched by Netflix. But now with the presence of GoPay, Ovo and other digital wallets, it makes it easier for users to make a purchase," said Guntur.

From the GoPlay side, all of its businesses are supported by the ecosystem Gojek, that is precisely what is their strength. By concept bundling packaged in the form of voucher, GoPlay tries to take advantage of broad access to complete channel distribution Gojek.

This strength then becomes an attractive offer for content creators to Indonesian filmmakers, to focus on content and entrust other aspects to GoPlay.

"For GoPlay itself to be included in the ecosystem at Gojek and support the existing ecosystem. One of them is the offer voucher related services, bundling with GoFood to GoSend with the aim of inviting more people to access local content while promoting content to more users," said Edy.

Although until now there are still many users in Indonesia who prefer free content, many users are starting to choose to subscribe and are willing to pay, in order to get quality content.

Original content and processing big data

One thing that later became the same goal of the two VOD services was, to encourage the best works of Indonesian content creators and filmmakers. In this case, each of them deliberately establishes strategic partnerships with studios to Indonesian production houses, in order to create interesting original content for users.

GoPlay claims that such market conditions are the background of their goal as a bridge for viewers to more easily access domestically produced films.

"At least the presence of GoPlay can give filmmakers in Indonesia the option to present their work using digital services owned by GoPlay. In accordance with the commitment of Gojek to eliminate friction in daily life," said Eddie.

Hooq itself at the end of 2019 introduced the production of 19 new original content consisting of series and films in the four countries where they operate. Of the 19 new titles, Hooq's most original content production is in Indonesia with 14 titles consisting of series, films, and events. stand up comedy.

The number of new content slots in Indonesia is not surprising because the Hooq market in Southeast Asia is mostly from Indonesia. Guntur justified this.

As a platform that fully utilizes smartphone for users to access content, GoPlay claims to have successfully collected big data which is then processed and can be used by partners to filmmakers. By utilizing this data, filmmakers can see what content is their favourite, the ideal duration to what genres or categories of films are of interest to various groups. Technology and data analytics processing are the strengths of GoPlay.

Meanwhile, Hooq, which is currently not only available on smartphone but also in service broadband and homecable spread across Indonesia, claiming to be engagement more happens through the channel. But for the number of downloads and users, Hooq noted that more happened in the app.

Mentioned whether later Hooq will also apply big data to data analytics To improve services, Guntur said the plan has been included in the company's roadmap. After submitting liquidation option late last month, currently Hooq Indonesia is still waiting for the company's decision to continue or stop their services in Indonesia.