How the Video Wins the Hearts of Indonesian Users

Market natural selection video on demand in South East Asia already occurred. iFlix and Hooq are running out of fuel. iFlix was acquired by Tencent, while the remnants of the liquidated Hooq were acquired by Coupang. In Indonesia, industrial competition video on demand quite interesting. Video as a local player is successful compete with Viu and Netflix. The video proves that their strategy to win the hearts of Indonesian users is starting to pay off.

To DailySocial, the Vidio team claims their app managed to get 5 million downloads in April 2020 alone. The number of visits at that time touched 60 million times a month. An increase also occurred in downloads via Smart TV which reached 1 million downloads as of July 2020.

"This increase shows the great enthusiasm of the community for the features and services that Vidio provides. Interestingly, this increase occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic. This shows a change in the habits of the Indonesian people in enjoying entertainment content online," explained VP Marketing Vidio Rezki Yanuar.

Platform transformation and content power

Since it was first launched, Vidio has undergone a number of adjustments. At the beginning of its appearance, Vidio carried the concept of User Generated Content (UGC). Gradually, Vidio transformed into a platform video on demand which not only provides films but also sports news footage, series and other original content.

Chief Product Vidio Hadikusuma Wahab (Dhiku) explained that this is inseparable from the demand of the Indonesian market which requires longer and higher quality content.

"[...] Increasing interest in original local content is now one of the spearheads of Vidio. For us, consumer needs are the most important thing. Therefore, since 2019, we have been moving towards OTT applications (over the top) in order to provide the best content and services for the Indonesian people. This strategy has been proven to produce results loyal customers "Video continues to improve and is recognized as a local OTT to be proud of," added Dhiku.

According to Chief Content Vidio Tina Arwin, since 2019 the party has launched several original content series with various genres, be it romance, thriller, comedy or action. Titles such as Girls in The City, Heart Series, I Love You Baby, Get Married the Series, Jawara, On The Weekend, and Omen were successfully produced by Vidio to meet the demand of the Indonesian people for content needs.

"Vidio's viewers and partners are the main strength of Vidio's continued growth. We really believe that interesting content presented by a good platform, with strong marketing and distribution, will not be successful without viewers who continue to love domestic content and products. We want "Thank you to the Indonesian audience and our partners who have made Vidio what it is today," said Vidio COO Hermawan Sutanto.

Competitive against foreign platforms

Quoted from a report, Vidio is in second place as the most popular platform in Indonesia after Viu. He was the only player video on demand local people who are successful in their country. Even in Indonesia, even though it was blocked by a giant operator group, Netflix is ​​still competing to be in the top three.

Facing this tough competition, Hermawan explained three important points of their strategy to compete.

The first strategy is accounts. Hermawan said content is the king of everything. Indonesian male viewers, for example, like to watch sports content such as Shopee Liga 1, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, NBA and One Championship. These shows are exclusive content that can only be enjoyed on the Vidio platform.

For drama fans, apart from having original content, Vidio also has FTV shows, popular Mini Series from TV, local films, Korean dramas and superior soap operas which air on SCTV and other local television. Being under the same group as two popular TV channels in Indonesia is one of its advantages.

Apart from content, product innovation is one of Vidio's focuses to be loved by many users in Indonesia. Hermawan said that his platform has the fastest product customization capabilities considering that everything is developed by young local talents.

"This is reflected in the massive development of the Vidio platform which is available, not only on Android and iOS cellphones, but also available on Android Smart TVs, Tizen (Samsung), WebOS (LG), to Linux. What is very encouraging is that the Vidio platform is always in-feature as a recommended application for entertainment on all platforms, from cell phones to TV," explained Hermawan.

Vidio also innovates by developing interactive features, such as quizzes, game, and also Polling.

The final step is to maximize channels marketing which exists. Apart from taking advantage of its position as a member of a large media group in Indonesia, Vidio also believes that collaboration with related parties can have a big impact. For example, working with Smart TV developers to create applications pre-installed, collaboration with telecommunications operators to facilitate payments, and others.

"Vidio's collaboration with e-commerce and fintech [platforms] has also produced encouraging results. Vidio is currently the OTT [platform] with the most [voucher code] sales on Shopee and LinkAja in June 2020. An achievement that can only be achieved with work closely with the partners," explained Hermawan.

Understanding the Indonesian audience

Multiple platform providers video on demand has proven for itself how hard it is to win the hearts of Indonesian users. Vidio observed that Indonesian users are quite diverse, so efforts are needed to present diverse content on their platform and education to continue to love and support original Indonesian content, products and works.

"We also always prioritize product development to ensure user comfort while using the Vidio application. Not only that, we will be more active in collaborating with distribution partners to introduce Vidio closer to the Indonesian people," explained Rezki.

One of the challenges of many platforms video on demand in Indonesia is piracy. Even though there are many legal platforms present in Indonesia, it seems that illegal platforms cannot be stopped.

Until now, Vidio continues to actively educate the public that OTT is the best option at an affordable price to be able to enjoy quality content while helping the national creative industry grow.

"Vidio also collaborates with content owners, OTT partners in the industry, and is part of related associations to work together with Google, Facebook and other global platforms to reduce piracy with more intensive education," concluded Hermawan.