Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is preparing to enter into the Australian market as it has already hired creative and social marketing agencies to plan for a multi-million dollar marketing blitz. The online video streaming service has hired industry giants Droga 5 and We Are Social to put up a $20 million marketing campaign before launching in Australia and New Zealand next year, according to a report from Umbrella.
Netflix secretive about Australian plans
Speculations surrounding the online video streaming company entering Australia broke first in June with a late 2015 launch originally predicted at the time. But since then, the company has not revealed anything about its plans.
Netflix, which claims to have around 50 million paid subscribers across 40 nations, is keeping detailed information about its entry in Australia and New Zealand under the hood, but the spilled beans last month about its fascination with both markets. Chief content officer Ted Sarandos called them very attractive territories that are English speaking and are fond of U.S. content. Around 200,000 Australians have already subscribed to the Netflix’s U.S. service, accessing content through a geoblock-lifting browser extension.
Rivals worried over price wars
The online streaming service entered France in September and immediately signed distribution deals with three companies along with securing exclusive rights to a number of movies such as Bill Murray’s St. Vincent.
Rivals in the region fear that Netflix will undercut the competition here as well. Companies like Foxtel are expecting that a price war after the entry of Netflix will force them to release their own on-demand channel and lower the subscription price.
“We recognize that many Australians feel that Foxtel is too expensive to fit comfortably into their budget,” Foxtel chief executive Richard Freudenstein said in September. Freudenstein added that users are aware of the fantastic content offers, but cannot afford to pay for that.
Recently, Nine and Fairfax announced a joint partnership for Stan, a streaming video service created to take on Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX). Foxtel also lowered the price of its entry-level 42-channel package to $25 per month. Quickflix, which is another competitor to Netflix in Australia, has launched its streaming service with a rather unusual set of subscription plans including renting mail-order DVDs.
