Quickflix and StreamCo's Stan are readying an advertising blitz ahead of Christmas to counteract the entry of Netflix into the Australian market in March next year, as questions remain on just what Netflix will launch with.
Speaking to AdNews, Quickflix CEO Stephen Langsford denied it was was particularly worried about the entry of Netflix into the Australian market. “No, we're not worried about Netflix diluting our base,” Langsford said.
He said Netflix would end up being a benefit for the other streaming players in Australia.
“The entry of Netflix is really exciting for us, as it's going to educate the market on streaming services,” Langsford said.
“They're going to hear all about Netflix and start looking around at the technology and their options in the space. We know there's a massive appetite out there for streaming content, and this will only get stronger.”
While Langsford's confidence is apparent, Quickflix is the middle of organising a marketing push over Christmas to make Australians more aware of its service, focusing in on its availability via Chromecast.
“We've got a very strong slate of promotion and marketing activities in working with our partners and device partners over Christmas,” Langsford said.
“Christmas is going to be very big. There are great devices out there like Google's Chromecast which can access streaming, so that's going to be exciting for us.
“A lot of people are going to be discovering that platform over Christmas.”
While Langsford may be talking down the impact of Netflix on its service, Quickflix shareholders voted with their sell orders yesterday as the news of Netflix's entry broke. Its share price dropped about 20% yesterday before rallying to break even for the day.
It had dropped 16.67% on Tuesday on the back of massive volume.
Meanwhile, Netflix declined to answer questions on whether it would be frozen out of streaming its own commissioned content, Orange is the New Black and House of Cards with content deals tied up with others in Australia.
This raises the possibility that with many consumers interested in Netflix already accessing the US version via either masking virtual private networks or setting up US accounts through their PlayStation consoles, Netflix's biggest barrier to success in Australia may be its already strong presence in the market.
However Netflix did announce this morning that it had picked up the fourth season of US drama Longmire on an exclusive basis, to premiere in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Ads starring Rebel Wilson for Stan, StreamCo's recently launched streaming venture, are expected imminently with filming for the ads wrapping up the week the platform was announced.
For more news:
What can we expect from the Netflix launch?
Govt attacked over SBS changes
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