THE TELEVISON MISSION:

A MARKETING PLAN

What is the Television Mission?

Let us have a look at the current scenario when it comes to TV shows first..

• Widely popular and a rage among youngsters is the TV series’ these days.• The young generation is drawn

towards these TV shows more than what is broadcast on the Indian Television.• Reasons might be poor

production values, stagnant storyline or inability to connect with the characters.• Game of Thrones is preferred

over Sasural Simar Ka.

The problem…• With all the varieties of TV series’ out there, with genres

ranging from drama to crime, romance to action, comedy to fantasy, the audiences are spoilt for choice.• They binge watch these shows and eventually lose track of

the episodes they were watching; sometimes shows with similar storylines get them confused as well!• Surely, keeping track of the shows you have watched is a

headache for many!

The Television Mission- The Solution!

• The Television Mission is an app on iOS and Android, which lets you

keep track of the shows you are watching or plan to watch later.

• Creates database or “collection”, where you can add TV shows of

your choice and manage them efficiently.

• Get latest notifications regarding the shows, check the episodes you

have watched, the ratings, reviews, and everything related just in one

app!

Situational Analysis

Core CompetenciesProviding a convenient way of managing TV shows User friendly and high on customizationExpansion of app database in number of showsStream episodes of TV shows at convenient pricingCloud Storage and Offline mode for premium users

Market Position

• TV series’ are relatively new in India, and an app like this has a lot of reach for its target audience.• With the largest youth population in the world, with

improving rates of literacy everyday, there is a huge market for such apps.• The smartphone boom and the convenience of using a

smartphone add to the vision of a strong market position.

Market Overview- The External Factors

Customers

College going audience

Young Working

Class

Main Competitors

Netflix

TV Series App

Collaborators

Production Companies

Online streaming

sites

SWOT AnalysisStrengths

• Convenience of the UI of the application • Huge database of TV shows and Cloud Storage

Weaknesses

• Unpopular brand name• No application for Windows

Opportunities

• Less number of competitors; chances of higher market share

• Highly popular among the target audience

Threats

• Bigger players like Netflix when it comes to streaming episodes

• Competitor Products

Target Audience• The app is mainly targeted at the young educated population

of India.• Age Group of 15-30 years.• The audience is expected to increase due to more preference

given to foreign TV shows by the new generations.• Young working class and college going students main focus

at present.

GOAL OF THE APP- FOCUS

AND BENCHMARKS

Free Version

• Building a customer base using the free version of the app.• Google and Apple pay on a “pay per click” on ad basis.• Run apps on the app using admob or inmobi.• The money is obtained after the parent company cuts its

commission out of the revenue generated.• In-app purchases to be included.

Paid Version

• Focus would be on generating maximum revenue from the paid app.• Google pays 68% of the listed price on the Play Store to the

developer.• Convenient pricing of the app for more downloads of the

paid app.• Introduction of in-app purchases for more features.

STRATEGY- THE

DIFFERENTIATING FACTOR

Target MarketCustomersCollaboratorsCompanyCompetitorsContext

Customers• Basic need of managing the huge number of TV shows that they

view in their day to day life.• The high customization and the ease-of-use makes the app

differentiates the app.• Cloud storage, the technology of the future, is implemented for

collection storage.• Storage problem addressed by extra cloud storage space for

premium users.

Collaborators• Online database websites. E.g. IMDB and

Wikipedia• Video streaming websites. E.g. YouTube• Production houses.

Suppliers- To invest in the app with information and

content.

• Entertainment Websites e.g. The Wrap, TV GuideChannel Members- To supplement the content present in

the app.• Advertising agencies e.g. admob, inmobi• Dedicate YouTube channels e.g. Android

Authority • Social Networking Websites e.g. Facebook,

Twitter

Communication Partners- To spread information about

the app.

Company• Strategic Business Unit can be categorized in the Question Mark

part of the BCG Matrix.• There is low market share currently for the app, but the app has

high growth capability in the current scenario. • Focus on increasing market share by increasing customer base.• Key stakeholders are the production companies who stream the

episodes through the app.

CompetitorsNetflix-• One of the largest websites to stream television

content for a monthly subscription fee.• Loyal customer base due to high quality of

service and competitive pricing

TV Series App-• Highly customizable app to manage TV shows.• Contains all the relevant information of a huge

database of shows.• No episode streaming present.

Context• Entertainment is one of the sources of economy that never gets

old.• The app has to be updated regularly, to add new features to

maintain the customer base and expand it further.• With preferences changing among the new generation audience,

apps have to be designed according to their whims.• The higher the customer base, the higher the revenue generated.

Value Proposition

Customer ValueCollaborator ValueCompany Value

Customer Value• Similar suggestions based on current shows.• Connect with Facebook shows what friends and family are

viewing.• Episode streaming facility in paid version.• Extra cloud storage in paid version.• Overall, hybrid of Netflix and TV Series app, with the best of

both.

Collaborator Value• Two different ideas merged together to form a new

product.• First of its kind- chance of high growth.• Cashing in on the popularity of TV shows.• The next generation preferring these shows makes it an

investment of the future as well.

Company Value

• Personal growth in respective field.• Developers get share of the revenue generated from the

app.• Marketing team gets to make more personal contacts,

and share of the revenue as well. • Professional and economic growth of all other

stakeholders involved.

TACTICS

Product- iOS and Android• Manage TV shows.• Store the database “collection” in Google Cloud Storage by connecting

with Gmail account.• Keep audience updated with notifications, news, trailers and related

videos.• Connect with social networking sites and suggest shows based on

what their friends are watching. • Provide personal cloud storage on your own cloud and offline episode

viewing in premium version.

Service• Share about any show on social networking platforms. • Find TV series of your choice in Search.• Check/uncheck episodes already viewed and yet to be viewed. • Personalize and customize the app based on in-built themes. • Watch a glimpse of any episode in case you want to buy it from

in-app purchases.

Brand

• The Television Mission- Brand Name• Logo to depict a TV show running on your palm. It’s as simple as

that.• Slogan- “TV is love. TV is life. We understand”.• The whole brand image should strike the customer as something

that is completely dedicated to provide him with the best TV viewing experience possible.

Price• Two versions of the app- Free Version and Premium

Version.• The paid version will be priced nominally at $5, which will

be charge for the extra cloud storage.• There will be in-app purchases for every episode in the

paid version, and also combo offers if one wants to download the whole season at once.• The pricing would be lesser when compared to

competitors in order to increase customer base, and later at par with competitors once the audience is large enough.

Incentives• Two versions of the app- Free Version and Premium Version.• Only one full-episode of any TV series would be provided to the free

version users.• The premium version users would be provided with a lot of incentives.• Extra cloud storage of 5GB provided by the company to store episodes.• Offline storage of episodes within the app to view when there is no

internet connectivity.

Communication

The product will be communicated to customers mainly

through-

• Social networking websites• Online Advertising agencies• Television and print

advertising• Word of mouth• Sponsors

Distribution

• The product will exclusively be distributed through Play Store for Android.• Similarly, it will be distributed through the App Store for

the iOS users.

IMPLEMENTATION

InfrastructureA team of developers will be present to update, maintain and debug the app periodically.A team of marketing professionals to get sponsors and talk to production houses about distribution of episodes through us.An HR department looking after the recruitment and well-being of the employees.

A Finance department looking after the accounts and monetary issues of the company.

Processes• Developing the app• Talks with production houses regarding episode streaming.• Tie up with a online transaction firm for secured transactions

for purchase of episodes.• Marketing of the app on social media platforms, word of

mouth, TV and print media and online advertising agencies.• Updating the app with new features constantly, and

removing bugs.• Expanding the market share once customer base is

sufficiently large.

Schedule• Paid version to be launched after 5000 downloads of free version.• Focus on increasing customer base in the beginning using free

version.• Constant updates every week- Instrumental in reminding people

about the app in case they forget.• Episode pricing to be based on popularity of the show. Marginally

lower than competitors in order to lure their customers here.• Later, focus on increasing market share once huge customer base.

DisclaimerCreated by Amrit Dash, BITS Hyderabad, during a marketing internship by Prof. Sameer Mathur, IIM Lucknow.