Rocky Road
IPTV Providers in Need of a Sophisticated Marketing Concept for Market Success
IPTV stands for soaring expectations of new markets and revenue potential, turnover stabilizations, and an end to the price erosions in the classical fixed network busi-ness. But many have come crashing back to earth since the market introduction of products in this sector. What is to be done when the product does not sell itself? A marketing concept designed for the long haul determines the decisive parameters.
The television of the future – this was the euphoric announcement of IPTV, television over Internet protocol. So why are customers so obviously hesitant to take advantage of IPTV services and products? A look at the general competitive situation confronting IPTV products is revealing.
Struggling to Make the Distinction
In Germany, IPTV services are no more than an additional television product which is distributed via a new TV distribution platform and takes its place alongside CATV, satellite, and DVB-T. As a rule, a package of channels covered by monthly fees is marketed in combination with various additional services and functions via the IPTV platforms – between 60 and 120 channels, depending on the provider and product variants. But this range of channels is available from the other distribution channels as well and in some cases, such as digital CATV and satellite, is even broader. In comparison with other countries, Germany enjoys a tremendous range of channels available on free TV. Virtually no other country has so many public and private channels which can be viewed free of charge and which have such a broadcasting reach (S. Dieter / Dr. D. Schrameyer, IPTV – Über Internet anders fernsehen?! Mehrwert oder nur mehr Kosten? LfM-Technik Volume 7, January 2008, p. 22).
As a consequence, this product component constitutes nothing more than a commodity. The situation is similar for the pay TV packages which can be bought in addition and which are available via the established platforms in much the same way. Quite simply, potential customers already have a wide choice via these platforms, whether analog or digital. The market has been divided up, and the competition is merciless.Remaining elements which IPTV products could use as unique selling points are the so-called additional services and features such as time-shift television, video on demand function, TV archives, digital video recorders, or electronic program guides. This gives rise to two questions: first, the relevance of these features from the customer perspective, and second, familiarity. Presumably many of the potential customers have never tried out these features in the integrated form available with IPTV.
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