Is Netflix Getting Its Pricing Right For The MENA region?
Is Netflix Getting Its Pricing Right For The MENA region?
And what's their positioning compared to the local streamers.
Hey streamers 👋
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Today’s program
Today, I’m looking at how pricing strategies adapt to local needs, with a spotlight on the leading global player: Netflix.
Netflix Plans & Pricing in US & Europe
Netflix Plans & Pricing in MENA
So What?
And… Action!
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Netflix Plans & Pricing in US & Europe
Before looking at Netflix's pricing in MENA, let's first examine their strategy in the US and Europe as a point of reference.
Netflix offers today 3 main packages in the US:
The entry plan is the Standard with ads and it will cost you $6.99 /month
The Standard plan is at $15.49 /month
The Premium plan is at $22.99 /month
Subscribers of the Standard & Premium can add extra member slots for $7.99 each per month. Yes, this is how they cracked password sharing.
What’s important to note it that the Basic plan is no longer available for new members.
You can see below the details of the 3 packages, with all the features available for each plan:
Netflix plans are very similar in Europe. Let’s have a look at 3 countries, UK, France 7 German:
UK
Standard with ads: £4.99 /month
Standard: £10.99 /month
Premium: £17.99 /month
Extra member slots for Standard and Premium can be added for £4.99 each per month
France
Standard with ads: 5.99€ /month
Standard: 13.49€ /month
Premium: 19.99€ /month
Extra member slots can be added for 5.99€ each per month
Germany
Standard with ads: 4.99€ /month
Standard: 13.99€ /month
Premium: 19.99€ /month
Extra member slots can be added for 4.99€ each per month
Now that you better understand Netflix pricing in US & Europe, let’s have a look at their strategy in Middle East & North Africa.
Netflix Plans & Pricing in MENA
Netflix is available in almost 20 countries of the MENA region, from Morocco to Oman.
What do they have in common? The plans.
The major difference compared to US & Europe is that there is no Standard with ads plan yet, and the Basic plan still exists. There is also no option to add extra member slots.
Let’s now have a look at the pricing.
As you can see in the graph below, Netflix decided to split the region in 3 main groups;
Egypt, Turkey & Morocco
Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Yemen
Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia
For comparison, the basic plan in Egypt (70 EGP/month = 1.46 USD) accounts for 17% of the basic plan in Saudi Arabia (32 SAR/month = $8.53), 18.5% of the basic plan in the UAE (29 AED/month = 7.9 USD), or 42% of the basic plan in Morocco (Basic: 35 MAD /month = 3.48 USD/month).
While there's a closer alignment in prices for the Standard and Premium plans, differences in pricing still exist.
And as seen above, this difference are far less pronounced between European countries.
So What?
In the streaming industry, it's common to divide the MENA region into three subregions:
GCC: The Gulf Cooperation Council is a regional, intergovernmental, political, and economic union including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Levant: The Levant is an approximate historical geographical term including Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Palestines.
Maghreb: The Maghreb is the western part of the Arab world, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia.
When it comes to content strategies, targeting these subregions could be effective for streaming services. However, considering the cultural nuances and purchasing power of each country, pricing should be tailored at a country level.
I believe Netflix initially launched in MENA with the same pricing across all the countries. Having today very different pricing among the countries demonstrates a much better understanding of the region.
However, there's a lesson to be learned from local streamers. The leading local streaming platforms like OSN+, Shahid, TOD or STARZPLAY not only implement diverse pricing strategies across subregions and countries, but some also offer unique plans in specific countries:
Shahid offers Shahid VIP Mobile in Egypt
TOD mobile is 4 times cheaper in Egypt compared to UAE
OSN offers a unique Standard plan in Egypt
If you want to learn more about the pricing strategies of international and local streaming services in the MENA region, I recently conducted a comprehensive analysis in collaboration with Ipsos. Feel free to reach out to me by replying to this email if you'd like more details.
That’s all for today, the plans & pricing strategy of Netflix in the MENA region. If you enjoyed this breakdown, please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues!
I hope everyone has a great week, see you online next Monday. Until then, enjoy RIPLEY on Netflix. A grifter named Ripley living in New York during the 1960s is hired by a wealthy man to bring his vagabond son home from Italy.
The Streaming Lab is a weekly newsletter exploring the trends that matter to streaming professionals in the MENA region. If you are not already a subscriber, sign up and receive it directly in your inbox every Monday.
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