CC #1: Why do some American media companies fail when expanding into Europe with Dan Willstrand
In this Clipsource Conversation, we sit down with Dan Willstrand, CEO of Clipsource, to discuss why many American companies have failed when expanding into Europe, the challenges they face and what they can do to be more successful.
Dan has a rich history working in the media industry. In addition to being a co-founder and CEO of Clipsource, he was also the co-founder and CEO of Kamera Interactive, the first streaming consultancy in the Nordics, as well as the co-founder of Strossle, the leading Native Advertising platform in Northern Europe.
Read the full transcript below.
Mattie: Hi Dan, how are you doing?
Dan: Hi Mattie, I'm fine, how are you?
Mattie: I'm good. And thanks for jumping on Zoom with me today for our first ever Clipsource Conversation. And for those of you who don't know, we will be starting a monthly series of Clipsource Conversations that will cover all topics related to TV, streaming and movie marketing. So we are really excited.
And today we'll be discussing why some American media companies fail when expanding into Europe. So, Dan, if you want to kick it off here.
Dan: Yeah. As you mentioned, we have seen quite a few American streaming companies expanding into Europe in the last two years, and some of them have been really successful like Netflix, Disney, HBO and Discovery and some of them have really struggled to get enough subscribers.
Mattie: And why do you think that is?
Dan: I think the overall answer is that Europe is so much more fragmented than the American market because you have dozens of languages, you have cultural differences between different countries, you have different legal regulations, different technical standards. And to be successful you really have to embrace those differences and deliver a product that is 100% relevant on all levels. Otherwise, the risk is that part of your target audience will actually turn to piracy sites to see the same content.
Mattie: OK. And obviously, that wouldn't be good. But I mean, if that is the case, then maybe you could explain a little bit more how you think streaming providers could make themselves more relevant. So that doesn't happen.
Dan: Yeah. I mean, the most obvious measure is to provide content in the local language, and I'm not talking only about subtitles or voiceover, but also metadata because this makes it easier to find and navigate the programs. And it can be a pretty complicated process to manage this.
But at the end of the day, you will see that consumers engage much more if you have localised your offering.
Mattie: OK. And I just wanted to loop back real quick because before, in addition to languages, you mentioned cultural differences. And I'm just wondering how you think general cultural differences would also affect relevance if you could just explain that a bit more in detail.
Dan: Yeah, cultural differences. It's a delicate matter here in Europe because you have 49 different countries, but they're all with their local flavours in terms of history, culture, religion, etc. And this has a direct impact on how you should tweak your offering for each market or at least region. Presenting content in the local language like we talked about before, is the most basic decision.
But also understanding things like which actors to highlight in marketing, for instance, because their popularity varies between different countries or what images to use as thumbnails or how you should design your ads.
Mattie: Thanks for clarifying that. So I think that makes sense to me. But then I'm also wondering about the legal regulations and technical standards. How does this complicate the process? Because it must.
Dan: It does. You know, we have the European Union. Nevertheless, a lot of legal decisions, decisions are still local.
So for instance, when it comes to a parental rating in one country, explicit content may be considered inappropriate for children under 13. Whereas in the neighbour country, the limit is seven years, and the same goes for accessibility.
There are local regulations on how streaming companies should mark their content so people with disabilities can easily understand what they can consume. And these regulations are not optional. You simply have to follow them.
Mattie: OK, and that's interesting to me because I think I always think of the European Union kind of like the US since we have all the states. But obviously parental ratings and stuff are the same in every state where it's not like that at all in Europe. So on that note, I mean, it obviously does complicate the process, and it's hard because you have to follow all the legal requirements if you want to enter each country.
Dan: Yeah, and it's not only legal. You also should follow the technical standards in local markets because formats for delivering media and metadata vary. And to give your content the best possible position and to make it discoverable, you should comply with those local standards.
Mattie: So just like thinking about all that you've said so far, it does sound complicated and probably expensive if you're going to expand like this. So I'm just thinking like just taking this all in, would you say that it's worthwhile launching a pan-European streaming service if you're maybe like a small or like a niche player in the game?
Dan: Absolutely, no doubt. I mean, we have 750 million people in Europe, so that's a huge market. But if you are a niche player, it may make sense to launch country by country and not go pan-European immediately because you need to focus your efforts on delivering on all the things we talked about before.
And that's difficult to do for, you know, 20 plus markets at the same time.
Mattie: Yeah. So just roll it out one at a time to make sure you're successful.
Dan: Absolutely, and one thing to think about this year is to streamline the adaptation process, of course.
And since I am from Clipsource, so of course interested in talking about this because we are a platform that helps media owners to comply with those local variations. And one of the things that we do is to automate the delivery of media, metadata and rights to any kind of stakeholders that you need to interact with.
Mattie: Well, great. I mean, I think that's really great advice for anyone thinking of expanding into Europe because it obviously is hard. So thanks for going over this today with me.
Dan: Oh, thank you. My pleasure.
Mattie: And I mean, I found this topic really interesting, probably because I'm an American, so I don't really know that much about it. But hopefully, other people will also find it interesting, especially if they're thinking about expanding into Europe or maybe other markets.
So, yeah, a good first Clipsource Conversation, I would say.
Dan: Absolutely. Thank you very much, Mattie.
