This is what plays at Videoland RTL Netherlands’ marketing strategy in a changing media industry

With Netflix entering the Dutch market and the increasing popularity of VOD services, RTL Netherlands had to adjust its strategy to stay relevant in the changing media industry. By acquiring the rights to a fairly new streaming service called Videoland, RTL Netherlands was able to develop its digital activities in such a way that within a few years it became the largest Dutch VOD service and the second-largest streaming service in the Netherlands behind Netflix. Achieving this position for Videoland was accompanied by the application of many strategic changes from RTL Netherlands, which ultimately led to the success of Videoland. This thesis aimed to find out which changes RTL Netherlands has implemented in order to achieve this success in the VOD market. This was done by using the following research question: “Which strategic shifts has RTL Netherlands applied to Videoland to respond to the changing media industry?”. To answer this question, a media industry studies approach was applied to publicly available secondary data from sources including press articles, press releases, strategy documents, and trade and popular press interviews regarding Videoland and were analysed by conducting a thematic content analysis. The analysis led to the following themes in the data: VOD-focused, content, binge-watching, consumer-focused, and new talent. The themes revealed the different ways in which Videoland has adapted its marketing strategy over the years. One of the first changes in Videoland its strategy was shifting its focus toward VOD activities. It made several changes to strengthen its position as a VOD service and collaborated with other Dutch media companies to gain an even stronger position to be able to compete with international streaming services. Additionally, Videoland improved its content by adding local stories and creating its own Videoland Originals to strengthen the connection with its viewers and attract new viewers to the platform. While Videoland became more successful, the time spent consuming content by audiences also increased. Videoland reacted to this by including more references to binge-watching in its communication and releasing multiple episodes at once. Finally, Videoland also focused on providing opportunities for new talent in the industry. These changes show that Videoland has adapted its marketing strategy to both the local and global trends that are happening at the moment.