Singapore: HOOQ – the Video on Demand service in Southeast Asia – is making several simultaneous, bold plays in Indonesia to extend its leadership position in Southeast Asia’s most important market. With these moves, all Indonesians can now watch their favourite local free-to-air channels for free on HOOQ across multiple devices and access HOOQ’s premium layer now from as low as as US$ 0.25 per day to watch the latest Hollywood series like Supergirl, The Flash and Krypton, all same day as the U.S.!
1-Day Sachet: A New Payments Model for every Indonesian Consumer
In an unprecedented move 2 years ago, HOOQ introduced 1-week sachet pricing to cater to customer demands and is now introducing an even lower access price point with a 1-day sachet at 15-25 cents (USD) (depending on geography) to drive affordability and accessibility to hundreds of millions across Indonesia and Asia. This daily pricing was conceptualised in response to the consumption patterns in HOOQ territories where consumers purchase household essentials like shampoo and detergent in single-use sachets. This is in line with claims by market analyst Euromonitor that over 70 per cent of all shampoo in Asia is now sold in sachets. At the same time, we see the same behaviour with mobile data consumption in Southeast Asia’s predominantly pre-paid mobile market where up to 80 per cent of the population prefers to top up credit on a daily or weekly basis instead of subscribing to a post-paid mobile plan.
Freemium service with FTA linear channels for free:
Free-to-air TV is still highly compelling for Southeast Asian families, particularly with Indonesia seeing over 90 per cent household penetration rate. But with most households having just 1 TV and many Indonesians ‘on the go’, making free-to-air TV accessible is a challenge. Responding to consumer habits, HOOQ is now bringing in-country free-to-air channels onto its platform as a free layer for its customers. Indonesians can now choose to stream their favourite local channels live including Kompas TV, RTV, Metro TV, JAK TV, RCTI, MNCTV and Global TV, all on the go without being restricted to a TV set. Live TV is part of HOOQ’s enhanced freemium layer, which allows for anyone to not only stream free-to-air channels but also watch the first episode of all HOOQ local and Hollywood TV series at no cost. HOOQ’s Live TV feature has launched first in Indonesia with the rest of Southeast Asia coming soon.
“From the day we started HOOQ, we knew the traditional ‘monthly subscription’ model was not well suited to the markets of Southeast Asia. It limits reach and the ability to offeragreat video experience to the entire base in countries like Indonesia. People don’t always have money to spare, but still want entertainment. Moreover, many millions purchase everything from shampoo to coffee to mobile internet services in tiny ‘sachet’ increments – often less than US$0.30 per transaction. In one bold move, we are helping to solve a major impediment for people in Indonesia. The introduction of the daily access gives tens of millions of customers the power to decide when and where they want to be entertained – with access to premium content they have never had before”, said CEO, Peter Bithos.
All of these offerings are over and above the platform’s already successful features, including SVOD (subscription video-on-demand), TVOD (transactional video-on-demand), freemium layer and weekly sachets; giving customers access to the latest Hollywood TV series same day as the U.S. telecast such as Supergirl, Krypton, The Oath and Carter as well as movies like Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Justice League and others to HOOQ as early as 90 days after theatrical release. HOOQ has thus gone even further to address the ever-evolving consumer entertainment consumption pattern in Asia, while remaining relevant and ensuring that customers’ needs are always met.
