Global Marketing News – 24th September 2015
Paramount Pictures makes entry into lucrative Chinese video market
Paramount Pictures has entered into a partnership with the Chinese video platform Youku Tudou.
Youku Tudou is the most popular online video platform in China, with around 500 million monthly active users.
The partnership means that over 100 Paramount Pictures films, including Star Trek, Mission Impossible and Transformers, will be available on Youku Tudou.
A spokesperson from Youku Tudou commented on the partnership, saying: “With top branded content such as Paramount Picture’s array of films, our commitment to enhancing our subscription services to create a premium experience and drive consumer-based revenue continues in earnest.”
Youku Tudou now has over 4,000 foreign and domestic films in its library.
The online video market is hotting up in China at the moment.
Earlier this year, Baidu-owned iQiyi announced plans to acquire 1,000 Hollywood titles to add to its collection.
The ecommerce company Alibaba has also announced the launch of its own online video streaming service, Tmall Box Office, with international giant Netflix also set to enter the market later this year.
Naver enters global cloud-based B2B software market
The Korean search giant Naver is stepping up its efforts to compete with the likes of Microsoft in the global cloud-based B2B software market.
From next month, it will start charging for its Naver Works service, which has provided businesses with web office, email and online calendar services for free for the last year.
It has also updated its B2B app, called One App, to include voice-over-IP capabilities, allowing businesses to make calls wherever there is a wireless internet connection.
It is also taking steps to capture the lucrative Japanese B2B market, having established a subsidiary in the country earlier this year.
Naver has also said it will invest 100 billion won, equivalent to around 85 million US dollars, in its advanced hardware business.
Iran ramps up internet censorship
Reporters Without Borders has criticised the Iranian government for its increasingly strict censorship of websites and mobile apps in the country.
The Iranian government has been implementing so-called “Intelligent Filtering” to limit or stop traffic to websites and apps that it deems “immoral”.
Reporters Without Borders have said that the censorship goes far beyond content that could reasonably be considered “immoral”, however.
For example, the social messaging apps WhatsApp, WeChat, Viber, Telegram and Tango have all been “Intelligently Filtered”.
It has also been reported that websites about women’s rights, human rights, religion and politics have fallen victim to “Intelligent Filtering”.
Reporters Without Borders also accuses Iran of blocking access to content that criticises the regime, but the Iranian government insists it only wants to “protect society from immoral harm”.
Research uncovers ecommerce market in the Middle East
Payfort has released new research into the ecommerce market in the Middle East.
The Arab ecommerce market is worth an estimated 7 billion US dollars, with the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt being the three top countries in terms of the amount of money spent.
The report also revealed distinct seasonal and demographic trends. Ecommerce was most popular during November and December, and males aged 26-35 were the most likely to buy online.
The gender imbalance was most pronounced in Egypt, where almost 80% of online shoppers were men.
Egypt also had the strongest age imbalance, were shoppers aged between 26 and 35 accounted for a whopping 50% of all online shoppers.
Plane tickets, electronics and clothes were the most popular items to be bought online.
Online retail sites are increasingly turning to social media in order to boost their reach and attract shoppers. Facebook was the most popular social platform for ecommerce brands, with Instagram and Twitter taking second and third place respectively.
Finnish postal service tests delivery drones
And finally, the Finnish postal service Posti Group has tested parcel delivery by drone.
Over 4 days, it transported parcels weighing up to 3kg, flying distances up to 5 miles.
There were some issues, such as the first test flight ending up landing some distance away from the intended landing site due to winds.
Posti Group estimates it will take a couple more years until the technology is perfected.
It hopes that the use of drones for parcel delivery will eventually improve delivery times for ecommerce purchases.
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