We’re all familiar with them. The pioneer of online streaming services, the originators and inventors of binge watching. Netflix, a company that started as a DVD-by-mail service in the US has now grown to a global enterprise with over 100 million subscribers. Not only has their online subscription service become one of the top ways to consume TV shows and movies, but they also produce original content. This has led to the creation of award winning series that have dominated our hearts and minds over the past few years, such as Stranger Things, GLOW and Big Mouth to name a few.
So the question is, how? How did a company who started where Netflix did grow to become the giant that they are today? The answer is simple: a clearly defined essence statement that governs everything they do.
An essence statement is the heart and soul of your business. It should be a phrase that sums up why your business does what it does. To create an impactful and successful essence statement, it’s crucial to understand the difference between what you do, and why you do it. Think about the fundamental attributes of your business, the products or service that you offer. That is what you do. But your essence statement is so much more than that. This statement is crafted off of why you do it, what your company’s purpose is. It describes the intangible quality of your business that consumers resonate with, the quality that keeps them coming back.
Escape from Reality.
Netflix’s essence statement: Escape from reality. As a company, they strive to create and provide content that is so emotionally and mentally captivating that it disconnects a user from their everyday life, and submerses them into a new reality. Netflix’s library of content was built and continues to expand so that it includes only content that has the power to do so. And so was born the phenomenon of binge watching.
We’re all guilty of it. Watching a whole show series in a day. Seeing the “Are You Still Watching?” notification, and clicking “Yes” with no shame (well… maybe a little shame). And the reason we do it? Because we can’t stand to stop watching, carry on with our everyday life, and have to wait to see how Mike and his crew will defeat the aliens without Elle.
Netflix’s essence statement defines everything they do, every piece of content that they stream, but most importantly why they do so. They strive to provide only the best content, that not only attracts us, but mesmerizes us. That captivates and enthralls us. That has the power to take us away from anything we’re dealing with, and unites us with remarkable storylines. The kind of feeling they evoke through their content is intangible, and that’s what keeps us subscribing.