Problem Statement:
What is YouTube Premium?
You are a product manager on the subscriptions team
YouTube Premium is a subscription offering
of YouTube Premium. Increase the number of subscribers
from YouTube which includes -
for YouTube Premium.
YouTube Statistics
2.6
$30
80 million
billion
billion
premium
MAU revenue subscribers
Out of 2.6 Billion
YouTube Premium
Only 3% of premium users
users, only 80 million
contributes to around
contribute to around 15%
Some
are premium subscribers.
15% of YouTube’s
of YouTube’s total
Interesting
That represents just
total revenue. revenue!
3% of total users.
Facts
Primary Research
Conducted survey among people from age groups 18-55.
nsights derived from primary research,
The survey received 50 responses. An interview
secondary research and user interviews.
was conducted with 11 people. (Link)
More than 95% of those
Long ads frustrate the users
86% of the
people said that they
respondents had never
never felt the need or
Ex isting features of YouTube Premium, along
used YouTube Premium. the motivation to pay
removal of ads is not convinving the users
for YouTube Premium. to pay for premium subscription
Users resort to ad-blockers and third-party
Secondary Research applications to watch ad-free
Real Research conducted a survey among 250,000 people
from across the word (Link). O n YouTube, creators create and upload for
for free and viewers watch for free. Its value
Respondents were not
impressed by the
Viewers would like to
proposition is provding free access to diverse
original content on
see more diverse
video content. Hence monetization of users
YouTube Premium. original content. is difficult for YouTube
U sers want better, exclusive content to pay
52.40% are unhappy to
nly 12.51% users
for the subscription. However, the current
pay additionally to watch
O
selection of Originals (exclusive content) is
movies despite being a
prefer YouTube Premiu m
premium subscriber. over other platforms. not diverse or compelling enough.
User Personas Redefining the problem.
YouTube’s value proposition of free access to millions of
hours of video content has democratized the distribution
Shanaya, 25 years, MBA Student,
of video content, but it has also created a challenge
Mumbai. in convincing users to pay for premium membership. The
Shanaya has a passion for business
availability of free content has made it difficult for
and entrepreneurship. She often uses
YouTube to differentiate its premium offering. The users
YouTube for study related and financial
are simply not convinced to pay for premium
concepts. membership.
Goals Pain-Points
Learn new concept Struggles with ad Why to solve this problem now?
Stay Productive Doesn’t find Premium
The video streaming market is highly competitive with so
worth its price. many players vying for the attention of users. Solving
this problem now will greatly increase YouTube’s revenue
Zeeshan, 34 years, Product
and is important for long-term success of the platform in
Manager, Bangalore. the video streaming industry.
Zeeshan is an experienced PM. He
works for a well funded startup. He
Business Impact.
uses YouTube mainly for entertainment. YouTube’s revenue from premium is directly proportional
to number of premium subscribers. Increase in number of
Goals Pain-Points subscribers will lead to increase in revenue.
Watch quality conten Quality content
Refresh himself not availabl I mpact on the user.
Has to pay for movies U sers will get access to exclusive and better content which
will improve the User Experience.
Proposed Solutions
Verified Profiles
Why might this solution fail? RIE Score
Clara Johnson
Although “Verified Profiles” provides
RIE framework is used to
benefits such as verified ticks,
prioritize the solution. It consists
All existing YouTube Premium
highlighted comments, exclusive
of Reach, Impact and Ease of Use.
features such as ad-free content,
events and merchandise; it primarily
We are ignoring the engineering
background play, offline viewing,
leverages social comparison bias to
efforts as we are provided with
etc entice users to purchase premium
subscription. Social comparison bias
infinite tech bandwidth to
Verified tick on profiles
Highlighted comments works well in case of platforms like
implement our solution.
Exclusive events Instagram were almost every user is
Exclusive merchandise. a content creator. However, on
Score = Reach*Impact*Ease of Use
YouTube, there are relatively few
content creators compared to content
Reach = 4
Psychology 101 consumers. Thus, “Verified Profiles”
Impact = 2
Social comparison bias is a
may still not make the users motivated
Ease of Use = 5
phenomenon where users compare
enough to purchase the premium
Score = 40
themselves to others, often
subscription.
driven by the need for social
validation.
Proposed Solutions
2. StreamPRO Psychology 101
Greater perceived value
RIE Score
StreamPRO phenomenon refers to the situation
where the consumers perceive a
RIE framework is used to
product/service to be of higher
prioritize the solution. It consists
value than its price of Reach, Impact and Ease of Use.
StreamPRO will be a standalone
Amazon uses this phenomenon to
We are ignoring the engineering
application, under the ownership
bundle together benefits such as
efforts as we are provided with
of YouTube, but completely
exclusive content, free & fast
infinite tech bandwidth to
independent of its branding delivery, exclusive access to deals
implement our solution.
It will contain Originals (exclusive)
on its prime day event, etc. thus
content and movies increasing the perceived value of
StreamPRO subscribers will still
its prime subscription Score = Reach*Impact*Ease of Use
get access to all the premium
Through StreamPRO, we can
Reach = 3
features such as ad-free viewing,
leverage this phenomenon by
offline viewing, background play,
bundling Originals, movies, all the
Impact = 4
etc. on the regular YouTube app premium features on the regular
Ease of Use = 4
As StreamPRO will be independent
YouTube app, YouTube Music, etc.
Score = 48
from the YouTube branding, it will
thus increasing the perceived value
be free from the obligation of free
of the StreamPRO subscription.
content and can monetize well.
Introducing StreamPRO!
2 Step 1:
Users will download the StreamPRO app from the play store or
Originals See all
the app store.
2. Then the users will log in with their Google account and
purchase the premium subscription.
3. On opening the app,
a.) A splash screen will appear. Then the Home screen will
appear.
Categories
b.) The Home screen is divided into 3 main sections.
StreamPRO See all
i: Originals - This will contain all the exclusive Originals
Action Comedy Romance Sad Horror Sports web-series and shows. New content will be added regularly
Movies so that the users never get bored.
ii: Movies - This section will contain all the movies available
See all
on the StreamPRO platform and will be made available to the
users at no extra cost unlike the existing YouTube premium
subscriptin wherein you have to pay extra for the movies.
Fast & Furious 9
Action 5/10
Resort to Love
Romance 7/10
iii: Categories - In this section, users can filter through
Watch now Watch now
categories and all the content(web-series & movies) will be
shown to them of that category.
4. Users can also search by name, access downloaded content
and access their profile through the bottom bar.
Introducing StreamPRO!
“Fast & Furious 9” Step 2:
5. Suppose the user clicks on “Fast
& Furious 9” from the ‘Movies’
Fast & Furious 9 section.
Type Action a.) The user will be taken to
Language English
movie detail page.
Published
Rating
2021
5/10 b.) The movie detail page is also
Duration [Link] 0:00 divided into 3 sections.
Speed (1x) Lock Audio & Subtitles i: Poster & Stats - This section
contains the movie poster &
Like Dislike
Overview See All Why will StreamPRO work as a solution? basic information. It also has
After the events of the first part begin,
Fate of the Furious, he decides to take
New Originals content, movies and licensed 3rd-party
the option to like/dislike.
help from Jacob, Dom's brother, to
implement a plan to implement a
content will keep getting added on StreamPRO. This
ii: Overview - It contains a
plan of revenge. solves the problem of “Not having enough, diverse,
brief overview about the movie.
Actors See All
exclusive & quality content on YouTube Premium” iii: Actors - This section contains
As StreamPRO will be independent of YouTube app, it can
all the actors from the movie.
easily monetize users. This solves the problem of “Why do
6. The users can download the movie
I pay for YouTube when it is supposed to provide free content or click on ‘Watch now’.
Through StreamPRO subscription, users still get all the
Watch now premium benefits on YouTube thus increasing the perceived
value of the subscription.
Key Success Metrics
North Star Metric = Number of Subscribers
Awareness
Adoption
Engagement
Retention
Business
Health
metrics metrics metrics metrics metrics metrics
Customer
Uptime
Acquisition
Number of
Weekly Active
Churn rate Cost (CAC) Latency
downloads Users (WAU) Average
Customer
session
Number of
Lifetime
Number of
Monthly Active
Streaming
time. renewed
Value (CLV)
unique
Users (MAU). Quality
subscriptions. Average
visitors.
Revenue Per
Error rates.
User (ARPU).
Second-order
What could possibly
How can we mitigate
consequences
go wrong? these risks?
Increased Revenue: If the
new app is successful, it
can greatly increase
YouTube can collaborate
YouTube’s overall revenue.
StreamPRO does not
with famous content
gain enough traction. creators on YouTube to
Competition with YouTube’s
promote StreamPRO. own free content: The new
app could reduce viewership
of free content which can
StreamPRO should heavily
reduce YouTube’s
invest in creating Originals
revenue from ads.
Users churn away
content, bringing movies &
after trying
licensed content to the
User segmentation: The new
StreamPRO. platform to keep the users
app could segment YouTube
interested & hooked
users into two, i.e., free-
onto the app. viewers & those willing to
pay, thus affecting YouTube’s
strategy.
