A super ecosystem is rising from the East
Ecosystem is not a new word. When talking about ecosystem, most people usually link it with environmental related topics. But the ecosystem mentioned here is a different topic with a common ground with environmental ecosystem – ‘benefit to mankind’.
Coming from a marketing communication industry, the ecosystem I am going to mention will be in two points; one is ecosystem for marketers and the other is ecosystem for consumers.
Ecosystem for marketers, in my own definition, is the mixture of digital and communication strategies. Digital strategy is basically to identify the role and objective of the different digital platforms or the paid-owned-earned media. Communication strategy is to apply the big idea onto different digital platforms with relevant messages/tactics throughout the complex consumers purchasing journey in order to achieve business goals. But the focus for this article will be ecosystem for consumers.
ecosystem for consumers is one of the spotlighted topics in the last decade after Apple successfully built an“almost” non-duplicable yet profitable one consisting of devices, platforms and applications. Lots of enterprise tried duplicating Apple’s model resulting in failure with various reasons. However, there is one rising star in China that is now creating a super ecosystem that may can even surpass Apple in the next three years. It is not just a fantasy or a business plan; it is something actually happening in the Chinese society.
LeTV, the super ecosystem builder, is originally an Internet video site established in 2004 and was listed in Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2010. It is hard to believe that an Internet video site can evolve from a video platform to a super ecosystem. But LeTV has been successfully walking on the right track. It‘s super ecosystem model is “platform + content + devices + application” and in each pillar, LeTV creates its own network.
Platform includes three sub-platforms:
Technical Platform – LeCloud enables all content to travel seamlessly among the three Le devices and provides all sort of video production tools to the partners. LeBigData enables the right content push to the right audience from various device UI.
eCommerce Platform –LeStore offers full range of Le’s products supported by a mature logistics fulfillment system. LePar is an extension of LeStore as an O2O channel to serve the consumers and at the same time, it serves as a crowdsourcing center for new product development.
Finance Platform – LeFinance is going to provide financial services to the end consumers, LeTV value chain’s partner and LeTV’s subsidiaries/strategic partners.
Content is the backbone of LeTV to showcase its strong capabilities in video related content. For example, LeTV acquired Flower Picture Co., established LeTV Movie Co., sourced licensed contents, and leverage LeCloud to provide all necessary video production tools in order to consolidate extensive user-generated content in their content library. Besides video content, LeTV also invests in LeSports, LeMusic and LeRadio to meet most of the consumers’ needs for entertainment.
LeTV applies a new business model that does not aimin making money from the device itself but toprovide various value-added services and paid content to get the money out from consumers’ pockets. Starting from the “Smart Home” concept, LeTV sold the third generation Super TV in China at cost, and also launched the LeTVBox in Hong Kong for “free” with promising feedback. These actions reflected that consumers prefer to have device with minimum investment or free. From device development perspective, LeTVhas launched the LeTV 4K Super TV in September 2015 with enormous enhancement in terms of user experience of HMI, featured with the latest smart operation system “EUI 5”, built in the CP2C channel for consumers to obtain the entertainment content and services, and at the same time, offer a platform for the CP/SP (Content Provider/Service Provider) to sell relevant contents/services to the consumers supporting by LeBigData.
Minimal investment or free on the devices + paid services/contents = new ecosystem business model.
Chinese can’t live without mobile phone,andLeTV leveraged on their experience from the last two generations of LeTV Super TV to create the LeTV Super Handset. LeTV Super Handset uses the same operating system as the Super TV, is supported by the same LeTV technical infrastructure, and shares the same content library, which allows consumers to seamlessly transition from home to “on the go” and vice versa. LeCar, the Smart Car battle, is still in the conceptualization stage but by combining both the experience in hardware development and well-established technical infrastructure, an internet-based video publishing company building a car will no longer be a fantasy.
Similar to Apple, LeTV will not develop applications but create a platform, LeStore, for third party developers to develop applications. Since LeTV has built an ecosystem with a huge consumer base, developers are more than happy to join the ecosystem to provide the best applications for consumers. And in return,create sizable business.
It’s not difficult to see that the LeTV Super ecosystem is built for consumers. It is a consumer-centric ecosystem that brings benefits to the consumers, which is similar to most of the consumer products/services we are working on now as a marketers. ‘Le’ in Chinese means “happy”, a happy ecosystem is now on the way in entering to our lives. Being a consumer myself, I feel excited about it but being a marketer, how should we respond to this 21st century ecosystem hurricane?
Marketers can no doubt master well the communication ecosystem with media big data support that brings the fantasy ideas to live effectively. However, this approach is still in the form of disruptive marketing. Consumer media behavior is evolving to leader the change in consumer ecosystem, hence, consumer marketing should also move into a new generation. Conventional advertising, digital marketing, and engagement marketing are not dead but I would say these are just ‘dated’ communication mindset. Since the super ecosystem is just around the corner, being a visionary marketer, we have to start shifting our mindset and think about the process towards “ecosystem marketing”. Platform? Content? Device?Application? How marketers can blend the products and/or services into consumer ecosystem organically will definitely become a new topic for all of us in the coming three years.
Keep evolving! Keep growing!
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