It& #39;s official. Quibi is dead. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😢" title="Weinendes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Weinendes Gesicht"> Pandemic woes? I don& #39;t think so... mobile video consumption increased 38% in March. So what happened?!

Let& #39;s take a look at why TikTok& #39;s brand of mobile video is on fire https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🔥" title="Feuer" aria-label="Emoji: Feuer">, and Quibi faltered... https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇🏽" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten (mittlerer Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten (mittlerer Hautton)">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇🏽" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten (mittlerer Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten (mittlerer Hautton)">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇🏽" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten (mittlerer Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten (mittlerer Hautton)">
1/ TikTok and Quibi sought to win the same battle... reinvent video for mobile. We don& #39;t often get to A/B test strategy, but this is a natural experiment with lots of lessons.
2/ Quibi seems like the perfect formula—Hollywood quality in a snackable package. The "snackable video" strategy is baked into the name. Quibi was short for "quick bites".
3/ But Quibi missed an important point.

Snacks aren& #39;t fun because they& #39;re quick. Snacks are fun because they& #39;re shareable.

The defining feature of mobile isn& #39;t size and portability--it& #39;s connectivity.
4/ Hollywood has mastered a classic formula that held true in the days when screens weren& #39;t interactive and connected. Today, the formula has changed.
5/ On mobile, entertainment value is the byproduct of production value and social value.

Social value is determined by the level of connection the viewer has with the content — because of who shared it or created it.
6/ Production value measures the "objective" level of quality of a piece of content. All things being equal, people enjoy higher production value content more than lower production value content.

But, all things are not equal...
7/ People enjoy content differently based on who is creating or sharing it.
8/ There have been successful products at various points along the social value/production value curve, and many failures that have fallen short.
9/ Snapchat is at one end of the spectrum. Their AR lenses offer tools for anyone to be able to create fun content. Your friend& #39;s baby face isn& #39;t going to win any Emmys, but it will make you laugh. The production value is low, but the social value is very high.
10/ The production value of Netflix shows is very high—so high only a handful of elite Hollywood content creators are able to achieve Netflix& #39;s bar for production value.

To an extent, Netflix is also a social experience, its shows are so good they drive word of mouth sharing.
11/ The curve represents a minimum combination of social and production value necessary to achieve product/viewer fit, but some content exists way above the curve.

Game of Thrones, Tiger King and DoggFace208& #39;s cranberry set a high watermark for their platforms.
12/ Quibi added format, length, and viewing constraints that made it harder to compete with the production value of Netflix, but didn& #39;t supplement with increased social value.

Quibi made the mistake of thinking people want "short", but they really want "shareable and social".
13/ On the other hand, TikTok’s design takes a clear stance—snackable media is social media.

The right rail of TikTok is dedicated to the social interactions vital to the app’s experience: following creators, reacting, commenting, sharing, and mimicking the current video.
14/ TikTok& #39;s flywheel has a compounding effect — by blurring the line between creator and consumer, TikTok& #39;s algorithm taps into an ever expanding universe of videos to recommend.

Every day, TikTok delivers better content to their viewers and more motivation to their creators.
15/ Quibi& #39;s fate wasn& #39;t written in stone — they have significant advantages which could be turned into a high growth product. But, it requires a different form of thinking.
16/ Quibi thought about itself as a film studio.

The company needed to think about itself as a social network.
17/ Check out "The Entertainment Value Curve: Why TikTok is On Fire https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🔥" title="Feuer" aria-label="Emoji: Feuer"> and Quibi Isn’t" on @reforge for a deeper dive into the strategic lessons that will shape the future of social and entertainment. https://www.reforge.com/blog/entertainment-value-curve">https://www.reforge.com/blog/ente...
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