MTV originated from the U.S. as a teen entertainment TV station. MTV Networks International has millions of viewers in more than 140 countries across the world. The broadcasting company majors in promoting different types of music by musicians in the U.S. and European nations. MTV also offers its viewers some local news, and it acts as an advertising avenue for companies across the world. The company’s core business activity is entertaining the youth, and it particularly targets youths at the age of 18-24 years. MTV broadcasts new songs from different artists working on different music genres across the world. The company has particularly succeeded in promoting the development of pop music in the U.S. and Europe. MTV is currently among the popular music channels in the world.
Mission & Vision
MTV’s mission statement highlights its course to own the youths across the world in terms of influencing their taste in music. The company strives to become an influential force in the type of music that people prefer. MTV actualises this by providing the youth with music from the best artists in different genres. The company also keeps updating its viewers about changes in the music industry by providing charts that highlight the best artists and songs in different genres. MTV’s mission statement also highlights its objective to influence fashion among the youth. The company offers advertisement channels for fashion trends in different parts of the world; thus, compelling youths to purchase specific kinds of clothes. MTV’s vision is to become a leading entertainment company in the world and to helping the promotion of different brands and talents. The company is quite competitive in its industry, and the management strives to realise its mission and vision.
Strategy Choices
MTV’s business strategy involves targeting a specific group of youths between the ages of 18 and 24. The company’s entertainment and advertising activities focus on influencing the trends assumed by this group of youths in terms of tastes in music and fashion. As revealed by its mission statement, the company looks to control the youth in their taste in music and fashion; hence, it has invested in broadcasting trending music, and it showcases new talents in different music industries. The company’ slogan is to “think globally and act locally” and it entails providing its viewers from different parts of the world with entertainment platforms that showcase local talent while promoting global trends. MTV changed its business strategy in the 1990s after experiencing stiff competition from companies in Europe, which focused on providing individual nations with channels focusing on their music and culture. NTV started broadcasting national stations in Europe to enhance its competition, and the strategy has paid off as intended.
SWOT Analysis
The main strength of the company is its popularity in the United States and European nations. MTV was the first music entertainment in the U.S. and Europe, and this has placed it in a high level of the competition bar in the industry. It has millions of viewers across the world, and its ability to provide them with local entertainment with mixes of international music keeps the viewers loyal to its TV stations. One of MTV’s weaknesses is its rigid consumer base target. The company only targets youths between 18 and 24 years, which makes it irrelevant to other age groups. This weakness provides a unique opportunity for the company to target other age groups and increase its viewers subsequently. The company also has an opportunity to increase its national TV stations in the developing nations in other continents including Asia and Africa. Threats to the MTV Company appear in the form of specialised competitors like VIVA in Germany. The competing companies offer special entertainment in their respective nations, covering local music exclusively. Online digital technology also threatens to take over the entertainment industry in music through innovative ideas like the iTunes and YouTube, which are gaining popularity by the day.
Strategy Implementation
Technology and innovation are the main tools used in the station to enhance its competitiveness in the entertainment industry. MTV’s strategy in targeting youths is effective because of the national TV stations it developed in the 1990s. The stations have not only enabled the company to capture more viewers across the world, but it has also enabled MTV to raise the competitive bar in the industry. The management function in the company is quite effective in making the appropriate decisions in strategy implementation; hence, MTV remains at the top of the popularity list in the entertainment industry.
Strategy Evaluation & Recommendations
MTV’s viewer targeting strategy leaves out a big population of potential viewers; thus, the company should look into developing entertainment shows for other age groups. The digital compression strategy has effectively enabled the company to implement its slogan in different nations across the world. Providing content focused on the local developments in different nations attracts more viewers. MTV should look into developing more stations that provide content for younger and older youths. The company should also enhance its marketing strategy to cover local trends rather than selling the American and European cultures exclusively.