The C Channel platform entered the Indonesian market in late 2016 through an acquisition of PT Media Makmur

The female audience, particularly in an emerging market such as Indonesia, has always provided startups with exciting opportunities to tap into.

Japan’s C Channel is one of the online platforms that is reaching out to such audience, particularly in the lifestyle segment. The company builds a platform for one-minute, vertical how-to videos for female audiences with topics ranging from beauty, skincare, to culinary.

Founded in 2015, it is led by former CEO of LINE messaging app Akira Morikawa, who had recently visited Jakarta for a press event held by the company.

C Channel’s journey in Indonesia began in late 2016 when the company acquired PT Media Makmur, who ran online lifestyle magazine Kawaii Beauty Japan and e-commerce site for Japanese beauty products Nadeko.

In an interview with e27, C Channel Indonesia CEO Yamato Sasagawa explained why the acquisition became part of the company’s strategy to enter the Indonesian market.

“What they are doing and what we were doing are exactly the same. They are doing media with focus on video and influencers, and we were doing media with focus on articles, but we have a media team, so we know how to operate [a media business],” he says.

C Channel Indonesia claimed to have secured 2.6 million and 30 million monthly views, which contributed to its 18 million fans and 620 million monthly views globally. Ninety-eight per cent of its audiences are women aged 18-35 years old.

Make-up and cooking tutorial are the most popular topics in the platform, with contents such as how to use aloe vera for daily skin and hair care.

“I heard it’s quite common in Indonesia, to use aloe vera for skin and hair,” Sasagawa says.

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Wooing the market

 

So how does C Channel plan to win this market?

It all begins with understanding the differences between the Japanese and Indonesian audiences.

In Japan, C Channel’s main user demographic are based in cities other than metropolitans such as Tokyo, Osaka, or Kyoto. Meanwhile in Indonesia, their user demographic is still dominated by Jakarta.

“I think it’s because of the internet connection,” Sasagawa points out.

He then explained the crucial role that social media platforms played in driving traffic for platforms such as C Channel.

“When it comes to Southeast Asian countries, the concept of distributed media is key to answer the problem of internet connection,” Sasagawa explains.

“In Indonesia, there is already Facebook Free Plan, so instead of downloading our app, we let our customers to discover our videos,” he adds.

As in other markets, Indonesia has also been seeing ongoing trend of online media accepting user-generated content (UGC), as with the case of platforms such as Kumparan.

While C Channel currently has no plan to embrace this trend, Sasagawa hinted about introducing simple Q&A feature for users to interact with influencers.

Next step: Video-commerce

 

In Indonesia, C Channel is currently run by a team of 30 people, with half of the team members allocated for video production.

The company already has global brands such as Revlon, Kose, Shiseido, and Lotte as their partners, and is currently planning to move into a new four-story building.

The building will include an office and a studio for video production, and it will also include a space to host events with influencers and users.

C Channel aims to develop a strong community of influencers and users; this will be an integral part of their long-term plan to introduce video-commerce into its Indonesian audiences.

“Of course, we would have to produce good videos first, and have optimal engagement with users. After that we are looking for the timing to enter the video-commerce sector,” Sasagawa says.

The company is also looking forward to add drama series to its platform, which is already a popular content type in Japan.

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Image Credit: C Channel

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