INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
It takes either audacious self-confidence or reckless hubris to build a completely asocial video app in 2020
Quibi manages to miss every trend and tactic that could help make its app popular
The company seems to believe it can succeed on only its content (mediocre) and marketing dollars (fewer than it needs).I appreciate that
Quibi is doing something audaciously different than most startups
Rather than iterating toward product-market fit, it spent a fortune developing its slick app and buying fancy content in secret so it could
permeated every entertainment medium
vacuum of space.In that sense, Quibi is the inverse of TikTok, which feels fiercely alive
TikTok is designed to immediately immerse you in crowd-vetted content that grabs your attention and inspires you to spread your take on it
a breakdown of the major missteps by Quibi, why TikTok does it better and how this new streaming app can get with the times.What Hollywood
thinks we wantQuibi feels like some off-brand cable channel, with a mix of convoluted reality shows, scripted dramas and news briefs
Imagine MTV at noon in the mid-2000s
from makeover programs to happen 4X per episode
of TV writers being told they have 10 seconds to come up with an idea
ever asking prospective users what they need
Bandersnatch-style interactive content so far, nor are the creators doing anything special with the six to 10-minute format
The shows feel more like condensed TV programs with episodes ending when there would be a commercial break
Instead of what Hollywood thinks we want, its content comes straight from its consumers
People record what they think would make them and their friends laugh, surprised or enticed
The result is that with low to zero production budget, random kids and influencers alike make things with millions of Likes
No niche is too small.TikTok screenshotsThe Fix: Quibi should take a hint from Brat TV, the Disney Channel for the YouTube generation that
gives tween social media stars their own premium shows about being a grade school kid to create content with a built-in fan base
Fund creators that will differentiate Quibi by making it look like anything other than daytime TV
And ask users directly what they want to see right when they download the app.No screenshotsThis is frankly insane
Screenshots of Quibi appear as a blank black screen
Yes, other mobile streaming apps like Netflix and Disney+ also block screenshots, but they have web versions where you can snap and share
Quibi never should have structured its deals to license content from producers in a way that prevented any way to riff on or even let
It has spawned TikTok compilations on YouTube, and a whole culture of remixing that expands and prolongs the popularity of trending jokes
and dances.The Fix: Quibi should allow screenshots
If its deals prohibit that, then it should offer pre-approved screenshots and video clips/trailers of each episode that you can download and
Think of it like an in-app press kit
Ever noticed how movie trailers now often start with a fast-forward collage of their most eye-catching scenes? Quibi seems intent on
communicating prestige with its slow-building dramas like The Most Dangerous Game and Survive, which both had me bored and fast-forwarding
While on the go, where it was designed to be consumed, slow pacing could push users with a minute or two to spare to open Instagram or
TikTok instead.None of this is helped by Quibi not auto-playing a trailer or the first episode the moment you scroll past a show on the home
Instead, you see a static title card for two seconds before it starts playing you an excerpt of the program
That makes it more cumbersome to discover new shows.Where TikTok wins is in immediacy
They grab you in the first second with smiles, costumes, bold captions or crazy situations
Plus, you know that you can score a dopamine hit of joy even if you only have 30 seconds
TikTok makes Quick Bites feel like an understaffed sit-down restaurant.The Fix: Quibi needs to teach creators to hook viewers instantly by
previewing why they should want to watch
Otherwise, Quibi needs a button to view a trailer from its buried dedicated show pages to the preview card most people interact with on the
Otherwise, users may never discover what Quibi shows resonate with them and teach it which to show and make more of.Anti-social video
clubQuibi neglects all its second-screen potential
watching or see your recommendations
No leaderboards of top shows
Certainly no time-stamped, live-stream style crowd annotations
No synced-up co-watching with friends, despite a lack of TV apps preventing you from watching with anyone else in person unless you crowd
around one phone.It all feels like Quibi figured advertising would be enough
It could run contests where winners get a Cameo-esque message or chat with their favorite stars
It could host in-app roundtables with the casts where users could submit questions
Follow, Like, comment, message, go Live, duet, remix or download and share any video
It beckons viewers to participate in trending challenges
clips will follow them to other networks
Every part of the app is designed to make its content the center of popular culture.The Fix: Quibi needs to understand that just because
leaderboard of the top programs
Shows, especially ones dripping out new episodes, are more fun when you have someone to chat about them with.Eventually, Quibi should layer
on in-app second-screen features
produced premium content with the modern ways we use our phones
Yet beyond shows being shot in two widths so you can switch between watching in landscape or portrait mode at any time, it really is just a
random cable channel shrunk down.Youths act in front of a mobile phone camera while making a TikTok video on the terrace of their residence
in Hyderabad on February 14, 2020 (Photo by NOAH SEELAM / AFP) (Photo by NOAH SEELAM/AFP via Getty Images)One of the few redeeming
opportunities for Quibi is using the daily episode release schedule to serialize content that benefits from suspense, as Ryan Vinnicombe aka
Bingeing via traditional streaming services can burn through thrillers before they can properly build up suspense and fan theories or let
late-comers catch up while a show is still in the zeitgeist
But creators try to rope in followers by making a multi-minute video and splitting it into parts so people subscribe to them to see the next
TikTok could stand to learn about multi-episode content from Quibi.But today, Quibi feels like a minitiaturized and degraded version of what
we already get for free on the web or pay for with Netflix
Quibi charging $4.99 per month with ads or $7.99 without seems like a steep ask without delivering any truly must-see shows, novel
will bring Quibi enough traction to raise more cash and survive long enough to socialize its product and teach creators to exploit the
4 overall when it launched Monday to No
21 yesterday after just 830,000 total downloads according to Sensor Tower
Lackluster content and no virality means it might never become the talk of the town, leading top content producers to slink away or half-ass
their contributions, leaving us to dine on short video elsewhere.
