The Cultural Algorithm

On a recent trip to Hanoi, Vietnam, I booked a walking tour to explore the city. My guide was a young university student named Linh who came to Hanoi from a neighboring province a year earlier. As our group walked, Linh excitedly started talking about a TV series "8-Year-Old Bride" that was hugely popular in Vietnam. She further explained that the series was not produced locally, but rather in India. Curious, I decided to find out more about it.

According to PriceWaterhouseCoopers's (PwC) Media and Entertainment (M&E) outlook for 2018-2023, the U.S. industry, which represents one-third of the global M&E industry, is expected to reach more than $825 billion by 2023. This includes revenues from global content creators (Disney, Fox, Warner Bros., Starz, CBS, AMC, etc.), linear broadcast via multichannel video programming distributors (Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, Sky, Virgin, etc.), digital stores (Apple iTunes, Amazon Prime, Google Play, etc.), and digital streaming platforms (Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, etc.).

Spread across thousands of islands bustling with beautiful flora and fauna, Indonesia is the world’s largest island country. Over the centuries, its people have welcomed several cultures they came across through trade and commerce. As a result, we now have a melting pot of cultures in Indonesia to study and appreciate. Though officially a secular nation, Indonesia is home to the largest Muslim population in the world, with about 87 percent of Indonesians following Islam. Other religions that coexist peacefully include Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism. The people of Indonesia are traditional and prefer to follow a more conservative approach to life. Indonesian culture influences age ratings for digital music, film and television in myriad ways. Sexual Material in Music Sex and sexuality are topics that Indonesians do not openly discuss. In fact, transgressions can carry heavy consequences. Music that contains sexual lyrics is regulated by the broadcasting authority. In early 2019, the West Java provincial broadcast commission listed 85 songs labelled ‘adult’ which could only be aired between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. Popular English language songs, including Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You,” Bruno Mars’ “That’s What I Like,” and Ariana Grande’s “Love Me Harder,” were considered vulgar and negative . Decency and Decorum Indonesians prefer to dress modestly in public. The government has in recent years grown more conservative with regards to acceptable clothing choices, particularly for women. It came as less of a surprise when an advertisement for the South Korean female pop group Blackpink was banned because its members dressed in miniskirts. The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission ordered nearly a dozen domestic TV stations to pull the commercial, citing indecency . Indonesia’s decency filter is applicable to cartoons and works of animation as well. In 2017, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (IBC) issued a warning letter about a kissing scene in the cartoon series “Shaun The Sheep.” The authority pointed out that the show violated Article 14 on child protection and Article 16 on the limitation of sexual content in the Broadcasting Code of Conduct and Broadcasting Standards. “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “Doraemon” also drew attention from the IBC as each had a female character sporting swimwear in one or more episodes. The images of these characters in swimwear were subsequently blurred out. Religious Matters: As Islam is the predominant religion practiced in Indonesia, authorities protect religious sentiments and seek to minimize or eliminate potentially upsetting material. One example is the Hollywood movie “Noah” starring Russell Crowe. The 2014 film was banned by the Indonesian Film Censorship Board, stating that the story contradicted Quran teachings and may mislead people . The current trend in Indonesia continues toward a conservative approach. Government authorities closely monitor the Media and Entertainment industry to ensure the sensibilities of the Indonesian people are not offended.

"We are running into the global arena faster than anybody," Jeff Hirsch, Starz COO declared at a June 2019 conference. He was referring to the fact that the Starz digital platform will soon serve over 50 territories throughout the world. Starz is not alone in focusing on global growth; Roku reported, in its recent fourth quarter earnings release, an expansion into Brazil, one of the largest digital markets in Latin America, as well as a diversification strategy away from its heavy U.S. focus. As content owners and platforms grow geographically, so too is the depth of consumer distribution touchpoints—take for example Acorn-TV, the largest purveyor of British themed programming in the U.S. Acorn is now available over Apple TV Channels, Roku Channels, Amazon Channels, Android TV, Chromecast, Comcast/Xfinity, and via Vizio Smart TV.

After localization success with shows like " Narcos"and " Dark ," Netflix continues expanding its catalog of locally produced shows. Now in almost 200 countries, the streaming service has led efforts to create shows that not only cater to local sentiments, but also use local writers, producers and actors. While Amazon has experienced early success doing the same, particularly in India and Japan, other streaming companies lag. Still, when the European Union (EU) decided in October 2018 that all streaming companies will be required to raise local content percentage to 30 percent, Netflix balked.

As one of the largest and most economically successful nations in Southeast Asia, Malaysia has had a multi-cultural story from the beginning. With influences from foreign European powers, to nations in the Pacific sphere, Malaysia has been inundated with huge blooms of culture and religion – from its inception, to its independence from the United Kingdom in the 1950s, and finally to the modern Malaysia of today.

Different landscapes, countless languages, and a bounty of traditions that have continued on through generations, are passed down in stories and song. The cultural fabric of any nation is made up of its people's beliefs, food, customs, language, and music. Each of these individual parts help make up the unique whole, but each one is tied to the people from which they originate. It is the people's food, the people's music, and the people's language for a reason.

Every culture has stories. Though most tales have a hero and a villain -- a beginning, middle and end -- the specifics vary widely. What's heroic in one culture is villainous in another, and what is deemed controversial might be viewed instead as simple pragmatism. In this era of cross-cultural communications, it can be difficult to parse out what parts of each story are culturally unique. When done successfully, the result is hugely rewarding for everyone involved in the process, including writers, producers, distributors, and local regulators (e.g. Boards).

A trend in platform naming involves appending "Plus" or "+" to the brand name. Amazon announced last week, for example, that it was rebranding its recently acquired "Epix" streaming channel as "MGM+." This is consistent with a trend that began a few years ago as major brands have adopted the "Plus" naming strategy.