Reading up on the most compelling social media, tech, and brand stories is one of the joys of being the editor of Marketing Dive.
From Netflix's marketing success to YouTube's Super Bowl halftime show, these are the most important stories of the week.
Obama markets community college plan with digital campaign
President Obama doesn't seem like the likeliest of candidates for a digital marketing makeover, but that's exactly what he seemed to going for in his post-State of the Union interview with three YouTube stars. In a push to build buzz for his free community college plan, Obama sat down with YouTube superstars Bethany Mota, Glozell Green, and Hank Green for an interview on the issues facing the "YouTube generation."
The Obama team's decision to market his college plan to the generation that has grown up on YouTube is incredibly telling. Celebrities on YouTube aren't new, but only recently have brands started to leverage their relevance to sell products. With President Obama using them to market the plan in the final two years of his presidency, it's couldn't be more official: YouTube celebrities have become an undeniably powerful force in digital marketing today.
BEST. SELFIE. EVER. #YouTubeAsksObama pic.twitter.com/BQDqLhFDUX
— YouTube (@YouTube) January 22, 2015
YouTube's Super Bowl halftime show
Speaking of YouTube, the site looks like it is continuing its plan to take over the reassert itself as the leader of digital video by creating its own Super Bowl halftime show this year. Intended as a rival to the real Super Bowl Halftime show starring Katy Perry and Lenny Kravitz, YouTube's will feature Freddie Wong of Video Game High School, Harley Morenstein from EpicMealTime, and comedic duo Rhett and Link. The show is supposedly set to feature musical performances, stunts, and mock Super Bowl ads created by YouTube stars.
Right now Facebook is providing some stiff competition in digital video, so if the show draws in a sizable audience, it will reaffirm YouTube's dominance in the digital video space. Not to mention, it will just be interesting to see how many tune in to see the guys from EpicMealTime versus watching Katy Perry sing pop tunes. YouTube seems to have a lot riding on this , so it will be interesting to see how it plays out on game day. If successful, not only will it mean good publicity for YouTube, but could also signify the emerging importance of live digital video versus live television.
Netflix's marketing tactics appear to be working
Once upon a time, all the way back in 2011, Netflix was in such hot water when it changed up its subscriber plans that some predicted it didn't have staying power. Those days are long gone now, as the site announced Tuesday that it had reached 54.5 million subscribers, a growth of 33% year-over-year. The growth appears to have come at a cost, as the site also upped its marketing budget by 59%—spending a total of $203.7 million in the past year.
As the field of streaming service providers becomes increasingly competitive with the emergence of Amazon Prime and HBO Go, going on the marketing offensive was likely the best idea. Netflix's success after upping the marketing budget goes to show the power of a good marketing plan. As Netflix ventures into international waters — check out the gif campaign it recently launched in France, for example — it will be worth watching how its marketing strategy play out.