Dive Brief:
- Netflix on Tuesday launched a campaign meant to position the platform as the go-to streaming service for discovering new stories, according to information shared with Marketing Dive.
- “Find the Thing You Never Knew You Needed” is made up of three spots which incorporate films from the brand’s large content library in creative ways. “Typecast” is a new social series which features fashion designers, musicians and other professionals talking about Netflix shows and movies they enjoy.
- The campaign is live in Canada, the U.S., Brazil and Spain. It is set to run across paid social, broadcast, connected TV, digital and movie theater channels. “Typecast” will run in the U.S. from Nov. 10-13 on the brand’s social channels and its companion website, Tudum.
Dive Insight:
As U.S. consumers continue to cut back on subscriptions, including for streaming services, Netflix’s latest campaign emphasizes the quality of its vast content library in order to help it stand out in a crowded field. “Find the Thing You Never Knew You Needed” comes as company executives continue to put an emphasis on value and engagement following price hikes and lower projected ad revenue.
Created by Netflix’s in-house shop the Brand Creative Studio and agency Mother, the campaign features three spots shot on 35mm film using different aspect ratios. In “Axolotl,” which is shot for widescreen, an axolotl leverages its quadrupedalism to escape its tank and turn the TV back on after its owners leave in the middle of a “Bridgerton” marathon. “Dawn” follows a vampire who braves the rapidly rising sun to find a working TV in order to watch “Love Is Blind.” In “Hypersleep,” an astronaut who is the only one awake while his fellow shipmates are in cryosleep, wakes someone up in order to show them the “Soda Pop” scene from “KPop Demon Hunters.”
The spots were directed by Vania Heymann and Gal Muggia of the production company Iconoclast. The nature of the ads allows for the featured program to be swapped out depending on the market. In Brazil, the show featured in “Dawn” is crime drama “Os Donos Do Jogo,” or “Rulers of Fortune” in English.
Over the course of four episodes, the social series “Typecast” will feature four creatives and showcase their somewhat unexpected Netflix fixations. The series kicks off with fashion designer Willy Chavarria and his show of choice “Love on the Spectrum.” Other guests include musician Teezo Touchdown, makeup artist Isamaya Ffrench and Randy Savvy of The Compton Cowboys. The videos were filmed in 16mm to fit the feel of the overall campaign.
The campaign’s use of analog film is part of a recent trend that has seen advertisers looking to run counter to the rise of artificial intelligence. Stop-motion animation has been of particular interest, with brands such as Levi’s and Prada embracing the artform. Netflix’s spots, which feature custom-built sets, follow a similar vein of appealing to the desire for human-made advertising.
Netflix grew revenue 12% year over year to $12.9 billion in Q3, per an earnings release. The company lowered its expected ad revenue for the year from $3 billion to $2.7 billion, a drop it attributed to a slower-than-expected rollout of some advertising capabilities.
