Brand Opportunity: Netflix Originals Blends Entertainment With Branding
/Netflix is pumping out original content in a bid to stay relevant amongst an increasingly crowded field of streaming competitors. They’re losing licensed content such as Friends and trying to build a moat by creating “Netflix Originals,” to keep people on the platform. By creating their own content, they have more opportunities for creative freedom, including potential monetization through product placement (although they will say they don’t do this).
This could be a smart way for them to make additional revenue as long as it doesn’t impact the quality of content. Without the grace, finesse, and nuance needed to keep product placement from feeling cheesy or forced, it could turn off users. If people feel like they’re getting advertisements, they may even complain, given that most people expect Netflix to be without ads. I could imagine people asking Netflix to lower the costs for them. Consumers are smart, and increasingly they understand the economics of tolerating ads in exchange for something for free. To change the status quo here could trigger consumers to either want to pay lower costs or want more in return.
So fortunately for Netflix, it appears they’re doing it right. I suspect they had at least a couple brand partnerships (whether on the record or not) in one of their more recent Netflix Originals, Next in Fashion. This show is kind of a riff on the popular show, Project Runway, and stars Tan France. The use of France makes sense, given they’ve already built equity with his persona through one of Netflix’s most popular Originals, Queer Eye.
Here’s what “Next in Fashion” got right about those (official? unofficial?) brand partnerships:
Earn People’s Trust First Before Sneaking Brands In: I’d consider myself to be far more likely to recognize product placement than the average viewer, and I didn’t recognize it outright until a few episodes in, in which I noticed that the only devices I’d seen the contestants use were Samsung. This allows you to get into a show without being distracted by unnecessary product emphasis.
Appear Natural: We all know the television/movie content in which it’s obvious that they want your attention on a perfectly placed logo, or even hover on product too long without any clear connection to the storyline. For the Samsung products, they didn’t make it so the brand name was always showing perfectly, zoom in on the products alone for too long, or force it into the script in a way that felt really awkward. It was very subtle, up until a very brief moment midway through the season in which one of the designers is taking a selfie, realizes his phone is going to die, and then uses another person’s phone to charge it.
Demonstrate Benefits But Make It Quick: The demonstration of the ability to charge your phone using someone else’s was really brief, so it wasn’t a nuisance. If it had gone even 10 seconds longer or required additional conversation, it would have been more annoying. Realistically, that’s how much time people would spend talking about the product anyway. The designers are in the middle of a competition, so why would they get distracted by phones and tablets? But it does make sense that they’d be working long hours, their phone might get low on battery, and they’d be taking selfies.
Make It a Believable Part of the Storyline: In the “Athleisure” episode, the contestants’ work was judged by Josefine Aberg of Adidas. This made sense for a number of reasons. It allows Adidas to continue position themselves as both performance and fashion. It allowed the show to bring up the brand “Adidas” and have its host wear their products. It also made sense that the contestants would be interested in what Aberg had to say about their work - she has the prestige of a global brand that influences what many people wear. This was a win-win for all involved. Similarly, in one of the final episodes, contestants are judged by Tommy Hilfiger, allowing this classic brand to position itself as worthy of judging what’s Next in Fashion, and contestants to get input from an iconic designer.
Tan France talks with adidas designer Josefine aberg, and sports an adidas jacket in episode 7 of “next in fashion”
The Opportunity to Mix Brands
Appearing natural and unforced is probably not new. I’m guessing these principles have existed for a long time in Hollywood, whether they’ve always been followed or not. What’s really interesting is the use of different brands to draft off of each other. Brands can use each other’s strengths to tap into new audiences and shift perception.
This is similar to what we’re seeing in both streetwear and in music. In streetwear, we see all kinds of collaborations between different brands and designers. Each brand brings something unique to the table, and together they create something that’s reflective of each, but brings out something unique, while (hopefully) enhancing each brand. Some of the most famous examples include Kanye' West’s work with Adidas to create Yeezy, and the Fenty (Rihanna) x Puma collaboration. In both cases, these fashion designers lent style credibility to performance gear. It allowed the brands to reach new audiences, while enhancing brand perception.
In music, we see this in the overlapping of genres, which gives us songs that come from artists with different sounds who come from different genres. Often, there will be a pop/dance type song with a rapper doing an interlude. The music benefits from having a little something for everyone, and fans of both artists may tune in. This allows these artists to have their music reach new audiences and can sometimes enhance their perception.
Takeaways for Brands
In this media landscape, there are so many ways to take advantage of opportunities to get your brand in front of new audiences. If I were in charge of a brand, I’d be making a gigantic cultural map of the different brands, events, shows, etc., that could help enhance my brand’s reputation or provide opportunities to reach key audiences. I’d include not just the “brands” of other businesses, but also personal brands, such as celebrities, musicians, athletes, etc. Having this holistic view of all the potential pieces you have to work with can help you in planning ahead, but also in being ready to potential activate on real-time opportunities.
Brands should also be thinking about ways to seamlessly integrate into entertainment experiences that people actually want, vs. trying to force their messages on users. Artful incorporation into Netflix Originals (or other streaming content) can provide the chance to get your brand in front of users, act as reminder advertising, or help position your brand based on the affiliation with other brands. Whatever you do, make sure it goes down easy - you never want to be standing in between users and what they want. Instead, aim to always be part of what they want.
P.S. For what it’s worth, Netflix is apparently saying they do not do product placements, but that hasn’t kept others, such as Fast Company, from writing about it.
P.P.S. I learned that if you try to take screenshots of Netflix while watching it on your phone, they all turn out as black squares. Fun! You sneaky Netflix execs. One day you might want people sharing screenshots!