Netflix CEO Reed Hastings calls the company “a learning machine.” It now dominates internet television and streaming video with 104 million subscribers in more than 190 countries, streaming over 125 million hours of programming every day.
The company delivered a record Q2 2017, surpassing subscriber forecasts and passing 50 million customers in the U.S while growing an international audience beyond its domestic total for the first time.
Netflix shares have risen 78 percent in the past year, reaching 20 percent of broadband households in five of its largest markets outside the U.S.
Its household reach: “All throughout the West, in Latin America, North America and Europe, we’re doing very well,” said Hastings. “We just need to continue to do what we’re doing.”
Netflix signed up 5.2 million net new subscribers in Q2, with
4.14 million from outside the U.S., bringing the international total to more than 52 million and making the company profitable (due to its heavy investment in pricey original programming) for the first time this year.
Netflix plans to spend more than $6 billion to produce original programming (such as the next series of Stranger Things) this year alone. It’s also investing more in programmatic advertising to promote its content, “with the aim of improving our ability to do individualized marketing at scale and to deliver the right ad to the right person at the right time.”
One area it’s starting to give HBO a run for the money is comedy, signing deals with Dave Chappelle, Amy Schumer, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld (wooing Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee away from Sony’s Crackle), Louis C.K., Sarah Silverman and Tracy Morgan. Hence its new marketing campaign, “Netflix is a joke.”
Who's behind this billboard??? pic.twitter.com/qVZAIAeB4r
— Claudia Eller (@Variety_Claudia) September 5, 2017
The network also signed Shonda Rhimes, coaxed David Letterman out of retirement, commissioned series from the Coen brothers and Steven Soderbergh, and extended its deal with Adam Sandler for an additional four films.
Netflix Chief Creative Officer Ted Sarandos plans to spend an additional $7 billion in 2018 on original content, which would represent up to half of its total library of programming. His biggest fear is not the money he’s spending, but rather, “The more successful we get, the more anxious I get about the willingness of the networks to license their stuff to us.”
It’s a valid fear. Disney is pulling its programming from Netflix for its own standalone OTT (over the top or broadband) streaming service that’s now in the works. The move also impacts Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm titles.
In Q2, Netflix released more than 50 new programs: 14 original series, 13 stand-up comedy specials, nine original films, seven original series for kids, six documentaries and two documentary series. The pay-off: 91 Emmy nominations this year, the most in its history, second only to HBO.
Forging new territory, Netflix is developing interactive shows that put the viewer in the driver’s seat. First up, Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale and Buddy Thunderstruck: The Maybe Pile.
Product Innovation director Carla Fisher said, “The children’s programming space was a natural place for us to start since kids are eager to ‘play’ with their favorite characters and already inclined to tap, touch and swipe at screens.”
“We aren’t in the business of creating ‘one size fits all’ programming, or building slates to fill a finite number of hours of a programming grid,” said Sarandos.“We’re catering to a dynamic world full of people with different tastes—and as a result, no two Netflix experiences are alike. We want to have something for everyone to enjoy.”
Netflix develops marijuana strains based on its original shows https://t.co/UdYjtfqNGq
— Axl (@yenenpeuplou) September 11, 2017
Its marketing is also trying to stand out—and raise eyebrows for being as provocative as HBO’s has been over the years. It just upped its marketing budget to $20 billion to promote the 20 new shows in the pipeline, and it’s already rolling out a retro print poster campaign for Stranger Things that’s raising attention.
Netflix Plants Ads For New 'Narcos' Season In Stereotypical 90s Cocaine Spots https://t.co/7xF6VnOxJu #branding #marketing101 pic.twitter.com/FnakTQ5OFU
— EXtreme Marketing (@az_seo_experts) September 15, 2017
New out of home ads for Narcos appear to mimic the show’s cocaine culture. Netflix created strains of marijuana inspired by 10 of its shows as a promotion for its newest series Disjointed, sold at a West Hollywood pop-up shop at Alternative Health Herbal Services for those in possession of a medical marijuana card.
According to the press release, “sillier shows may be more indica dominant, while dramedies will be more sativa dominant to help the more powerful scenes resonate.”
The post Netflix May Be a Joke, But It Isn’t Kidding Around appeared first on brandchannel:.
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