Netflix Wants Your Memes
Netflix's new brand campaign & more.
Its So Good.
Netflix launches a new brand campaign. When was the last time you recall them doing that? “Its So Good” featuring Simone Biles, Cardi B and Giancarlo Esposito, is meant to be the start of a new phase of branding, so eyes peeled for where this goes. Just for a moment, I thought this would be a truly global spot, but its pretty much US-centric. I’d be disappointed if it doesn’t put down some global markers in upcoming phases, that has to be one of Netflix’s big things.
Equally, if not more significantly- coinciding with this campaign is the launch of a ‘moments’ feature on the mobile app (check out netflix.com/SoGood), which allows you to save your favourite moments while watching a show and- here’s the fun part- share the clip across socials.
Many of us talk about what Netflix can or will do with shorter content. Many of us talk about clip-farming, and how Reels and Tiktoks and Shorts have fun with moments from movies and shows, without any rights, but often also helping boost the show’s visibility. With this, Netflix could well own the meme-fication of their own content.
There’s a narrative that the streaming wars, widely said to have been ‘won’ by Netflix, have actually been framed incorrectly, and that Netflix’s podium finish is one step lower… courtesy Youtube. While one can see how Youtube is Netflix’s biggest competitor in many (not all) ways, this outlook is in some ways just an extension of Reed Hasting’s famous quote about “we compete with sleep”. Anything that demands attention is a competitor for all those trying to entertain / win attention. After all, if screens are the only common factor, then gaming has beaten most players hands-down. No?
Netflix has led almost entirely in their domain- premium SVOD, as has Youtube in theirs- mostly user generated/advertising-funded. As Youtube becomes less UGC and more ‘independent TV’, it is fair to start looking at a new co-existence. But in the meantime, Netflix needs to be given some crown or at least tiara for winning the ‘streaming wars’, with most other participants and legacy players left behind. We can then happily coin a new term for their battle with Youtube (till the next attention-suck comes through).
Here are some interesting points from Rob Gallagher on how the two can be viewed / how they match up. As he rightly puts it, “battle lines are getting less and less clear cut:”
Overall attention: Youtube is of course winning.
Mobile viewing- Youtube has long been ahead on users/time spent
Younger viewers- depending on which age group, this is either a slam dunk or striding ahead for Youtube, with some worrisome loss of young adults for Netlfix in some regions.
TV viewing- YouTube has been making its mark (by leading) in CTVs since some time 2023.
Of course, much of the chatter comes in the wake of Netflix’s Q3 results last week, including the debate around whether Netflix is overvalued.
Lets give the last word to Ted Sarandos for now, who just said:
In some ways, social media is going to be a training ground for storytellers and creators, which is great. In other ways, it’s a way that people kill time. Killing time and spending time are two different activities. You have to be careful not to get too distracted by chasing everything that people are doing.