Netflix’s Multi-Million Dollar Movie Marketing Plan
“The Gray Man” has his own emoji, he’s sprinted across 3D billboards from Krakow to Seoul, and he’s fought villains in over 100 TV commercials.
Netflix Inc launched one of its biggest marketing campaigns to make sure audiences around the world knew that Ryan Gosling was starring in “The Gray Man”the company’s big-budget summer action flick.
The streaming service has started to mount bigger awareness campaigns for its biggest titles as part of the roughly $2.5 billion it spends on marketing each year, Netflix chief marketing officer Marian Lee said. in an interview.
“We want the conversation to be about Netflix shows and movies,” Lee said.
Netflix has lost over a million subscribers this year and its shares have fallen 62%. Co-Chief Executive Reed Hastings said the company is striving to improve on all fronts, including marketing. Netflix remains the largest streaming service in the world with nearly 221 million subscribers.
“The Gray Man” was directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, the brothers behind “Avengers: Endgame” and other blockbusters from Walt Disney Co.’s Marvel Studios, which typically spend $150 million or more to market action movies. The Russos told Netflix they wanted the company to make a splash with “The Gray Man”.
“We tend to make films of a certain scale that require a bigger release platform, a bigger media push. And they were up for it,” Joe Russo said.
More than 100 ‘Gray Man’ TV commercials have aired around the world at live sporting events, from the Monaco Grand Prix to the NBA Finals and on shows such as ‘Big brother’ and ‘The Bachelorette’.
Three-dimensional billboards, which apparently blew explosions off the screen, lit up Times Square in New York and cities around the world, including Seoul, Krakow, Tokyo and Las Vegas.
“We try to make sure that we create tailored campaigns that connect with the audience for that particular movie or show,” Lee said.
On social media, custom emojis of Sierra Six (Gosling) and nemesis Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans) have been created for Twitter. The Russos chatted with influencers on TikTok, attracting over 1.1 million views.
At San Diego Comic-Con, the annual celebration of pop culture, Netflix installed a rugged streetcar for an interactive experience. ‘Gray Man’ live. Visitors worked their way out of the car and sprinted onto the roof of the tram. They left with a video of their exploits for easy sharing on social media.
“The Gray Man” recorded 88.6 million hours of viewing over the past weekend, ranking fifth among the top movies ever released on the streaming service. It was the most-watched Netflix movie of the weekend in 84 countries. The company has ordered a sequel and a spin-off.
Before it hits Netflix, “The Gray Man” played exclusively for a week in 1,500 venues around the world. While the promos mentioned the theatrical run, “we weren’t trying to drive people to theaters,” Lee said. “We were definitely trying to focus on the Netflix premiere.”
The scale of future Netflix campaigns will be relative to the size of the movie or series, Lee said. Other Netflix movies that will see a big push include a ‘Knives Out’ sequel, young adult title “The School of Good and Evil” and ‘Slumberland’ with Jason Momoa. Lee did not reveal how much Netflix spent promoting “The Gray Man”but said it was less than traditional studios spend to tout a blockbuster movie.
Netflix has far more titles to promote than other studios, Lee noted, and she said her outreach efforts are boosted by the company’s algorithm that makes personalized suggestions to viewers.
“These two things really work hand in hand,” Lee said.
