Campaign Tracker: Netflix - “Netflix Is A Joke.”
Analyzing an ad campaign that unfolds and expands over time can be difficult. When’s the best time to determine if it’s working or not? Does it start out strong and fizzle out over time, or vice-versa, and was that a good or bad thing?
“Campaign Tracker” will attempt to do this. Will it work? Well, let’s find out together, shall we… The first ad campaign we’ll be looking at are the mysterious “Netflix Is A Joke.” billboards that have sprouted up in New York and Los Angeles in the last day or so.
While it would be interesting if these ads were from some spurned streaming service out for revenge, that’s not the case. They’re for Netflix, and seem to be the beginning of a larger campaign to promote the comedy shows/specials that will be premiering on the service in the next few months.
In an attempt to track and analyze this campaign as it expands, this post will update with new media/content that’s pushed out in connection with it. Here we go!
9/5/17 Campaign kickoff with billboards in NY/LA
Initial Impressions: This is a great start for a campaign. I’m a sucker for economical copy, and it doesn’t get more simple than this. The campaign is trying to promote comedy specials on Netflix, this billboard uses four words and two of them are “Netflix” and “joke.” Perfect.
Additionally, keeping the tone of the message a bit sarcastic and combative, but mostly vague at this point lays a great base for however this campaign expands in the future. Plenty of people LOVE Netflix, and plenty of people HATE Netflix. BOTH of those parties will notice these billboards (or the articles that have already sprung up about them) and probably feel equally compelled to share their thoughts about them on social media.
If there’s a downside to this launch, it could be argued that this Netflix campaign is trying a little too hard to be contrarian about itself. Just a week ago, in a rare moment of national unity, the entire country seemed to collectively roll its eyes upon hearing that “the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now… she’s dead.” This tone is an excellent way to kick off a campaign, but I hope it expands beyond this idea and doesn’t continue to lean too heavily on it.
(This post will update as the campaign continues)
