Netflix and their Marketing Mix
Netflix: What People Mean to Them
Netflix has become a household name with over 204 million subscribers at the end of 2020. Given that their product is available in 190 countries, their domination of the video streaming market comes as no surprise. People and their viewing behaviours are what Netflix thrive on, so it is imperative that they keep their customers engaged by providing new, exciting and relevant content that is easily accessible.
At Netflix their
philosophy is “people over process”. They strive to create a workplace that is “flexible,
fun, stimulating, creative and collaborative”. By creating a workplace that lives
by its values, they can mirror that onto their audience:
Netflix have achieved marketing success by putting people (their customers) first. By looking at market trends, viewing patterns and human behaviours they provide a unique experience to each customer – aiming to ensure happy customers who continue with their subscription.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world in 2020, Netflix responded by launching an advertising campaign aimed at the media industry’s workers who had been most affected: “You will work in this town again”. This, alongside their $150m hardship fund to support the town’s essential workers, demonstrated Netflix’ support to the people who keep them in business. Perhaps inadvertently, making their customers more accepting of the fact that new productions may be less frequent than in “normal” times.
According to a poll cited by Cowen, Netflix have gained a fierce loyalty among their customers. Of those who watch Netflix more than 7 hours a week, 60% said they were willing to pay more in May 2020 compared to 52% in December 2019.
Netflix have capitalised on the notion that subscribers really can tune in whenever they like. Through billboard advertising, banner ads and online messaging they showcase one of their biggest straplines; “Anyplace, Anytime, Instantly”. This means that customers can download shows onto their device to watch at a later time, even when they are offline.
One way that Netflix have adapted their marketing over time in response to developments in technology, is by engaging with their customers and followers through social media. They display teasers for upcoming seasons of popular shows, leaving the consumer wanting more. By asking questions and running polls, people start talking and engaging with each other on Twitter. This is an extremely clever tactic; tapping into people’s emotions with the chance to share their views and opinions. Tagging Netflix into a comment can sometimes result in 5 minutes of “Twitter fame” when they reply with a quirky response.
In order to
meet customer demands and stand out among their competition, Netflix have made
their app more user-friendly than ever before. Upon opening the app, customers
are immediately greeted by a personalised home screen that makes suggestions
based on what it thinks you would like to watch – based on past behaviour. By
doing this, it keeps people interested - feeding their appetite for more shows
that they can get hooked on.
In addition, Netflix have aimed to provide a safe viewing platform for children by adding parental controls such as a 4 digit pin and maturity ratings. This allows parents to decide what level of maturity rating they are happy for their children to watch. As reported by The Verge (2020), Netflix are rolling out a new tool called the "Kids Activity Report", whereby parents can also monitor what their kids are watching. The report also comes with a “joke of the day” and printable colouring pages to keep the little ones entertained!
In summary,
it is clear that Netflix have, and continue to consider their customers, the
people, by keeping their demands and needs front of mind. They produce a
consistent stream of new content to appeal to all ages, and according to Fortune
(2020), were forecasted to spend in the region of $17 billion dollars on
content in 2020.
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