The Netflix Marquee Doesn’t Promote Its Releases. It Promotes the Conversation.
Interview by Michael O’Donnell / Editor
LA’s Sunset Strip is probably the most influential stretch of billboards in the entertainment industry. It’s a borderline distraction looking up and taking in all the shows and films you haven’t yet heard about (or haven’t yet heard your friends stop talking about.) Oftentimes, the billboards are straightforward promotional posters or #FYC (For Your Consideration) pleas to the award show voters en route to power lunches. But not always.
Because at the start of October, Netflix took the tried-and-true approach of larger-than-life advertising and subverted it beautifully. Rather than just promote its shows and films, the newly premiered Netflix Marquee promotes the conversation around them. With messages updated weekly, Netflix’s new billboard mixes the wit that the company’s celebrated Twitter is known for with the nostalgic aesthetic of a cinema marquee.
The internet lost its mind to photos of the first message: “Don’t Give Up On Your Dreams. We Started with DVDs.” In recent weeks, the Marquee, located at the corner of Sunset Blvd and Sweetzer Ave, has referenced its record-setting series Squid Game and the Penn Badgley-starring You, and even invited invites some shared Netflix password revenge.
To learn more about the creative process, challenges, and evolution of this project, I spoke with Netflix’s Spencer Somers (Brand Advertising Manager) and Jarett Wieselman (Manager, Editorial & Publishing).
What were some of the decisions that led to going beyond erecting posters for upcoming Netflix releases and creating a direct line of communication with your audience?
We always aim to put our members first when taking creative swings. Some of our favorite exchanges are seeing audiences react to the latest film release or the new show everyone is meme-ing, usually on social media. It felt like a natural level-up to take those online conversations to real life. And the ability to evolve what we can say each week keeps the idea fun and current.
Growing up, Sunset Blvd was the Times Square of LA for advertising. We are betting that after more than a year inside, a return to tactile, IRL experiences will help this stack up to one of those iconic brand statements.
Can you share some insights into the creative process behind this recurring project?
The world—and Netflix—moves really fast. It seems like there’s always something new everyone is talking about. One week it’s chess, the next it’s The Duke on Bridgerton, then it’s surviving the Squid Game, and so on. This cadence is fantastic for our editorial channels on social media, where you can react and engage fans in the moment, but it’s a little more challenging for longer lead brand advertising. We were looking for a way to bring that conversation off the social timeline and into the real world.
The marquee idea came out of one of our workshops and made so much sense. It was true to the shared nostalgia of classic entertainment, and built upon it with the voice and tone we expect from Netflix on Twitter. We’ll continue to update weekly until there’s nothing to talk about on Netflix, which doesn’t seem likely.
What were some of the creative challenges in bringing this project to life?
It can be challenging to capture Netflix in a bottle each week. We have to always make sure we’re talking about what the fans want to talk about.
What's the response been like so far? It seems like the first few messages have left a pretty big impression.
Within Netflix and from our fans, the response has been beyond what we could’ve imagined. Everybody wants to know what we’re going to say next. We were most shocked that our original Marquee Post on Linkedin drove 33 million impressions, which was our most successful post on Linkedin and one of the biggest amongst tech and entertainment brands ever.
How do you see the Netflix Marquee evolving going forward?
We have lots of ideas planned but the surprise is everything :) One thing we can say is we do hope to bring marquees to other parts of the globe soon.
