Netflix
has just written the book on word of mouth marketing with the recent campaign
for its “semi-original” show “Arrested Development.” Here’s a hint: quality is
key.
“Arrested
Development” was abruptly cancelled by FOX in 2006, after just three seasons.
The now cult classic was nominated for twenty-two Emmys, and took home six
while it was aired. Netflix picked up the cancelled show and filmed Season 4 in
2013, which is now available to stream in its entirety.
The
new season yielded three times the amount of initial streams than Netflix’s other
previous high-profile release “House of Cards.” The company’s advertising
campaign should be credited for the success.
For
those that have never seen “Arrested Development”, it is a show about a wealthy
family (the Bluths) that lost everything, and their son (Jason Bateman) who
had to keep them all together. The show unravels as a masterpiece of intricately
intertwined comedic genius. It is through the show’s natural quirkiness that
Netflixs promotional campaign flourished, which sparked the interest of
non-viewers by engaging Bluth lovers.
The
campaign relied largely on the base of loyal fans that “Arrested Development”
already had. The show has a large following of 18-30 year olds who began obsessively
re-watching the show at the first hint of its return. It’s no surprise then, that
a majority of the promotions were catered to the devoted fans, alluding to
colors and symbols of the show that often left “outsiders” clueless, but
intrigued. Brand advocates are one of the most important aspects of word of
mouth marketing; the other is providing those advocates with something to talk
about.
For
example, few things stick out more in Times Square than a giant wooden banana
stand. Even more surprising would be the line that extends from the stand as
far as the eye can see. The Bluth’s frozen bananas dipped in chocolate are one
of the many recurring jokes throughout the show, and fans flooded the stand
once word of its presence got around. Anyone not in on the joke was quickly
filled in about the stand, and about “Arrested Development,” by the hundreds of
fans eager to talk about the return of their favorite show. The end message was
communicated through the advocates to the non-viewers in a more personal and
trustworthy way than Netflix could have, which has led to the initial number of
streams.
The remainder
of the campaign used the same hands off approach as the banana stand, as fans
took to social media every time they came across something new from the
Bluths. Netflix ran a successful campaign solely on the quality of their
product, which should be a model for others.
Advocates
are important for every company to have, especially as business has moved into
a customer relationship oriented field. The key takeaway then, is that in order
to gain customers as advocates, the end deliverable has to create value to the
customer, so they have something they want to advocate.
After all, I am talking
about the new season of “Arrested Development” now, right?
