Blindfold film Bird Box seen by millions thanks to Social Media
Netflix have released some viewing figures for the first time ever, showing that 45,037,125 accounts had already watched the film Bird Box in the first 7 days from release. This obviously led to lots of questions from the marketing world as to what the definition of ‘watched’ was – remember for Facebook it is 3 seconds and YouTube it’s 30 seconds or more. However, Netflix have confirmed that they count a view as an account watching 70% or more of the film. I’m pretty impressed by that, it actually seems a relevant stat!
These figures are testament to Netflix’s well-oiled machine in terms of the emails they send to subscribers. The fact that they have an app, means they can also push out notifications to those people who have them switched on. Their recommendations engine is another opportunity for them to target the film at those people who are most likely to enjoy it and therefore watch past the 70% mark. But I also think that social media and word of mouth is key here. My journey to watch the film was from an email I received, which led me to click to see more about it in the app and watch the trailer. But then I went on to Twitter and searched to see what people were saying about it. There’s actually a mixed bag of people liking and hating it, and loads of memes but it was enough to make me feel that I needed to see it. After I’d done a quick twitter poll amongst my followers, to see if it was wise for a person who often walks through woodland to watch it, of course!
I enjoyed the film, it’s not an Oscar winner but a good Sunday afternoon kind of watch. It’s all the conversation happening on social media, both during and after watching, that is leading to more people tuning in. Once people in the public eye start to post as well, this is amplified even more as the ‘promotion’ finds its way into more and more people’s timelines.
Chrissy Teigen tweeted about it on 26th December, and had a subsequent nightmare about John Legend turning into a bird. The engagement that she gets, especially because she is such a natural on social media, is fantastic.
Kim Kardashian was slightly late to the party (check out Chrissy’s response). But all of this noise has a knock on effect with more people discovering it every day.
Where normal marketing campaigns would start to die off once the TV spots were finished or the billboards were replaced, social media means that there is always someone new coming to a product and sharing their experience with their followers. This fits much more with the way in which people consume – when working in a brand it’s all too easy to think that your new product is common knowledge amongst everyone from day one. But just because you’ve lived and breathed the campaign, doesn’t mean everyone is at the same point. Consumers are discovering products that have been around for years, for the first time, all the time. Social media helps you to have this ever present discussion about your brand.
Obviously the first step in launching a successful product is to create something that you believe in and that people want to consume. But once you’ve done that, if you get it in front of the right people, they can continue a lot of the marketing for you – ad infinitum as it were!
The new AxisStars platform launching this quarter will enable Partners to connect with a whole range of potential brand ambassadors with significant social media followings. We have limited space in each category, contact us at info@axisstars.com if you are interested in joining us.