It’s the Marketing, Stupid

As many of you know, I love discussing marketing, and I realize that it's not necessarily everyone's cup of tea. However, there is nothing quite like discussing the ins and outs of a successful movie marketing campaign. The strategy, the trailers, the digital, all of it mixing to event-ize a film, is just great to see as a marketing consultant. 

And then there's Netflix. Don't worry, dear readers; this will not be an analysis of their recently mixed bag of quarterly numbers. I'm sure you've all read, heard, and seen a thousand and one hot takes and what it means for the future of streaming. I want to discuss how no matter how much money they spend on marketing, Netflix can't seem to make a film feel like an event. 

As our frequent podcast guest, Robin Geisen is fond of saying, "If it's not an event for someone, then it's not an event for anyone." Truer words have rarely been spoken, yet it seems that Netflix struggles with that concept. Take Gray Man, for example, Netflix's latest mega-budgeted blockbuster. Given its price tag and star power, you would think Gray Man would be everywhere and anywhere, but it doesn't quite seem to be catching. As an avid observer of marketing, I have seen some materials, but as such, I'm not always the best barometer. I often turn to my wife to see how much a particular film is trending, mainly because she's usually on mom blogs, where a lot of pop culture conversation occurs. And what did I find when I asked her about Gray Man. Her response was, "What is the Gray Man? As in, a man who is Gray?" Now, I realize this is a focus group of one, but she often has been a good barometer on what's hitting and what's not, even if it's not her cup of tea. With Top Gun: Maverick, she knew that it was coming out reflecting Paramount's excellent campaign. Netflix, however, seems incapable of effectively event-sizing their films, and they are beginning to realize it. 

Take this recent New York Times profile on Gray Man and the Russo Bros. In discussing the marketing campaign, co-director and producer Joe Russo says, "It's very large scale. "We're doing a world tour to promote it. The actors are going with us. It feels a lot like the work we did to promote the Marvel films." And maybe they are globe-trotting, but it's not getting the press that Tom Cruise flying a helicopter did or a press-driving premiere like Cannes. And therein lies the problem. "If it isn't an event for someone…." The article even references Netflix's marketing struggles and that they haven't raised their budgets for almost three years despite increasing competition, which is nut burgers. A quick aside, I don't think I've ever seen more profiles on a studio head than Scott Stuber. I get you want your name out there and whatnot, but man, enough with the poses in the causal suit. Maybe take a Kareem Daniel (of Disney) tactic and slow-roll the personal promo. 

All of this is to say that we all know what the news reports will say after this Gray Man premieres this weekend on "the platform." Most watched ever, colossal success, blah, blah. I guarantee next weekend no one will be talking about this movie which is odd for a $200 million supposed franchise play, and it definitely won't have the legs of a Top Gun or Elvis. Yes, I recognize metrics are different, but if it was an event, people would be talking about it (like on my wife's mom blogs.) As always, I don't just want to describe a problem without prescribing a way to fix it. So what can Netflix do?

I think they need to take a harder look at how the studios manage franchises and big-picture plays. Say what you will about their sluggishness to innovate on a whole mess of issues, but they still really know the skill of event-izing. I know Netflix has a whole host of former studio folks, but I don't think Netflix Marketing is structured in a way that leads to effective event marketing. Study big recent campaigns like Top Gun and Elvis. Although the movies may not be exact, you can quickly glean what worked and what didn't, informing your decision-making moving forward. Also, steadily beat the drum. You have to feed the content beast. Start with your launch trailer, and then keep pumping out the material. I know Netflix released their first trailer, but then it seemed to go dark after that. Obviously, this doesn't apply to every movie, but big-budget pictures require a certain finesse that others do not. I realize I don't have an insider's take on the discussions at Netflix. Still, suppose folks are pushing this kind of marketing internally and getting pushback; perhaps the inevitable meh-ness (my new favorite word) of the Gray Man campaign and the not-so-great quarterly numbers will signal a sea change is necessary.

Dutton v. Roy

We discussed this topic a little on last week's podcast, but I want to dive more into it this week. As most of you may know, Succession crushed it during the Emmy nominations last week, and another audience fave, Yellowstone, was left with a stone-cold zip. The press wanted to make much of this, which is ironic considering they ignored the show for the first three years it was on the air, but after the blockbuster ratings and the expanding Taylor Sheridan universe, it would be considered journalistic malpractice, not to at least discuss the show.  

I've written about how Succession appeals to the coasts and Yellowstone appeals to a broader audience (including GASP, flyover country), so it was easy to ignore. Many a Yellowstone fan can easily say that this is elitist entertainment vs. more general audience entertainment, and those darn elitists all vote in the Emmys; hence Yellowstone gets zip, and Succession crushes it. I'm not saying anyone, in particular, has made that argument, but the press making hay out of Yellowstone's shutout was almost asking for those kinds of reactions. This may be just because Yellowstone didn't have the best season. Maybe just maybe, Succession is hitting its Shakespearean stride, and maybe just maybe, no one cares about the Emmys, so you've got to stir up drama somehow. I think that's just it. Award shows have continually shown themselves to be irrelevant, and their impact on winners has been shown to be minuscule at best. And most of the press, mainly trade press, are reliant on those For Your Consideration dollars, so their survival depends on shows like the Emmys. In reality, both shows are stories of complicated and dramatic families. And like families in real life, sometimes you have good years, and sometimes you have bad years, and the number of Emmys won't change that perception.

Pages from the Commonplace Book

This week, I'd like to introduce you to the author, Rob McCall. Rev. McCall is the Pastor Emeritus of the First Congressional Church in Blue Hill, ME (not where I am, for those of you trying to guess) and the writer of several books, one of which, Some Glad Morning, I am currently reading. McCall writes on all topics, great and small, some from a religious perspective, others not so much. One passage stuck out in particular:

"We can tease and joke all we want about the tourists who come from a distance to visit for a few days, but it's good to remember that many of them are arriving here on a pilgrimage. They are looking for holy places. They are coming from cities and towns and places where the sacred is in such short supply that it is kept in samples and savored for an hour or so a week, places where the sacred is imprisoned in temples made by man surrounded on all sides by the secular. They come here to see sacred places that are wild, that are unbound, and they bring to these places a reverence that too many of us may be in danger of losing, seeing them day in and day out as we do. It's good to remember that they are pilgrims."

I've been coming to a unique spot in Maine for over a decade now, and this comment made me realize even more how fortunate I am to be in a place untouched by the insanity of the "outside world." It also made me realize that my annoyance at those who have recently discovered this special place is much like I was a few years back during my first trip here: not wholly getting it but knowing there was something special here. And so, for all of you who have been fortunate to have found that special place you can go to recharge, remember that you were once a tourist and how that special place reconnected you, possibly spiritually or not, but enriched your soul nonetheless. Be understanding and open to the pilgrims so they may take some of that touch of grace back with them.

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