Netflix

Approach: Read the rulebook before you toss it out.

Skills used: pitch work, sub-brand building, entertainment IP positioning, creative brief writing, communications planning, target audience creation, go-to-market strategy, social media strategy, ideation

Situation

Netflix was looking for an agency to help them produce all the work for their biggest film yet, Triple Frontier. The team they’d pick not only needed to create a sub-brand and campaign that showed their action flick had just as much brain as it did brawn, but also to signal to the more traditional Hollywood crowd that they were a legitimate heavyweight contender in the Blockbuster space.

Challenge

Once given the script, I very quickly realized that while the cast was star studded and the action was intense, some of the characters felt flat, leaving you as the viewer to fill in the gaps with cliche. And worst of all for an action film, the big bad villain that our protagonists had hyped up so much (an international drug lord and kingpin) had maybe 10 minutes on screen before being unceremoniously killed.

Process

My first, key step was to recognize the true villain of the story: the money. From the point the drug lord was dead, the money kept weighing on them physically and mentally as the in-fighting began. Moral ambiguity ensues.

Communications Plan

With money as our villain, I then dissected what worked and what didn’t for more traditional Blockbuster films and built a 3 phase communications plan that reflected the movie’s gritty tone and rising tension. In turn, the individual beats and executions focused on honoring the mastercraft involved, building the world, filling in any storytelling gaps, and eventually asking viewers what they would do for $250 million.

Outcome

We won the pitch outright, our work was produced, and Triple Frontier became the third most watched film in Netflix history.

Work

Other IP

Netflix consistently aims for their marketing to make the 6 o’clock news. With that ethos, I was able to work in different capacities on several different titles in a variety of genres.

What I’ve learned from these projects

Client-created primary research can be an amazing treasure trove.