Hemlock Grove:Digital Strategy

TERRY LAWYERIntegrated Creative Producer

Crash Course in Digital Strategy by Julian Cole

1 The Brief

All episodes of Hemlock Grove, Netflix’s new original series, will premiere on April 19th for Netflix subscribers...

But Netflix needs to create awareness of the new series in order to use it to attract new subscriptions.

And Netflix wants to use the series to generate new subscribers and sustain an upward trend in user growth.

2 The Key Insights

Customer Insight #1

Set-top device users are highly likely to subscribe to movie and TV streaming services.

“64% of consumers who use their video game consoles to access online content download television shows and movies via subscription video-on-demand services such as Hulu and Netflix.”NPD Group Sept. 2012

“69% of consumers who use their TVs to access online content download television shows and movies via subscription video-on-demand services such as Hulu and Netflix.”NPD Group Sept. 2012

“80% of consumers who use their Blu-ray players to access online content download television shows and movies via subscription video-on-demand services such as Hulu and Netflix.”NPD Group Sept. 2012

And the research confirms it...

“79% of Netflix Watch Instantly customers use it to watch movies and television shows on a TV, and 59% of this group access Netflix via a video game system.”Leichtman Research Apr. 2012

“Consoles have become strategically positioned as a secondary gateway to TV content, and can now be found in 45% of TV homes.”Nielson May 2012

Customer Insight #2

These set-top device users and video streamers are also likely to be a part of the show and Netflix’s target audience:

18-34 YOs who enjoy sci-fi and supernatural content in movies, TV, and games.

They over-index at most of the largest streaming platforms.

Netflix Hulu

Playstation (online) Xbox Live

And streaming is quickly becoming a part of their everyday experience.

Netflix Instant Watch Night

Surprisingly, they might even appreciate a bit of advertising.

Excerpts from a message thread on a Star Trek message board about Netflix’s “House of Cards.” trekbbs.com/showthread.php?p=7624447

Customer Insight #3

Of the series’ creative elements, Eli Roth and Famke Janssen have the most brand awareness in digital.

Eli Roth: known for directing “Hostile” and his role in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglorious Basterds.”Generates 6-7 million Google search results.

Famke Janssen: known for roles in “Goldeneye”, the “X-men” series, and “Taken.”Generates 6-7 million Google search results.

3 The Big Idea

The Hemlock Grove preview experience...Presented by Eli Roth...Exclusive to set-top users.Why this approach?

Banners and trailers are standard for driving audience to movies and TV as both are typically “high feel, low information” purchase decisions. It doesn’t take that long to decide if you want to buy a movie ticket or tune-in for a TV program. But a monthly subscription is a bit different—slightly more of a long-term commitment than an impulse purchase.

So, as Netflix learned with “House of Cards,” users appreciate a “test drive” to help them decide if the show is worth the cost of subscribing. The “House of Cards” test drive was a free episode for non-subscribers. But at nearly 30 to 60 minutes long and tasked with introducing the series’ principal elements, the first episode of any series isn’t designed to convert non-subscribers to subscribers.

Perhaps a different format would help non-subscribers make a decision?

The content will be housed in apps for Xbox Live and PSN.

Should include 1 to 3 full scenes from the premiere episode.

Eli Roth features prominently along with Famke Janssen in vignettes where they offer their thoughts on elements in the series. Other members of the principal cast also describe their roles in the series.

Should include interactive content, such as info about the fictional town, Peter’s Gypsy family, the Godfreys, and/or werewolf legends.

For other set-top device users and the traditional web audience, the preview experience’s video content can be repackaged in short form as a teaser.

About the preview experience...

4 Media Planning

Where to place messaging?A cross-platform campaign that covers the major video game consoles (Xbox Live and PSN offer ad solutions) and set-top devices (Roku, Boxee, and Blu-ray players) with the remaining half of impressions targeting Hemlock Grove’s audience at Youtube, Hulu, and Facebook. The geography is limited to North America.

How to structure the messaging?Banner ads and streaming spots that deliver the campaign creative concept: “The Monster Within,” plus the “by Eli Roth” and “only on Netflix” mandatories. A CTA for the preview content will be placed before or after the creative concept.

When to activate?The campaign should go live when the episodes premiere in April and run for a month at maximum if the budgeted click-thrus aren’t reached within the first few weeks. Also, Netflix activity (searches and traffic) peaks on weekends, so the Saturday release day is ideal for launching the campaign.

5 The Metrics

Impressions and Conversions

200,000 New Subs Generated by the campaignThis target is derived from the Q4 2012 new subscriber results, when Netflix added 2 million subscribers. That averages to roughly 700K additions per month. Also, going by Google search volume from 2010 - 2012, the holiday season is a peak period for interest in Netflix while April and May is when search volume levels off. So we estimate this April’s new subscriber number to be 600,000: 400,000 from other sources, 200,000 from the Hemlock grove campaign.

80 million Impressions required to hit the targetHow to arrive at this number? It’s basically:

80MM impressions x 5% click-through = 4MM preview viewers4MM preview viewers x 5% subscriber conversion = 200K new subscribers

The numbers are reasonable given the size of the audiences at the major platforms. Youtube reaches nearly 200 million users each month, so 20 to 40 million impressions is 10% to 20% of their total inventory. Xbox Live and PSN have about 40MM and 70MM users respectively. With Facebook added to the mix, the major platforms should have plenty of audience available for the 80 million impressions target.

Total Budget = $2.1 Million

Media CostGaming Platforms = $28 CPM x 30MM Impressions = $900,000Traditional Web = $22 CPM x 50MM Impressions = $1.1 million

Creative CostDesign and development of the gaming platform apps = $50,000Banner design = $8,000Shooting, editing, and post for video work = $50,000

And why it’s worth itThere a few different analyses of Netflix’s subscriber acquisition cost, but a conservative estimate might be $15 to $19 per new subscriber. Our campaign spend of $2 million for 200K new subscribers comes in at $10.50 per subscriber, leaving a little more margin for the company when compared to its typical marketing programs.

6 A QuickRecap

The ObjectiveUse Hemlock Grove to drive new subscriptions.

The Key InsightsGamers and other set-top device users in the 18-34 Y/O demo are highly likely to subscribe to streaming services. Also, of the series cast and creative elements, Eli Roth and Famke Janssen currently have the most brand awareness.

The Big IdeaGive gamers a unique and engaging preview experience—something that gets them excited about the series and Netflix. Eli Roth and Famke Janssen guide viewers through the series, and the users also get some “interactive goodies” to encourage their engagement with the story.

The Media PlanWhen the series premieres, launch targeted banner and video ads for Xbox Live, PSN, Youtube, and Facebook. The messaging presents the series and the preview offer CTA.

The Metrics$2.1 million at $10.50 per new subscription. The campaign creates 80MM impressions, 4MM preview viewers (5% CTR), and 200K new subscribers (5% conversion).

TERRY LAWYERIntegrated Creative Producerterry@terrylawyer.com | www.terrylawyer.com

Final Project For:

Crash Course in Digital Strategy,by Julian Cole