Netflix’s Marketing Strategy Behind Their Billboard Stunt For The Last House
Netflix's ‘The Last House billboard stunt just proved that one of the best marketing plays isn't on the feed. It's in legacy media like an experiential billboard.
In this marketing case study, I break down how Netflix turned their "man inside a billboard" experiential campaign into a viral moment that dominated both the feed and the headlines and the Netflix marketing strategy behind it that brands should take note of, regardless of your ad budget.
ICYMI — For 3 days, a man lived inside a billboard on Sunset Boulevard, which had everyone flooding the feed across multiple social platforms with sightings of the “man inside a billboard.”
With the shock factor of a man living inside a billboard for days, this experiential Out-Of-Home campaign drove people to visit the billboard themselves to see it in action and initiated so many actor-spectator interactions and conversations tapping into the current zeitgeist like:
Is this AI or is an actual person living in there in this insane LA heatwave?
Housing crisis jokes about how the cost of living is leading to billboards being the next rental market and what landlords would charge
If they went the route of a conventional promo campaign integrating traditional press with the cast, red carpet events, and social/digital execution, it probably wouldn’t have broken into the mainstream conversation the same way, generating tens of millions of impressions and eventually making it out to the dinner table, which is one of the oldest measures of advertising success: are households talking about it?
And they didn’t let the momentum die there. They used the same motif of the window sign communication to remind everyone that it’s now streaming in two reminder posts.
Say what you want about the film, but as a promotional campaign itself? It’s is a 10 outta 10 for me.
3 Marketing Lessons
You may not have Netflix’s marketing budget to pull off the same Out-of-Home meets social campaign like this, but here are 3 takeaways to bookmark to make an offline splash that translates to online buzz.
1. Identify a core element of your brand or offer.
In this case, it’s a man trapped behind glass with a handwritten sign. You’d want to choose a motif that could be translated across multiple media like events, social Out-Of-Home and more. Build a campaign around it that would make someone do a double-take, re-evaluate their stance, or start a debate. That’s what ignites an organic, fan-fueled campaign.
2. Stay locked into the online discourse.
Keeping a finger on the pulse of audience sentiment around your campaign will uncover opportunities for reactive content ideas, potential series, and other spinoff content opportunities.
3. Remind people about your offer.
Everyone might be talking about your viral billboard moment, but people still need that final nudge telling them the thing you're promoting is ready to buy or stream in this instance. If Netflix even needs to remind people that the film they’re promoting is still streaming, that means your business needs to do it too.
Just look for ways to mix up the content format so it doesn’t become repetitive or annoying.
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