Case Studies

Case Study: How Netflix reimagined iconic scenes using pop-culture stars and garnered 27Mn+ views

Netflix India's 2023 Playback campaign, which blends iconic scenes, celebrities and content creators, garnered 27M+ views. Here's a case study on how Netflix achieved it.

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Netflix India's 2023 playback campaign used imaginative prompts to connect unlikely crossovers by Bollywood actors and content creators of iconic Netflix scenes to engage with the audience. Conceptualised by Supari Studios, the campaign was nearly viewed for 500K hours on YouTube. Here's a case study on how Netflix and Supari Studios made the campaign happen. 

Category Introduction

As a player in the streaming entertainment industry, Netflix has over 233 million paid memberships across 190+ countries. The industry witnesses rapid growth and evolving consumer preferences in India, requiring innovative marketing strategies for maintaining and expanding market share.

Brand Introduction

Netflix India offers a diverse range of TV series, documentaries, and feature films across various genres and languages. The brand has a community of nearly 40 million followers on social media, focusing on authentic, relatable content to engage audiences. Their marketing objectives revolve around a strong online presence, social media conversations, and campaigns resonating with the target demographic to grow its user base in India.

Summary

Every year, Netflix India's signature End Of The Year Campaign reflects on the year’s highlights using a unique concept that takes audiences on a journey through beloved scenes from Netflix originals. In 2023, Netflix India's social marketing team, in collaboration with Supari Studios, set out to create a unique Playback 2023 campaign, celebrating the year's iconic pop culture moments.

In a homage to prominent pop culture pieces from the year, the campaign offered an entertaining blend of popular Netflix scenes and cultural figures in celebration of the year. From actor Jackie Shroff featuring in Never Have I Ever and Sex Education to content creator Manisha Rani in Rana Naidu, brainstorming her new reel along with a surprise appearance by Bhupendra Jogi.

Objective

The main aim of the campaign was to create an entertaining recap of the year's highlights, leveraging the popularity of Netflix originals and incorporating beloved cultural figures. The objective was to engage audiences on social media platforms and generate organic conversations, reinforcing Netflix's status as a cultural phenomenon among Indian youth.

Brief

The task was to highlight Netflix India’s achievements for the year through talent and titles with a unique, engaging internet moment reflecting 2023. Supari Studios was assigned to conceptualize and create a campaign seamlessly integrating pop culture icons into Netflix originals, movies, and shows. The focus was on innovative storytelling, creating relatable and humorous scenarios resonating with the target audience of Gen Y and Gen Z.

Creative Idea

The creative concept revolved around using imaginative prompts to connect outrageous crossovers of beloved Netflix scenes and cultural figures. Tanmay Bhat, the narrator, typed prompts into his computer, sparking delightful manifestations of these prompts as amusing scenarios reimagining key moments from popular Netflix shows.

Challenges

Challenges included a meticulous process of identifying key viral moments from the year, mapping scenes, and ensuring seamless and organic integration of pop culture figures into Netflix content. The team had to balance creativity with relatability, ensuring the campaign appealed to the diverse tastes of the target audience. From reimagining the climax of "Tu Jhoothi Mein Makkar" with Genelia Deshmukh in it, convincing Ranbir to go after Shraddha like Jai went after Aditi in 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na'  to imagining Dulquer Salman in 'Guns and Gulaabs' where he refuses to accept a bribe but has Round2Hell convincing him to collaborate with them, the campaign demanded rigorous research, clever writing and editing, and a spunky sense of humour to bring it to life. 

Execution

Phase 1: The round-up started with the streaming platform dropping teaser images of the campaign where a mix of character, actors and viral content creators were seen appearing in Netflix's shows and movie scenes. 
Phase 2: Post this initial confusion, the campaign was released on the brand’s YouTube and Instagram handles on December 27th, 2023.
Phase 3: The last phase of the campaign rolled out on Instagram, where the company released each of the prompts as a reel. 



Results

The Playback 2023 campaign garnered over 27 million views across social media platforms and was viewed for nearly 500K hours on YouTube. Positive engagement and reactions numbered in the tens of thousands on Instagram and YouTube.

"2023 was a remarkable year for us. With our annual Netflix India Playback campaign, we aimed to bring together the most iconic moments from pop culture and memorable scenes from our beloved films and series. The result was a fan-favourite moment that sparked incredible conversations. We strive to make our social content as entertaining as our films and series on the service, and we are glad that audiences continue to enjoy our Playback campaign year after year," Srivats TS, Vice President, Head of Marketing at Netflix India said. 

Case study Netflix campaign Playback 2023