Netflix ‘s White Noise
Credit Card Billboard
Netflix
3D Billboard Animation
Sept ‘22 to Nov ‘22 - launch Black Friday
Role Integrated Producer
Oversaw creative proposal, production of 3d animation to final handoff of assets to media agency. Organized BTS shoot to occur same day as another project launch.
White Noise, Noah Baumbach's new film that satirizes American consumerism through characters who shop to forget about the inevitability of death, was released in selected theaters during the same week as Black Friday, the most consumerist day of the year.
Even more interestingly, Netflix had a billboard space in Times Square, the beast of the belly of shopaholism. Our challenge was tough, but pretty interesting: to compete with hundreds of offers and use the feeling around this date to catch people's attention to our movie while they were frantically searching for the best deals.
We helped people in New York forget about the impending doom by... shopping!
Production
We created 48 animations displaying 48 unique credit cards, each with one of three different designs and unique numbers. Then, on Black Friday from 9 AM to 9 PM, every 15 minutes, we replaced the video on Netflix's 3D Billboard in Times Square with a new animation featuring an unreleased card and a QR code, which led people to a website where they had to submit both the card info and their personal data to unlock it. The first person to successfully unlock the card could use the numbers on any online shop they desired. A dynamic and engaging execution made to generate excitement and interest among passersby in Times Square.
Results
Our activation achieved a 100% engagement rate with all credit cards redeemed within just 12 hours. However, what was even more significant was the impact on Netflix's business results. The Credit Card Billboard helped White Noise, the movie we were promoting, to reach Netflix's Top 10 for an impressive 5 consecutive weeks, and ultimately became the 3rd most popular debut on the platform. This outstanding achievement demonstrated the effectiveness of our marketing strategy and the power of a well-executed activation to deliver real business results for our client.
Insights
During Black Friday, the most consumerist date of the year, Netflix turned a single billboard in Times Square into dozens of credit cards with real money. During 12 hours, different cards appeared with a $500 limit each, allowing the fastest passersby to grab the numbers, unlock it, and use the entire balance to buy whatever they wanted.
By transforming a single billboard in Times Square into an interactive real-life shopping tool, Netflix's Credit Card Billboard directly engaged consumers and prompted them to take an immediate action, creating a tangible connection between the movie and its potential audience. By using irony, the activation also encouraged people to think critically about their relationship with consumerism and shopping, making it an effective example of how direct marketing can do more than just convert, but also to impact people's behaviors. Netflix didn't just fulfill people's shopping needs during Black Friday. It also helped them understand if money really buys happiness.
