The interactive hit, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, recently took Netflix by storm. The story is not only an artistic innovation, but it is also a genius marketing move. The cultural conversation around Bandersnatch has been exciting. Even its missteps, such as being sued by the publishers of the Choose Your Own Adventure book series, have increased the public knowledge of this film.
Evan Starkman is the Founder, CEO, and President of The Bait Shoppe, an experiential marketing agency based in New York City. His company creates out-of-the-box marketing campaigns for high-profile brands around the world. Starkman shares the reasons why Bandersnatch has become a cultural phenomenon and details how Netflix is leveraging the film as part of its overall marketing goals.
Changing the Conversation
While Netflix has produced many original hits like Stranger Things and the recent suspense film Bird Box, Black Mirror was a lesser-known cult series before its catapult to fame. With its focus on technology and how it shapes our lives, Black Mirror is a fitting series to be thrust into the spotlight.
Bandersnatch has created a great deal of conversation in the media. Tips on how to get the best endings have been posted on social media and the significance of even the smallest choices have been examined. The amount of buzz around a film that is only shown on a streaming service surprised many studio executives and media reporters.
Interactivity and Marketing
Netflix had teased the arrival of Bandersnatch for several weeks prior to its release, and viewers weren’t sure what they were going to get. The platform provides an ever-changing storyline for its fans, but the interactive quality also makes it a gold mine for data about the viewers.
Netflix is able to learn a great deal about the viewer by tracking his or her choices within the movie. Even the soundtrack can be chosen in several scenes. Each choice says something different about the viewer. Marketing data analysts can compile this data to create a picture of the viewer. When viewers watch the movie, the novelty of the interactive format keeps them from thinking about the implications of their choices and the fact that they are adding to Netflix’s data coffers.
Most consumers are already aware that streaming services use your browsing and watching data to create a profile. This likely will not stop people from using the service, but consumers who are highly concerned with privacy might be given pause when they learn about the marketing implications of Netflix’s film.
Product placement is another important part of the marketing system. By choosing the main character’s breakfast cereal, the story changes. The choice between Sugar Puffs and Frosted Flakes may not mean much to the viewer, but Netflix is paying attention. In the future, product placement may be targeted to where products can be substituted in the movie based on the viewer’s preferences. For example, a parent with young children at home may see different brands than a teenager.
The Rise of Interactive Media
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is likely only the first example of a streaming interactive film. It is likely that we will see several similar films from Netflix and other streaming services over the next few years, as production companies try to build on the success of Bandersnatch. Just as brick-and-mortar businesses are becoming more interactive with kiosks, production companies are finding ways for film audiences to directly connect with the media they are releasing.
Filmmakers and marketers will be able to draw on the wealth of data that these movies produce and use them not only to make the films better, but they will also be able to enhance the film’s influence in the marketing sphere. Evan Starkman looks forward to many more streaming film releases.
