Netflix Match Maker

The adoption of OTT services picked up in 2020 as consumers spent more time at home in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown. ​

Industry reports showed that subscriptions grew 55-60% for the top OTT platforms on the back of increased interest from both Metros and Tier 1, 2 and 3 towns. 50%+ of these new users were likely to continue subscribing to these new OTT services.  For Netflix, it was important to sustain this momentum and ensure that these new users continued to subscribe and gain a head-start over rivals. As one of the more premium OTT services, Netflix already had a stellar content library and different entry points (such as the new Mobile plan at Rs.199 that was unique to India) that made not missing important cultural moments a lot easier.  Therefore, the objective was to drive consideration for Netflix in India, by positioning it as:  ​

• The home of film [Hollywood and Bollywood blockbusters alike]
• Having content for every mood ​​
• And an accessible streaming service with low barrier to entry

Originals are the ‘hero’ content on OTT platforms driving exclusivity that often translates into subscriber growth and retention. At the same time, a wide library of content also offers as a pull to the price-conscious consumer who is looking for “value for money” especially in smaller towns.  ​

While Netflix’s recommendation engine did a fine job of recommending the most relevant content to consumers based on their past viewing habits, it became imperative for us to showcase this capability to potential new consumers on other platforms as well.  ​

In India, the oft-repeated phrase “Mood nahi hai” (I am not in the mood) is usually used to dictate choices ranging from the kind of cuisine you want to eat to the kind of entertainment you want to watch.  ​

We latched on to this cultural nuance to create a content “Match Maker” that would take your current Mood into consideration and Match it to the content that you could enjoy in that moment.

We wanted to drive Consideration for Netflix India by positioning it as the home of films with content for every mood. To build on this positioning in the minds of Consumers we partnered with three key platforms –   ​

Twitter: 84% of all streaming title conversations on Twitter are about ‘discovery’ i.e. people share and seek recommendations about what to watch next. To make Netflix a part of this conversation, we created a Recommendation Engine that gave people on Twitter ‘mood based’ recommendations for their Friday Night Binge. All consumers had to do was tweet an emoji to  @NetflixIndia  with  #NetflixMatchMaker. We mapped over 862 emojis to titles in the Netflix Library, getting the whole of Twitterverse talking each weekend! ​

Swiggy: Food and binge-watching go hand in hand and more-so on weekends. To tap into this behaviour, we partnered with Swiggy (a leading Food Delivery app), to reach out to their consumers to showcase the breadth of our content while they decided on what kind of food to order. We leveraged Occasions, Genre-based themes, Specific time slots and Characters from Netflix shows to create a virtual Netflix Multiplex within the Restaurant and Grocery section. Consumers who landed on this section were shown a curated list of restaurants paired with the most relevant titles from the Netflix library. This section was updated weekly to showcase the latest Netflix titles in the form of trailers.  ​

Spotify: The music you listen to at different times of the day or week can be an accurate indicator of your mood. Through an API integration we created a Microsite where Spotify consumers could log in to see bespoke content recommendations based on their listening habits. This allowed them to explore Netflix’s vast content library before subscribing and helped them discover new content within the genre or linked to the genre. Consumers were also exposed to playlists on Netflix’s brand profile relevant to the genre.