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00:00Netflix needs no introduction, but I will introduce Magno Horan here.
00:04Magno is VP Global Brand, well you just heard that, Brand Marketing Partnerships at Netflix.
00:10Tell us a little bit about what you do at Netflix.
00:13So it's a kind of a broad spectrum kind of role. So at a global brand level, what I do is like
00:19really how do we live this notion that we have of entertaining the world through all the brand
00:24touch points that you might have. So that's from out at home, to creative, to all these things.
00:29And on the partnership side is how do we extend the universe of the Netflix brand and the titles
00:34that we have to the brand partners that could come to our way, right? And so it's a broad
00:39role in a way, but in many ways it's very connected because it's all about bringing brands
00:43and our fans to the world of Netflix. And so excited about where we are in that journey.
00:49All right, well one of your recent executions was with Google for Emily in Paris. Now talk us
00:55through the partnerships elements there. Google was very interested in doing something
01:00with this show in particular. How did this come together and how did you put it together?
01:06So what we get really excited about is connecting our fans to the brands that they might care about
01:12and brands to the fans that they want to reach, right? And so for Google Shopping in particular,
01:17who this partnership was with, they were really interested in getting Gen Z audiences excited
01:22about back to school and how they might dress and how they might buy. And so Emily was the perfect
01:28kind of connection to that. She's a fashionista at heart. If you watch the show, her outfits are
01:33extraordinary. And so we thought, how do we bring that to life? And we've been doing partnerships
01:38for some time, but what we can do now is innovate on our ads platform itself. And so the partnership
01:45was like all encompassing in that it had custom creative, which you saw one execution, that's a
01:4915 second spot, a sponsorship of the show. So before the show starts, the message brought to
01:55you by Google Shopping, this spot ran. And then as you were pausing through the ad, you were able to
02:02actually use Google Lens to shop some of Emily's most popular looks as inspiration. So that's
02:09everything that kind of happened on our service. We then had extensions into social where we were
02:14connecting specific fans with different outfits. And then in our premieres itself, which are,
02:19you know, very over the top influence or heavy. Also, we had some of Emily's most famous outfits
02:24and looks that folks could do the Google Shopping Lens activity through that. So we're starting to
02:30get to a place where our partnerships don't just live kind of out in the world, but they live in
02:34the real world through premieres, they live through fan activations, they live through this custom
02:38kind of creative, and then these shoppable moments in pause ads. So it's a little bit of everything,
02:43but really targeted at specific audience. And for Google, they saw a tremendous amount of
02:48engagement in this space. And so kind of we hit the bullseye and then trying to figure out what
02:53else we're doing with them. Now, was there product integration in the show itself?
02:59No, there was not. Not for this one. Okay. And how does that decision get made,
03:04whether that makes sense or not, right? Look, we like to say, you know, on a brand level,
03:09we're fan first, right? And we're creator friendly. And so we're always thinking about
03:14telling the right stories the best way. And so if we ever do integrations, they have to be very
03:19authentic, very thoughtful. And they have to be additive to the experience versus, you know,
03:24something that we're forcing brands into the mix. It's just one of our many tools at our disposal.
03:30And so it's not the focus of what we can do. Some of these more encompassing stories are,
03:35you know, perhaps a better way. So you mentioned the ad plans,
03:39it's now live in 12 countries. How has that changed how you go to market?
03:45It's another, you know, arrow in the quiver, I guess.
03:48It is. It's another arrow in the quiver. And the 12 markets that we have actually cover the broad
03:53broadest range of advertising potential. And so we're focused there first before we go any deeper.
03:59It changes, right? We can do multiple things. Now we have teams and I'm growing the teams
04:03in Latin America and APAC and EMEA. And all thinking about how do we do partnerships at
04:08a very local level. So you can think about Sabritas, which is the lay of Mexico. We did
04:13a partnership with our film Rebel Moon. We have a title coming out Senna, which is all about Ayrton
04:18Senna, the racer. So in Brazil, we're doing all sorts of partnerships there. But you also have
04:22the potential to think about and work with brands that want to go across multiple markets. And so
04:27Expedia, for instance, is a brand that we've worked with recently and is running campaigns
04:32in eight of our 12 ads markets all at once, running different creative and different iterations and
04:37also innovating with formats like pause ads. And, you know, how do you take the inspiration of
04:42what happens when you watch a show? And then, you know, Emily in Paris is a good example that's
04:47driven traffic and visits to Paris and spoiler, but she leaves and goes to Rome after this. And
04:53now they're seeing spikes and searches for Rome. And so how do we leverage creative on our ads
04:58platform to take and book vacations? So a lot of potential at a local level, but also at a
05:03multi-market level with brands that want to do that. I heard Expedia talk about, it was something
05:10I hadn't heard about before, but set jetting. Yep, set jetting. It's a big trend. They're seeing,
05:16they're also a very data-driven company like us. They're seeing so much spike when a show
05:22comes live and they have a destination. And so what they're trying to do with us is figure out
05:26how they action that, right? And say, oh my God, if you're seeing search traffic to a particular
05:31destination, how do we develop creative together and campaigns that help them, you know, act on
05:37those dreams? So Squid Game maybe didn't inspire the same kind of travel plans as Emily in Paris,
05:46but you know, you've mentioned a couple of times Netflix and your group in particular takes a
05:51fan-first approach. What does that mean? And that is Little Dicky in the ad. That's Little Dicky
05:58right there. From the show Dave. He's a big fan of Squid Game. And so what we mean by
06:05fan-first, right, is that it might seem like a small reframe, but we don't talk about our members
06:11or subscribers as members of subscribers. We talk about them as fans. And so everything we do as a
06:16company revolves around the notion that we have to bring the best possible experience to our fans.
06:22That's at a content level, that's at a brand level, that's at a partnership level, right? And so
06:27the insight here is, while it's a show about murder, a lot of people actually wondered what
06:33it would be like for them to play those games. Would they be brutal and, you know, kill someone
06:37along the way to win? Would they be more passive? And so being fan-first in the partnership space
06:43meant, how do we bring this to life for fans and the audience of Johnny Walker in particular? And
06:48so that was a takeover at Times Square. And essentially they got to play red light, green
06:53light. One of the biggest billboards directly facing where they were running was acting as the
06:57doll. Especially green light they would move, red light they would stop. The ones that didn't do it,
07:03you know, died and got taken off. And we also had custom bottles, ads that ran on our platform as
07:09well. And if you want to experience it, we're opening up our Squid Game experience here in
07:15New York City. Just down the street. Just down the street. And you could relive and play all
07:20these things. So that's fan-first. And everything we do is how do we bring to life and add value
07:25to folks that want to experience our shows just a little bit further.
07:28So Lil Dicky is the new spokesperson for Johnny Walker. And so it was, it just, the stars align
07:34there? Or you knew this and that's how it... It's one of the things we do, right? We're very
07:39insight-led, very fan-forward. We knew he was a fan. They were wanting to work with him. And so
07:44this connection with this title made a ton of sense. Okay. And what did the winner of that
07:48Times Square Squid-Off get? A bunch of whiskey. Okay. Makes sense. All right. You know, I'm
07:55wondering also, how do you work with the producers and the showrunners on your partnership campaigns?
08:00You know, how do you balance the creator priorities? And, you know, you mentioned you don't
08:06want to kind of get in the way. You don't want to pull focus, so to speak. How does that process
08:12work at Netflix? So we're very selective, right? Like, I think the first thing is we want the show
08:18to be really good. Being fan-first means you want to create a piece of content that really
08:22speaks to the audience. And so the decisions, you know, aren't advertiser-led. We really let our
08:28creatives tell the story they want to tell and only find unique opportunities to integrate when
08:33it makes absolute sense and will actually elevate the experience. And beyond that, we
08:37aren't really interested in doing it because we really want to protect the quality of our shows.
08:42And what is the promise here? You know, what are you selling exactly? Is it
08:48people want to have access or adjacency to these, you know, shows that everybody's talking about?
08:55And, you know, what are the proof points? What are the KPIs they expect in return?
09:01So most brands come to us with very different problems, right? Some are just like, we just
09:05need awareness. Or someone was like, we need to drive a specific action. I think that's where
09:10our team really excels. We have an in-house team of strategists and in-house team of creatives that
09:15really listen to these higher-level KPIs. At the core, what most brands want, though,
09:20is some sort of access to the cultural conversation that's happening around our shows.
09:25I think right now you'd be hard-pressed to not be talking about The Perfect Couple or
09:30Nobody Wants This. And so it's a unique opportunity where with Netflix, every Friday is a chance for
09:35a show to pop. And we find ways to bring brands into that cultural conversation. And so sometimes
09:42it could be through very specific targeted ads. Sometimes it's much more stunty-led things.
09:49But at the end of the day, it's about finding that right connection for the audience
09:53with the creative around the right show that makes sense for them.
09:57So where in the process does your team come in? You know, show is greenlit. You get a lot of
10:04inbound interest, I'm assuming, for certain shows depending on what the brand advertiser is
10:10interested in doing. Yeah. I mean, how does that conversation start? Does it depend on the project?
10:16It depends on projects. Sometimes we're way up early upstream or we've seen a script and we
10:21know what's going on and what brands might be a good fit. Sometimes it's way after that
10:26when a show is about to launch and we have a conversation with a brand and we say, you know
10:31what, you would be perfect for this show. Let us show us some ways in which you can connect.
10:35So there's a variety of ways that we engage. But we really, with our partners, we want to get really
10:40deep into what they're trying to accomplish and then come back with a strategic intersection that
10:46might make sense. You mentioned, you know, Netflix expanding into different areas and things like
10:53that. One of the other areas is games, right? And there is an Emily in Paris game, Netflix
11:00stories. You make choices and it's a romantic comedy story. Very aspirational and all that.
11:07What is the branding opportunity on the game side of the business?
11:12So right now, it's really early days on the game side. We're really getting really good at
11:16distributing games, building them around our IP or what works. So we're not bringing brands into that
11:22opportunity today. But at the end of the day, what we're trying to do is give our fans another extension.
11:27So you've watched Emily in Paris, you've experienced a couple of partnerships, what you want more of it.
11:32And the game gives you that opportunity to extend that storyline just a little bit further.
11:37So we're not working with brands just yet on games, but, you know, maybe someday.
11:42Now, when you think about, you know, the portfolio of content at Netflix, is it mostly scripted
11:49programming that, you know, presents the most opportunities here? Is there, you know, an unscripted
11:55opportunity that, you know, Gavity's gotten into a lot, a lot of unscripted programming,
12:00Love is Blind, things like that. How are you leveraging, you know, that genre?
12:05I think that's a really fun genre. Like some of those unscripted series drive the most conversation,
12:10actually. Love is Blind, the fans of that show are, I would say, just as rabid as the fans of Stranger Things.
12:16We did a really fun partnership with Cupcake Wines that we brought, you know, into the
12:22reunion and we had a bunch of things. So unscripted is very much an opportunity. We have some exciting
12:26things coming down the line. We've gone deep in sports in the unscripted space, and so we think
12:32that's going to be a growing thing. On the series side, multiple opportunities. On the film side,
12:37continues to ramp up as well. Did you do anything with the Tom Brady roast, by the way? Was it...
12:43We didn't bring partners into that, mainly because it was, you know, they wanted it to be the
12:49raunchiest roast that they ever had. So we thought, let's give brands a break from the potential
12:55backlash of this. Brand safety issue, folks. But it really, I think, does signify how we think about
13:02live, where it was, you know, how do we take a roast and make it like over the top and make it feel
13:07like a cultural event? And one of the most gratifying things for us as a brand was to see
13:12the conversation ramp up. By the time Nikki Glaser got on stage and did her bit, it was all over the
13:18world, blowing up, memes already happening, and the viewership ticking up of that particular
13:24series. So live is something we'll continue to go big, and it's definitely an opportunity for
13:29advertisers. And every time you do one of these things, you get more information, you get more
13:33experience of how you might do it the next time around, I'm assuming. We're an always evolving
13:38learning platform, and that's across everything we do. Yeah, so, yeah, you mentioned live programming.
13:45There's the two NFL games coming up in December, in the United States, anyway. Yep, global.
13:52Globally. Yeah, I think one of the beauties of us being a global platform is not the opportunities
13:56that we can bring to the brands by themselves, but the NFL came to us because they have an interest
14:00in growing globally, right? And so we're the only platform that can operate in all these markets all
14:04at once. So those games will stream live in all of our markets that we operate in, which is an
14:10incredibly exciting opportunity for them as well. And live continues to grow. So we have, obviously,
14:15Christmas Day, and we think about that as an event. We will own Christmas. If you want to watch NFL,
14:20come to Netflix. You can only imagine we're going to have a fun halftime show, we're going to have a
14:24fun pre-show, and that'll be something that our creative teams are really excited about working.
14:29But we also have something November 15th, which is the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight,
14:35which will be an event in itself. I've been lucky enough to be in a couple shoots between these two
14:39guys. They're both characters, they're both a trip, and to see Mike Tyson, he's a scary, strong
14:46fighter. He's ready to go. And we're excited to announce that we have five brand partners for that
14:51as well. We have Celsius, we have DraftKings, we have Spottin, we have Experian, and we have
14:56MetaQuest. And there'll be some traditional placements in terms of mat placements with
15:01Celsius in the center and DraftKings in the corners of the mat. But we also have some really fun
15:06integrations that will add to the experience of the fans with those brands. So you guys heard that
15:11here first. Those five brands, really we're having a fun time figuring out how to bring them to life
15:15through the broadcast. So what other kinds of integrations will we see for that? You'll see
15:22when you tune in. Okay. Is Logan Paul going to make a fan duel bet or... DraftKings, sorry.
15:31DraftKings. We'll see. We're working through the creative execution. Okay, all right. You know,
15:37since no conversation like this would be complete without somebody asking about AI,
15:42let me ask you about AI. How does that fit into what you're doing today? Where could it
15:48be something you use as an application? You know, put it in context for us. So AI, like everyone,
15:57we have curiosities and we're trying to figure out our angle for AI is always, how do we make
16:02it a tool that will enhance what our creatives are doing? Nothing will replace the human storytelling
16:07aspect, right? But there are some things that might be benefit from it, like sometimes our CGI graphics,
16:15could that benefit from something like AI? Or a storyboard that you want to bring to life before
16:20you shoot something could be brought to life before you kind of roll camera. So it's really about tools
16:26that enhance the experience versus any kind of replacement mechanism for our creative. But in
16:31terms of brand partnerships, any interest there, any work there that might incorporate AI? Like I,
16:38you know, I put my face in Emily in Paris. No. I thought I would do that. Yeah, let's hope not,
16:44Todd. No, we're not there. I mean, I think we're all going to experiment with tools,
16:49but I don't think in the creative development for us just yet. Okay, so looking out here,
16:56what does the future hold for Netflix, broadly speaking, in terms of brand partnerships and the
17:02advertising business? You know, and you're also, the company is doing more and more in-person
17:09events and installations, you know, is that just, that's another, that's more real estate
17:16for you to work with partners and sell them? Yeah, so I think for me, it's a couple things.
17:22The future holds, we're going to scale this, right? We operate in 12 ads markets. We're building
17:26in-house creative teams everywhere we have. We want to bring, like I said, brands closer to our
17:31fans and that requires the right folks. But we also, what I get most excited about, and I love
17:37bringing to brands is just an ecosystem of packages or opportunities. So it's not buy one piece of
17:43media where it's a 15 and 30. Those are great or a single title sponsorship, which are driving
17:49like 3X engagement that we see on linear television. But when you extrapolate that into,
17:54let's say you're a fan of Poglandia and you can have the sponsorship, but you could also
17:58activate at a live thing. So Poglandia is based on the show OBX, but it's all Gen Z and we did a
18:05concert in line. So these experiences that we have here for Squid Game, the Poglandia Festival,
18:12and many others are more opportunities for a brand to, you know, leverage multiple touchpoints of
18:17where our fans live and exist. And so that's, I think, where we're going to go is just more
18:22expansive opportunities. We can go into live, we can go into scripted, we can go social, we can go
18:27real live, we can go into our premieres. And mixing all those things together for particular brands is
18:32where it gets really powerful. And, you know, we've hired some of the best that are sitting back there
18:36to bring those opportunities to life. What advice do you have for agencies or brands that want to
18:44work with Netflix? What are, you know, what are the most effective ways to collaborate with you,
18:49to integrate with you? I think the word collaborate is key, right? I think the brands that want to
18:56open up and say, let's co-create something. If you guys bring the insights of your shows and your
19:02fans and we bring the insights of our brands together, we can collectively come up with really
19:08incredible programs, with strong creative, with a media plan that starts on Netflix and then goes
19:14out from there. And so I think that's it. It's like the co-creation and collaboration aspect that
19:20I think has led to some of our most successful programs. And I know you've maybe done this to
19:24some extent, but what sort of appetite, what opportunity is there for Netflix to do
19:29fully branded content, you know, brought to you by? We, look, we're exploring and experimenting
19:38with a lot of things. But like I said, on the content side, we want to make sure that we are
19:42really focused on great creative. And so if we were to do that into that space, that's the
19:48first and foremost thing. It has to work for our content executives and our creatives. They know
19:53what they're doing in that space. And your customers, I mean, the end viewer. Exactly. And the flip side
19:58of that coin is our fans. And so, you know, we'll toe dip there. It's not something that we're really
20:04focusing on at the moment. We think there's other ways to bring brands closer to our audiences.
20:09And going back to Emily in Paris for just a second, you know, what about, you know, pulling
20:14up an on-screen prompt in the middle of it, like, buy this outfit? I mean, is that, is that an
20:20opportunity or would that disrupt the viewing experience again? That feels a little disruptive.
20:24So the way that we did it with this particular partnership was through a pause ad. So you already
20:28naturally pause, the show has stopped, and then that's an opportunity to serve you an outfit that
20:34you might think is cool and then you can take some action. But in terms of interrupting the
20:38viewing, that would be like a big no from a fan experience. All right. Well, good. We're almost
20:44out of time, but let me ask you, what's your prediction? Mike Tyson or Logan Paul? That's a
20:50hard one. Who's going to come out? I would say if Mike Tyson can keep it to a short fight, I think
20:56he will win. I think if it goes long, I think his age will show and Jake Paul might take him out.
21:02It's kind of a weak answer because I've kind of hedged my bets, but
21:07you know, they're both interesting characters. It's youth versus beauty. Anyway, thank you,
21:12everybody, for coming and thank you, Mano, for a great conversation.