Netflix primes Tumblr service
Netlfix is coming to micro-blogging site Tumblr in a bid to extend the number of ways fans can engage with the brand.
The streaming service debuts on Yahoo’s social network from January, teasing the arrival with a countdown and online video. A post on the site reads: “Waiting is the worst. We are officially counting down. Netflix is coming to Tumblr January 2015”.
The teaser is accompanied by a promotional video, although neither offers any explanation as to what a Netlfix Tumblr account will offer fans. It is likely the upcoming profile will follow the template set by other brands on Tumblr, combining a mix of gifs, video clips and pictures to promote films and series on the service.
Social media has played a key role in the streaming platform’s customer acquisition drive to date and Tumblr’s more visually-focused medium will open up alternative opportunities to its existing Facebook and Twitter channels. Additionally, the social network’s strong international presence, which sees around 60 per cent of its business come from outside the US, will fuel its strategic shift to markets with high broadband penetration and limited economic barriers.
Western Europe and Australia are likely to be priority regions moving forward as demonstrated by the major marketing push for its latest original show Marco Polo in the UK over the festive period.
The expansion drive will likely cause an uplift in Netlfix’s overall marketing outlay, which represents a small fraction of its total revenue. In 2013, the company's advertising spend was $437.9m, roughly 10 per cent of revenue.
For Tumblr, Netflix’s imminent arrival reflects its maturing advertising offering. New tools and best practice examples have manifested on the social network over the last month, championing a more creative approach to the narrowly targeted offerings of its rivals. Earlier this year, Tumblr CEO David Karp told the Financial Times that he wanted prospective advertisers to “show up with the guys putting together the Super Bowl ads” rather than arrive with the “data scientists”.