I’m in this bantering WhatsApp group with a few friends that I studied with. In the group, we exchange stupid jokes and tabloid headlines, and we reminisce about times spent drinking together.
I’m very happy to join in all that.
But sooner or later, the conversation turns to Netflix and the shows people are watching. Whenever this happens, I sit there, a frozen smile on my face, with nothing to contribute, quietly desperate inside, waiting for the storm to pass.
I stopped watching TV a long time ago, and I completely missed out on the streaming revolution. I never got into any of the millions of streaming shows.
I wish my friends never got into them either, so I wouldn’t have to sit on the sidelines during the latest rounds of, “It was soooooo good, you should check it out!”
So it was with some malicious glee today that I read an article on Vulture, about Netflix’s recent troubles.
The article came out late last month, on the heels of news that Netflix lost subscribers for the first time in 10 years. Netflix’s stock price dropped 35% as a result, erasing over $50 billion worth of value in one day.
“Good,” I cackled to myself, rubbing my hands together.
But you know what? I might not watch Netflix, but I do care what they do as a company.
Because like Ben Settle has been pointing out for years, we have entered the age of entertainment. Today, not only your education or selling, but even your entertainment, needs to be presold through entertainment and still more entertainment.
And who better to learn from than the hottest entertainment provider today? That’s why I figure Netflix’s hits and misses are both worth studying.
The Vulture article gives an interesting analysis of what has been going wrong at Netflix. The article deserves digging up and reading in full. Here I will share just one fun and easy thing with you.
Netflix innovated binge watching. All episodes of a show were dumped to the public at the same time.
That means you can spend a weekend in bed, eating Nutella out of the jar, and watching episode after episode of Bridgerton until nausea sets in, either from the show or from Nutella.
But while binge watching got Netflix a cult of rabid fans to start, it has its drawbacks, which are now surfacing.
One drawback is obvious. The lifetime of a binged show tends to be short.
The second drawback is less obvious. Many people like the opposite of binge watching, something the Vulture article calls “appointment TV.”
For example, knowing (once upon a time) that Seinfeld is coming on at 9pm every Thursday isn’t just about having a ritual for a Thursday evening for an entire year.
It also creates expectation and excitement.
It allows viewers to bond with their friends who are also watching the same show.
And maybe most important, it allows people the pleasure of sharing and converting others, getting you free publicity, and money money money.
So what exactly am I telling you to do?
Absolutely nothing.
In fact, if you remember anything from this email, remember my disappointed face whenever I hear the conversation turn to Netflix recommendations… and remember my fiendish cackling whenever I read about Neflix’s troubles.
Because I figure that for anything like “appointment marketing” to work, it takes more than just a regular schedule.
The content itself must be fun and easy. Even a hint of work or seriousness is probably deadly.
So in the interest of having you go on Twitter to share the latest Bejako email… or tell your friends that my newsletter is soooooo good and they havetocheckitout… I will stop myself here. And I will go peek in my WhatsApp group, maybe for some political memes to make me chuckle.
And on the next episode of Bejako…
Well, that episode will air tomorrow, at around 8pm CET, in your inbox, in case you sign up for my fun and easy email newsletter.