Netflix has held talks with global advertising executives to explore the creation of more precise and personalised advertising formats in a bid to win over marketing bosses and boost its advertising revenues.
The discussions, held by the US streaming service with global advertising executives at this year’s Cannes Lion festivals, follow the launch of its ad-supported service last year.
Making its debut at the French festival, Netflix co-chief executive, Greg Peters, and president of worldwide advertising, Jermei Gorman, spent the week connecting with ad execs and brands, leading to a list of possible new advertising options which could be added to the streaming site.
Advertising executives said notable adjustments could include “episodic” campaigns that would see a series of a variety of sequential ads, address the common concern of consumers being repeatedly exposed to the same advert.
The Financial Times reported that multiple advertising executives said Netflix counterparts had outlined a number of ideas to revamp advertising on streaming platforms, including redefining how streamers use platforms – allowing for brands to precisely target their ads in ways not possible with traditional TV channels.
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Other potential changes include a potential end to the partnership with Microsoft technology, a move which would allow Netflix a greater ability to innovate, possibly starting from next year.
The alleged discussions come after the streaming site reportedly hit a milestone of 5 million active users with its ad-supporter tier, just six months after launch.
“They’re building [their own technology] in the background. Once they have their own they’ll do free standing. Microsoft is the interim ad server, but that’ll change when they build their own,” said one advertising exec.
“The plan for Netflix was just to get to market quickly last year. This is not the final way they’re going to do it. They are going to be very creative. There’s going to be a better, a different experience.”
Another source told the FT Netflix would also be able to use customer data to create more customised marketing strategies.
“They’ll know what you’ve seen. So the old days of making episodic work may be back, because before you could never guarantee what people have seen already. Now you can write 15 episodes of an advert and guarantee that the viewer will see them in the right order. So that’s really interesting.”
Other potential changes to the streaming site include developing its gaming business to include advertising.
