The Netflix Effect: How the streamer's shows and films influence culture, attracting advertisers
Peter Naylor, Vice President of Advertising Sales, said, “There’s a lot to be excited about over the next year. But the story of ads on Netflix this year is pretty simple: It’s about growth and momentum.”
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Netflix has 270 million subscribers. According to Nielsen, in 2024, the streamer has more hours in the Top 10 than any other streaming service combined. In 2023, Netflix members watched 183 billion hours of Netflix. These are compelling stats for advertisers. But Netflix wants to take its contents' influence and experiences up several notches. Netflix Chief Marketing Officer Marian Lee shared how Netflix shows and films influence culture — a phenomenon that has become known as the Netflix Effect. “It starts with wonderful stories that become unmissable moments for millions of fans,” Lee said. “But then it spreads across Netflix — where our trailers get billions of views — and across our social media channels, where we have a billion very active followers.”
The Netflix ads plan and live events now give advertisers even more opportunities to thoughtfully engage with this fandom, leveraging its growing marketing and creative teams to help more brands find a home in their world, the streamer said. “We’ll help you reach more fans and give you more access on-screen, off-screen, and during some of our biggest moments,” Lee said.
As an example of one of these new opportunities, the company announced that Celsius will be the first presenting sponsor for the upcoming live Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson event this July. Brand partners for the fight will have featured placements throughout the broadcast and customized branding inside the ring.
Peter Naylor, Vice President of Advertising Sales, said, “There’s a lot to be excited about over the next year. But the story of ads on Netflix this year is pretty simple: It’s about growth and momentum.”
The Netflix Experience
This year, Netflix unveiled an interactive Upfront experience showcasing popular titles like Bridgerton, Squid Game, Wednesday and more for advertisers to engage with.
Netflix’s ad-supported plan now has 40 million monthly active users. Over 40% of all signups in Netflix’s ads markets come from its ads plan. Its ad-supported members have a higher household income and are younger than linear TV audiences, with a median age of 37.
Over 70% of Netflix’s ad-supported members watch for more than 10 hours a month - which is 15 percentage points higher than the nearest competitor according to Nielsen. More than half of ad-supported members watch Netflix for more than 20 hours per month.
According to TVision, ad-supported members’ attention is the highest competitively when evaluating a three-hour span. And according to EDO Inc., members are around twice as likely to respond to an advertisement on Netflix compared to other streaming services and linear TV.
