If Oscars were given out for the most amazing billboards, Netflix would rapidly demand a bigger trophy case.
Indicators selling Don’t Look Up, and The Energy of the Canine, the streaming service’s two Greatest Image contenders, are not to be overlooked as the Academy Awards ceremony approaches this Sunday.
Netflix has approximately 20 billboards in Los Angeles, including the prized locations along the Strip, which it purchased four years ago in order to focus on content alongside its Oscar candidates.
Using road advertisements may appear to be a strangely low-tech move for Netflix, which has utilized digital prowess to threaten traditional movie studios ranging from Walt Disney to Warner Bros. However, when it comes to Oscar season, Netflix follows Hollywood’s rules.
The Oscar advertising artwork is more anchored in the golden age of film than in the internet age. Thousands of dollars are spent on billboards, bus stop advertisements, lavish in-person events, and gleaming pullouts in business publications like Selection, all geared at voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
You can watch the Oscar on Hotstar in Australia with the help of a VPN if it is not available to watch there.
Netflix, which has its own nominee in CODA, is competing to become the first streaming service to win the Greatest Image prize. According to experts, Netflix has gone the furthest to integrate itself into the Hollywood system.
Netflix believed in the contender from the start, sending the cast and crew to Venice, New York, Telluride, Toronto, London, and other smaller events across the world.
Rather than challenging the system, Netflix and Apple have embraced it by investing heavily in their Oscar campaigns, which may cost studios $20 million or more to promote a nominee for Best Picture, according to publicists.
The Combo of Apple and Netflix in Action!
For traditional studios, such expenditure may pay off with the “Oscar bump,” or an increase in field workplace income that, in theory, pays the cost of a promotional marketing campaign. Streamers, on the other hand, may experience a subscription “boost,” but they’re focused on a specific pay-off: cachet with high-profile filmmakers and A-list stars.
If Netflix follows Oscar tradition, the Academy is trying to forge its own course. After just 10.4 million people watched last year’s awards — a 56% dip from the previous year and 1 / 4 of its viewers in 2014 — the Academy is attempting to put on a punchier present by excluding several classes from the core broadcast.
Some in Hollywood have reacted angrily to the idea, but for the Academy, an essential revenue stream is at stake. The production’s the USA and international television rights can be worth more than $100 million per year.
Some argue that the Academy has caused itself problems recently by honoring great but lesser-known films rather than blockbusters. Nomadland, last year’s Best Picture winner, earned just $39 million worldwide on the field workplace, despite the fact that it was a pandemic year.
The Academy also attempted to modernize in a variety of ways. Membership has increased from 5,800 in 2015 to around 10,000 as it has worked to broaden its racial, cultural, and gender diversity. Many new members come from the streaming industry.
When it comes to long-simmering accusations of anti-Netflix prejudice in the Academy, which reappeared last year when the streamers underperformed with wins, strategists are split on how true they are, based on what they hear and observe. However, as Netflix continues to generate viable challengers, control the ad market in trade publications and special issues, and spend freely on global campaign events, such feelings will soon be rendered ineffective. In fact, 2022 might be that year.
The streaming-first world is affecting more than just traditional studios. Netflix is also under pressure from new competitors such as Disney+, HBO Max, and other streaming services backed by traditional studios. Netflix shares fell 37% in the preceding six months due to concerns about slowing subscriber growth.
The Oscar boost has already begun for a couple of the extra traditional Best Picture candidates. According to Paul Dergarabedian, a senior analyst at Comscore, King Richard, Dune and Belfast all had field workplace “bumps” following the release of the Oscar nominations in February.
The first week after the nominations were announced on February 4, King Richard’s US box office haul increased sixfold when the film went into broader release. Dune, which has brought in more than $400 million globally since its introduction, had an almost 350% increase. Each is a Warner Bros. film.
Conclusion
Netflix has spent tens of millions of dollars on Oscar campaigns in recent years, winning important honors. The playing field is leveled up, and the options are expanded. We’ll see how wide a net Netflix can cast on nominations day.
