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Dear reader, let it be known that if Netflix has a hit TV show, the streaming giant probably advertised the heck out of it.<\/p>\n
Season three of Bridgerton<\/em>, the Shonda Rhimes-produced historical romance, is no exception.<\/p>\n The new season, which had its first part release in May, was the most-streamed TV series that month, notching 5.5 billion viewing minutes. The following month, when Part 2 of the season was released, the show racked up 9.3 billion viewing minutes, making it the most-watched show across any single month for the entire year so far.<\/p>\n Bridgerton<\/em> is already slated for a fourth season, and Rhimes has hinted that many more seasons of Bridgerton<\/em> are ahead, telling Deadline that she looks forward to bringing the series to screens \u201cfor years to come.\u201d.<\/p>\n While viewers were undoubtedly keen on tuning in to watch the show\u2019s surprise engagements and torrid affairs, shows don\u2019t always become hits overnight, and Netflix leaned heavily into marketing the series to encourage audiences to come back again and again since it first became a hit in 2020.<\/p>\n Ahead of this season\u2019s release, the streamer leveraged consumer products aimed at women viewers and hosted themed activations around the globe to help build excitement after a two-year gap between seasons.<\/p>\n Merch has been a key part of Netflix\u2019s strategy in keeping viewers engaged with the show\u2019s high-society escapades. The show inked deals with more than 15 brands, including Allure Bridals, which produced Bridgerton<\/em>-themed wedding dresses; Ruggable, which created a Regency-inspired rug collection; and Williams Sonoma, which released home goods and snacks fit for a tea party.<\/p>\n Beyond home decor and clothing, Netflix also broke into food, including working with International Delight to create Bridgerton<\/em>-branded Berries & Cr\u00e8me and English Toffee creamers and Berries & Cr\u00e8me-flavored iced coffee, Josh Simon, Netflix\u2019s VP, consumer products and live experiences, told Marketing Brew. The products, which retail for less than $5 and are available at Walmart and other grocery retailers, were a natural choice based on the focus of the show, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the series itself, generally tea and food and entertaining play such a big part of the storyline,\u201d he told us.<\/p>\n Outside of the US, Netflix expanded its consumer products partnerships, with product distribution in roughly 180 countries, Simon said. That included teaming up with Liverpool, a chain of department stores in Mexico, to offer Bridgerton<\/em>-inspired women\u2019s apparel and home goods, and commissioning the baked goods company Bauducco in Brazil to manufacture branded treats like biscuits.<\/p>\n Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In all, the streamer tripled Bridgerton<\/em>\u2019s consumer products partners from Season 2, Simon said, expanding into markets including Italy and Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n The multipronged and global merch strategy for Bridgerton<\/em> was designed to reach demographics that are sometimes not served through merchandising, which \u201cis traditionally dominated by kids and family, preschool, [and] animated movies and TV series,\u201d Simon said.<\/p>\n \u201cBridgerton<\/em> really served an underserved audience of female fandom who are just as excited to express their love,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Merch isn\u2019t the only thing Netflix scaled globally to promote Bridgerton<\/em>. Since 2022, the streamer has hosted an experiential activation called \u201cThe Queen\u2019s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience,\u201d which has popped up in nearly a dozen cities worldwide, including Montr\u00e9al, New York, and Melbourne, Australia.<\/p>\n The pop-up ball, which features dancing, music, and plenty of photo ops, is one of several live experiences from the streamer that uses a touring model. Netflix has hosted roughly 50 activations in 25 cities around the world, Simon told Marketing Brew.<\/p>\n For Bridgerton <\/em>fans, the Ball presents an opportunity to live out their high-society fantasies, including through their outfit selection, Simon said. \u201cNinety-plus percent of people who were showing up to that experience were dressing up in Regency attire,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Some fans may take it to an even more extreme level. A Brooklyn couple had a Bridgerton-<\/em>themed wedding in London around the time of the Season 3 debut, which was featured in a four-part reality-show-type series that Netflix shared online. The bride wore an Allure Bridals dress, and the couple prepared for the wedding with the help of actors from the show. They even rode away in a horse-drawn carriage.<\/p>\n While the Season 3 finale has premiered, Netflix will keep its experiential marketing push going. The first two locations of the streamer\u2019s permanent activation, Netflix House, will open at the King of Prussia mall in Pennsylvania and the Galleria Dallas mall in Texas next year, and will feature Bridgerton<\/em> installations in addition to experiences from other Netflix properties, Simon told us.<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea of being able to now open these permanent experiences [was] definitely inspired by and driven from what we learned in the world of Bridgerton<\/em>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nWake up and smell the coffee<\/h2>\n
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