Netflix said that being commercial-free remains a deep part of their brand propositionNetflix has become a very popular streaming giant and for a monthly fee, you get so much high-quality content depending on the subscription tiers including the free tier.
Netflix has in the past said that them being ad-free remains a deep part of their brand proposition.
“Long term, there’s not easy money there,” said Netflix CEO and Co-founder Reed Hastings.
“It’s definitely not a rule. It’s a judgment call. It’s a belief we can build a better business, a more valuable business,” he adds.
Spencer Neumann, Netflix CFO has shared that the streaming platform hasn’t said no to commercials as they have no “religion against advertising.” He went ahead to say that ads are “not something in our plans right now.”
It appears that Netflix has been doing research on this and might bring ads to the platform in the near future. The giant has 222 million subscribers and is working to tap on that advertising revenue.
Dynamic ad insertion?
If this goes through, Netflix may opt to go with pre-roll ads or play ads between auto-play content. Hulu already plays ads when you pause watching and this is going to be annoying for Netflix subscribers.
Brand-name products have been appearing in Netflix original shows even if for free.
House of Cards had at least 57 product placement mentions. It’s worth noting that Netflix leaves those decisions to individual producers.
Netflix rivals in the streaming space like Hulu have dedicated teams in charge of working with brands into the shows.
Such product placement ads receive criticism from subscribers and according to New York Times, many companies are thinking of just doing a few tv commercials and billboards.
“It’s a lot of money to integrate and it’s really hard to do it in an authentic way, and you don’t know how much it will resonate,” said Carrie Drinkwater, the executive director of integrated investments at the Mediahub agency.
Netflix is always against commercials but the recent comments mean that they have changed stance and that we should brace ourselves, ads are definitely coming.
