Netflix and Amazon are both trying their best to gain viewers for their Web TV series. Therefore, besides using all the modern advertising methods, they are also using the old school method of using newspaper advertising for attracting viewers. In the Saturday edition of The New York Times, full page ads were taken out by both companies, according to Re/code.
Battle to gain more viewers
Netflix and Amazon are both engaged in a war to gain the maximum number of viewers, and the full page ads in the newspapers indicate the extent both will go to capture more viewers. On Dec. 23, a dark comedy named Mozart in the Jungle will debut, which is being promoted by Amazon while Netflix is promoting Marco Polo, a 10-part-highly-rated series streaming at present.
With Marco Polo, Netflix is probably searching for its next House of Cards, but the latest show has been called a “disappointment” by The New York Times, and Time has referred to it as a “a sprawling mess.” Reviews have been mixed for Mozart in the Jungle, but the show did manage a spot on The New York Times critic’s Mike Hale’s Top 10 TV Shows of 2014.
Apart from being rivals, the two companies are partners as well. Netflix is one of the biggest users of Amazon Web Services, which powers its behind the scenes infrastructure.
Netflix utilizing wide reach of NYT
Netflix at present is one of the popular services when it comes to innovation and online streaming. The new show Marco Polo is being promoted by the company, and it definitely is a smart move to make use of newspaper advertising in one of the leading dailies that has a huge and wide demographic reach. Netflix is always careful of making correct moves, and only after proper evaluation does it takes any step. With advertising in The NYT, it can be trying to reach an audience that is most probably unaware of the latest TV show from them.
With the holiday season approaching, this is the apt time for placing ads in newspapers as people prepare themselves to watch their favorite shows. The two shows have huge expectations, but critics are not very positive. However, it has yet to be seen how effective the newspaper advertising will be for them.
