Netflix Predicts a Year of Growth and Momentum for Advertisers at Upfront 2024
Advertise with us to reach the most engaged audience in the world was the resounding message Netflix sent to advertisers through its Upfront 2024 presentation in May.
The event showcased impressive subscriber growth strategic partnerships with industry leaders and unveiled new in-house ad tech to optimize ad campaigns and enhance brand visibility. With a passionate and highly engaged user base, Netflix is positioning itself as the ultimate advertising platform, offering unparalleled opportunities for brands to connect with a global audience.
Indeed, the reach of a growing subscriber base was salivating enough for advertisers, but Netflix’s Upfront 2024 teased more for everyone — audience, advertisers, and the world.
New partners and new in-house ad tech for advertisers
Let’s talk numbers. Netflix’s ad-supported plan has been running in 12 countries across Europe, the Americas, and APAC since the end of 2022. The number of subscribers has reached 40 million — a 5 percent jump from last year.
As Netflix celebrated the rising numbers of its ad-supported plan subscriptions, it also shined a spotlight on its new powerhouse partners: Nielsen, Affinity Solutions, DoubleVerify, EDO Inc, Integral Ad Science, iSpotTV, Kantar, Lucid, NCSolutions, and TVision. With these market leaders on board, advertisers now have top-tier tools to measure and verify the impact of their ad campaigns, ensuring they get the most bang for their buck.
Another breakthrough announcement from Netflix was the launch of an in-house ad tech by the end of 2025. The in-house ad tech of Netflix will give it complete control over its advertising future. With the launch, Netflix can move away from generic advertisements and will change how ads are delivered. Moreover, Netflix did not reveal the course of action through in-house ad tech but might want to experiment with episodic campaigns through which ads can tell a story rather than creating and delivering repetitive ads.
Amy Reinhard, President of Advertising at Netflix, said, “Bringing our ad tech in-house will allow us to power the ads plan with the same level of excellence that’s made Netflix the leader in streaming technology today.“
Keeping advertisers in prime focus, Netflix plans to expand its buying capabilities by including The Trade Desk, Google’s Display & Video 360, and Magnite to enhance the targeting precision and ad performance for advertisers. Integration of these industry leaders will provide more robust and accurate insights to optimize ad placement, ensuring advertisers achieve maximum reach and impact.
Giving a home to brands to advertise
Netflix fandom comprises millions of active users who are always buzzing about every unmissable moment from their favorite shows and movies. At Upfront 2024, Netflix didn’t just highlight this vibrant community to advertisers—they showcased how this passionate engagement creates golden opportunities for brands.
The live events and ad plan of Netflix will offer more opportunities for advertisers to reach the broader audience group and find a home for their brands among the fandom.
Netflix’s viewership insight gave a foolproof overview of the brand’s engaged audience, which would be the targeted focus of advertisers for their ads. According to Nielsen, over 70 percent of Netflix’s ad-supported subscribers watch for over 10 hours a month — 15 percent higher than the brand’s close competitors.
“Our audiences are highly engaged — and by engaged, I mean that they are choosing to spend their time watching Netflix,“ Bela Banjaria, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, expressed at the Upfront 2024.
Unlocking the content-driven advertising space of Netflix
Netflix’s total viewership hours in 2023 was 183 billion. With a B. Commodifying and detailing how deeply Netflix influences the general population is impossible – but suffice it to say that advertising on Netflix leads to increased brand awareness, higher engagement and conversion rates, and enhanced brand perception due to its large, diverse and highly engaged audience. This results in practical market penetration, a competitive advantage, better ROI, and valuable data-driven insights for advertisers.
But first, Netflix has to focus on creating quality content. Bela Banjaria, the Chief Content Officer, emphasized the need for quality content that spans genres, generations, languages, and regional boundaries.
Netflix announced a series of new movies and shows, including “Happy Gilmore 2”, “The Waterfront”, and “Golf”, along with sequels of previous groundbreaking series such as “Squid Game” and “3 Body Problem”.
The sports genre is catering to a demographically significant section, potentially enticing many advertisers to work with Netflix in the coming years. The National Football League (NFL) will stream on Netflix in 2025 and 2026. The streaming platform will stream WWE’s award-winning documentaries, original series, and forthcoming projects globally at the beginning of 2025. The upcoming live stream of the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight on Netflix in July will feature several product placements and branding inside the ring.
Cut to the chase
Netflix’s Upfront 2024 presentation peaked with bold pledges and catchy promises aimed at advertisers. The digital streaming giant is positioning itself as the ultimate home for brands by partnering with online advertising firms and data-analytic companies and setting up an in-house ad tech to streamline buying and selling ad space.
