Netflix Originals

Architecting the earned media strategy and PR launch of Netflix Originals — the announcement that changed how the world watches television

$100M+

Reported value of the House of Cards deal

Emmy nominations for House of Cards S1 — first ever for a streaming-only series

3M+

New subscribers added worldwide in Q1 2013

First

Streaming service to produce original scripted content at this scale

CLIENT

Netflix (via ID PR)

ROLE

Account Lead, Netflix · ID PR

SCOPE

Earned media strategy and execution, announcement architecture, originals launch PR, show-level publicity, press narrative development, media relations across entertainment and business verticals

LANDMARK MOMENTS

2010

Netflix account engagement begins — ID PR brought on as agency of record as Netflix navigates the transition from DVD-by-mail to streaming platform and eyes a new chapter.

MAR 2011

Netflix Originals announcement — House of Cards deal breaks in Deadline as an exclusive. A streaming service outbids HBO and AMC for prestige content.

FEB 2013

House of Cards S1 drops — 9 Emmy nominations. Netflix stock jumps 70% in the week prior. The PR infrastructure built over two years absorbs the moment and extends it.

01 — The moment a streaming service became a content company

In 2010, Netflix was a streaming platform that licensed other people's content. By 2012, it was something no one had a word for yet: a technology company that was also a television studio, releasing prestige drama at a scale that had cable networks, Hollywood studios, and legacy broadcasters scrambling to respond.

02 — Announcing something the industry didn't have a category for

The challenge wasn't generating coverage — it was generating the right coverage. Netflix announcing it would produce original content was genuinely unprecedented. There was no playbook.

03 — Building the narrative infrastructure before the content existed

We approached this as a two-phase campaign. Phase one was announcement architecture: controlling how the House of Cards deal broke, which outlets got the exclusive, and how the originals strategy was framed.

04 — The infrastructure held when the moment arrived

When House of Cards dropped in February 2013, the PR infrastructure built over two years absorbed the moment and extended it. Nine Emmy nominations — the first ever for a streaming-only series.

Part of The New Currency work.

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