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Netflix and all the similar digital-television providers, such as Amazon and Hulu, represent a new era in serial television, not only for their new production style, unconventional plots, or peculiar distribution technique but also and especially for their new method of promotion. Indeed, their new releasing strategy has turned the traditional use of advertising upside down, basing it mainly on the Internet and social media.
As Jason Mittell has suggested, television genres exist as “cultural categories” created through discourse, but today’s television genres have expanded thanks above all to the above new platforms. Moreover, even though all the communication approaches are built on common ground, each of them is also tailor-made for the specific series that it is promoting. For all these reasons, this particular use of advertising can be considered a possible new kind of genre.
Although recent, the literature concerning primarily Netflix and to a lesser degree all the other digital providers is already quite extensive. Indeed, much has been said about the distribution of original TV series, but the strategies used to promote the products and keep the audience’s expectations alive have found less space in the scholarly papers.
This article analyses the strategies that new players use to build a strong brand identity both for their shows and for the platform itself.
It then considers all the characteristic aspects of launching and nurturing a series on digital platforms, which are inherently more reliant on the Internet and social media to build interest and engagement. This analysis also hints at the marked differences between online providers and both network and cable television, giving a strong set of examples taken from the most interesting shows.
