Lightbox, Netflix, Quickflix and Neon vie for consumer attention

Lightbox has released two new TVCs by creative agency Consortium and production company Kontent in a continuation of its campaign, which has been rolling out since March with the aim of drawing attention to some of the SVOD provider’s more popular shows.

In first TVC, a werewolf visits the fridge to fetch some cookies for him and his girlfriend while they’re having a movie night to promote its show Teen Wolf.

The other TVC features a Sarah Michelle Gellar-styled girl who dive-rolls straight through a bathroom door and jumps back up with a stake in her hand. She also holds a tablet on which she appears to be viewing cult classic Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Both ads then go on to include promotional stills of different shows which might appeal to the kind of audience which would be into those two shows.

It’s previous spot features a Viking having a conversation with his Kiwi wife to promote the show Vikings.

Lightbox’s head of sales and marketing David Hine said earlier that the campaign would highlight a combination of shows that are currently popular among Kiwi viewers, those that are proving popular abroad as well as a range of kids’ shows.

“We really want to show viewers the depth and breadth of our programming,” Hine said. “Vikings is already proving popular with Kiwi audiences, but we also want to draw attention to some of the shows that Kiwis might not be aware of.”

But Lightbox isn’t the only player marketing its services at the moment. Competitor Netflix, which reached New Zealand shores last month has been pretty quiet in terms of advertising its services. So far it has released one TVC. There is no voiceover in the promotional video announcing the arrival of the service in New Zealand. The clip simply provides a highlight reel of key programming playing out to a soundtrack that could suitably accompany a battle scene in an epic war film. There is also no adjustment in terms of reaching a New Zealand audience.

Its Facebook page for the New Zealand service is also pretty tame. It includes clips of its latest shows like Daredevil and How To Train Your Dragon: Race to the Edge.

Netflix has been a bit more creative with its advertising in the US, with the New York Times running a 1,500 word native ad for Netflix’s series Orange is the New Black, using video, charts and audio to supplement text about female incarceration in the US, according to Ad Age.

The SVOD even used comedian Ricky Gervais for another one of its ads. Placing him on the set of Netflix TV shows like Orange is the New Black and House of Cards. It will be interesting to see how Netflix’s advertising will develop here in New Zealand once the service has settled in.

Quickflix, the longest-running service in the market has mainly been advertising its services by posting trailers to popular shows and movies on its social media pages.

Neon on the other hand has been heavily pushing Game of Thrones Season Five through its Facebook page and was giving away an iPad per day until the season premiered on the 14th of April.