As Netflix’s hit series “Emily in Paris” returns with a 4th season, the platform has entered into an unprecedented partnership with Google. Gone are the days when we could just admire star Lily Collins’ outfits; now we can buy them in real time.
“Emily in Paris”, the Parisian epic of a young American woman who works in luxury marketing, is the most watched series in Switzerland. Despite criticism for its lack of realism and its clichés about the City of Lights, it has become a true cultural phenomenon. It is also a dream showcase for the world of fashion, which sees sales of the brands the heroine sports soar.
Netflix has understood the goldmine that this series represents and is taking advantage of Emily-mania to push the boundaries of entertainment and commerce. The platform is banking on a light storyline made up of love triangles and postcard-style images of Paris, as well as on product placements. This duality is the secret of the series’ global success. Netflix has never hidden its intentions, clearly warning: “This program uses product placement.”
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Unprecedented partnership with Google
With Google becoming a sponsor of the series, Netflix is moving up a gear. This is the first time the platform has allowed such an intrusive advertising partnership.
Google has even developed a page dedicated specifically to Netflix production, to make shopping easier.
And when the episodes are paused, dedicated spots directly embodied by Lily Collins, the actress who plays Emily, encourage fans to scan the outfits presented in the series. It’s a win-win operation: the series is a cash machine for Netflix and Google ensures its monopoly as the internet search engine.
A turning point in the film industry?
This strategy could mark a turning point in the entertainment industry. It’s as if fiction were becoming a living catalogue, an endless fashion magazine. We’re moving from “seeing” to “having”. And potentially, to the birth of a new economic model for series.
Interviewed in Forum, Max Karli, producer at Rita Productions, notes that this is not entirely new. “Sponsors present in fiction, in audiovisual or in entertainment have been there since the dawn of time. Today, what is happening is that Google, a giant in advertising, is associating with another giant, in entertainment. We no longer know if we are looking at a sales catalogue or fiction.”
The producer further explains that people often use their phones at the same time as they watch something on TV. Companies are trying to figure out how to keep our attention and thus take advantage of this habit.
>> The full interview in Max Karli’s Forum:
What are the new forms of financing for films and series? Interview with Max Karli / Forum / 6 min. / today at 18:12
Miruna Coca-Cozma/lan
