Netflix has partnered with Mastercard as the streamer enacts a more ambitious strategy around in-person experiences tied to its hottest content, in line with news shared with Marketing Dive. The payments company will offer customers exclusive perks, such as presale tickets, as Netflix plots a brand new culinary residency, stage play and more for 2025.
Mastercard will serve as the popular payments provider for Netflix Bites, a “screen-to-table” dining experience on the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, along with “Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” a Broadway prequel to the favored series that is ready within the Nineteen Fifties. In addition, Mastercard is an official partner on Netflix House experiential venues, the primary two of which can cut their ribbons on the King of Prussia mall in Pennsylvania and the Galleria Dallas next 12 months. Netflix Houses can be year-round fixtures installed in former malls that allow guests to dine, shop and take part in other activities that carry a Netflix flare.
In a press release, Mastercard CMO Raja Rajamannar pointed to high consumer interest in memorable experiences. Experiential marketing has had ups and downs through the years, and was waylaid for a period by the COVID-19 pandemic, but stays a helpful tactic for brands seeking to tap into dedicated fandoms.
Netflix has fostered loyal followings for programs like “Stranger Things,” “Outer Banks” and “Bridgerton,” and is eyeing 2025 as a moment to experiment more with activations that may get people off the front room couch and serve as additional sources of revenue. Netflix has previously developed greater than 50 experiences, including one based on the dystopian thriller “Squid Game” that bowed in New York this fall ahead of the show’s second season.
A tie-up with Mastercard demonstrates how Netflix continues to forge deeper connections to brand marketers. Netflix this week also teamed with language-learning app Duolingo to assist users learn Korean, a part of a promotional blitz across the return of “Squid Game” that has also featured corporations like Domino’s Pizza and Johnnie Walker. The streaming platform has been busy ramping up its promoting business as well, though it shouldn’t be yet a meaningful driver of revenue. Experiential sponsorships may very well be one approach to construct a bridge to larger promoting deals.
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