Digital marketing brand comparison between Netflix and Hulu for Jen Osbon's Social Media Marketing Strategy (Mark 4450) course at the University of Georgia

1. KELLY WEBER
HOW DO YOU VIEW?
A BRAND COMPARISON
BETWEEN
NETFLIX AND HULU

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Industry Overview………......………………...……....3
Company History
Netflix………………………………….………4
Hulu………………………………….………....5
Sentiment Analysis……………………...…….………6
Website
Netflix…………………………………….……8
Hulu…………………………………….……....9
Facebook
Netflix……………………………...………...11
Hulu………………………………….………..12
Twitter
Netflix………………………………......…....14
Hulu…………………………………....…......15
Instagram
Netflix……………………………......…..…..17
Hulu…………………………………………...18
Tumblr
Netflix……………………………….............20
Hulu………………………………...…….…..21
Followers Analysis……...…………………………....23
Comparison Summary…………....…................….24
Overall Winner….......….…………………..........…...25

3. THE DAWN OF A NEW AGE
INDUSTRY OVERVIEW
The cable television industry is a tricky one, and it’s growing ever more intricate with the
addition of many online television streaming options. Originally there were two options for
consuming your desired video content, either on your TV or on a DVD, and with the
consumer’s increased desire for access over ownership came the rise of DVD rental services.
Brick and mortars like Blockbuster owned our souls from the early 90s up until Netflix broke
the standard business model and found a way to circumvent the fixed costs of retail stores.
Then in 2007 Netflix once again changed the video entertainment game by offering their
subscribers a way to stream television shows and movies over the internet instead of waiting
for DVDs to become available in a store or to arrive in the mail. This development of video
content streaming has institutionally changed the cable television industry. With Netflix
leading the charge many online video streaming sites have emerged like Hulu, Amazon Video,
HBO Now, and Sling TV.

4. HISTORICALLY
COMPANY HISTORY OF NETFLIX
After being forced to pay $40 worth of late fees to Blockbuster for keeping the cinematic
masterpiece Apollo 13 well past its due date, Reed Hasting, co-founder and current owner of
Netflix decided he wanted to get into the DVD rental business. Even though the story has
since been discredited, it identifies a few future inspirations for what would become critical
to Netflix’s success. Hoping to differentiate, Hastings and his then partner Marc Randolph
set up a website for DVD rentals, but at its root was essentially the same as Blockbuster,
including due dates, rental costs, and late fees. At the turn of the century Netflix decided to
drop the traditional business model in favor of one monthly subscription fee for as many
DVD rentals as the consumer’s heart desired. This paved the way for what would eventually
become Netflix’s real success, unlimited video streaming. In 2007 Netflix managed to
essentially change the industry by introducing streaming; for a monthly subscription fee,
consumers could now watch Netflix’s library of movies and television shows through the
internet. Since that fateful day in 2007 the company has expanded exponentially; minimizing
the DVD portion of the business model, partnering with modern consumer electronics for
easy access to their online library, and expanding their service globally.

5. HISTORICALLY
COMPANY HISTORY OF HULU
Hulu.com went live in 1999, on it you could find the personal and family photos of one Amy
Hung. Fast forward to 2007 and the Hung family can no longer see Amy’s updates, instead
when they go online to check on their relative they are invited to join a beta test for a
brand new video streaming website, Hulu.com. If they were worried about Amy we’ll never
know, but she was undoubtedly well compensated when NBC bought Hung’s personal URL. In
October of 2007 the beta testing of the video streaming company then owned by Comcast,
Facebook, Myspace, and AOL. Then in March of 2008 Hulu becomes open to the public as a
brand new free video streaming site with unlimited access all the way up until 2010 when
Hulu Plus is launched with a subscriber’s fee. With the introduction of Hulu Plus, the amount
of free content on the website began to diminish and more and more content could only be
viewed post-payment. After that point, while Netflix was partnering with electronics brands,
Hulu was signing with different cable and television entertainment companies to attain
exclusive rights to as many television shows as possible. Then shortly after Netflix began to
offer original content, Hulu followed suit and has since developed and partnered on
numerous original television projects kept almost exclusively to US audiences.

6. HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?
SENTIMENT ANALYSIS
STRENGTH SENTIMENT
PASSION REACH
Strength is the likelihood a brand is being talked about on social media. The ratio of
generally positive to generally negative comments about a brand on social media is called
sentiment. The likelihood that once a person has talked about a brand on social media, they
will talk about the brand again and repeatedly is customer passion. And finally reach or
influence is the number of unique individuals talking about the brand divided by the number
of mentions.

7. 81% 9:1
30% 54%
69% 4:1
37% 44%
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT?
SENTIMENT ANALYSIS
Essentially, what this really means is
that there’s a lot of people talking
about Netflix on social media,
particularly Twitter, and that a lot of
people have very positive things to
say about the brand, since
sentiment is decently high. That
being said, only about 1/3 of the
people talking about Netflix are
likely to talk about them sometime
again in the future which is not
spectacular.
These numbers indicate that Hulu
remains only a few technicalities
behind Netflix. Hulu is less likely to
be organically talked about than
Netflix and with a lower sentiment
and reach that means less people
are talking positively about the
brand on the same platforms as
Netflix, like Twitter. But with a
notably higher passion score, the
users talking positively about the
brand are likely to do so more than
once, which is key for word of
mouth brand exposure.

8. WEBSITE
NETFLIX The Netflix website is clean and streamline, you
are either there to sign up for a membership or
you are not. There is really no last-minute push
to try and convince you that this is the product
you need; there is a one month free trial offer
with a highlighted and easy cancelation offer and
that is just about it.
Users, after logging in, are presented with list
upon list of countless television shows and
movies they now have at their finger tips. The
dark background of the entire site gives of a
cinematic feel and encourages users to snuggle
up with a good blanket and settle in for some
binge watching.

9. WEBSITE
HULU
The Hulu website is very segmented
and there are three distinct sections
of the website: an discounted rate
offer, a taste of what their library
includes, and a detailed list of what
each services the two memberships
provide. On their homepage Hulu
really communicates the value of
their product, they are quite clear
about what a user will be getting
for their money. But that being said,
Hulu fails to communicate how a
consumer’s life will improve with
the purchase of their product.

10. YOU GET A GOLD STAR!
WEBSITE WINNER
Netflix is the winner of the website comparison! With a
more user oriented feel the Netflix website is simply
more enjoyable to interact with. When a new consumer
goes to the website for the first time they are being
sold Netflix as a brand, not Netflix as a product.

11. FACEBOOK
NETFLIX
One word that excellently sums up Netflix’s Facebook
page is balance. There is great ratio of the typical,
this-is-now-streaming posts and trailers to some great
brand cultivation posts. Netflix is able to showcase
elements of the Netflix lifestyle through posts that are
not direct advertisements or reminders for their
customers. However, Netflix does seem to struggle
with how to efficiently provide as much information
about their shows. In quite a few Netflix Originals
trailers the titles and show information were difficult
to locate.

12. FACEBOOK
HULU
Hulu’s Facebook page is very obviously run by a
business. Almost every single one of their posts
includes the words “now streaming on Hulu”. But on
this platform that is not necessarily a bad thing.
Facebook is one of the oldest social media platforms
and many users understand that Facebook embraces
advertising and its utility as a consumer touch point.
Hulu also does a spectacular job of interacting with
their customers on Facebook; their prompt and witty
responses are great for gaining acknowledgment and
keeping their current followers engaged.

13. YOU GET A GOLD STAR!
FACEBOOK WINNER
Hulu is the winner for the Facebook comparison! Even
though it is pretty obvious what Hulu’s Facebook strategy
is, does not mean it is a bad one. They use their posts
efficiently to remind their followers what they can watch
on their website and what is band new. They are also
amazing at interacting with their customer and are
making the most of this consumer touch point.

14. TWITTER
NETFLIX
Netflix carries over that descriptive adjective from their Facebook to their
Twitter, balanced. There is a great balance of Netflix generated content as
well as retweets from authorities such as newspapers, magazines, and the
actors from many Netflix television shows and movies. It is also obvious that
Netflix takes the time to generate content and posts specifically for Twitter;
they manage to avoid using only videos in their multimedia posts. Finally, and
most importantly, Netflix followers actually like and retweet their posts! It is
not at all unusual for a post to be live for only a few hours before it achieves
thousands of interactions.

15. TWITTER
HULU
Hulu clearly understands that, while popular, Twitter is not the only
platform that their customer uses; they have effectively integrated other
forms of social media into their Twitter posts, offering their followers direct
channels to their Snapchat, Instagram, and website. They have also achieved
a great ratio of platform specific original content to sponsored tweets and
reposts from fans and prominent actors and actresses. That being said, Hulu
has an abysmal amount of interaction on this platform, even with over 250
thousand followers they only average a handful of likes and retweets.

16. YOU GET A GOLD STAR!
TWITTER WINNER
Netflix is the winner for the Twitter comparison! This
was a rather simple choice when it came down to what
the real purpose of social media is, interactions
between people. Even though Hulu and Netflix have
very similar strategies to navigating Twitter, Netflix has
the numbers to back up their efforts.

17. INSTAGRAM
NETFLIX
Using Instagram, Netflix has been able to effectively
and enticingly tell the stories that go on behind the
scenes of their product production. Their account has
hardly any television or movie trailers and few if not no
posts saying that a show or movie is now streaming on
their website. Even though Netflix is a video streaming
company they understand that Instagram was created
for photos, and use a majority of high quality
photographs or memes to tell the story behind their
brand.

18. INSTAGRAM
HULU
Hulu is using their Instagram account as an
advertising platform instead of as the social media
platform it is supposed to be. This in turn makes all
of their posts seem inherently awkward, even though
most of them simply inform their followers that new
shows or movies are available to stream. Hulu has
very high quality photo and video posts but suffers
from the same issues many adults on Twitter do, like
overuse of hashtags. Hulu also follows the advertiser's
guidebook to Instagram by incorporating giveaways
and contests that can only be entered by tagging a
friend or liking a post. That being said, it is likely Hulu
encourages these activities because of their low
response rates for a majority of their posts.

19. YOU GET A GOLD STAR!
INSTAGRAM WINNER
Netflix is the winner of the Instagram comparison! Their
win can partly be attributed to their inherent
understanding of Instagram as an ideal storytelling
platform. It should also be noted that while Netflix fails to
actually promote their products on Instagram, Hulu does
not succeed it its own venture and Netflix does a great
job of selling their overall brand.

20. TUMBLR
NETFLIX
Tumblr is a rather interesting platform that many business have left
to organic users because it can at times be difficult to navigate.
Netflix once again addresses the challenge of digital media strategy
by doing what the users are doing, treating the platform as a social
space. Netflix’s blog on Tumblr looks just like a personal blog, their
username is the only hint that the blog is owned by a business as
none of their posts are branded. They even refrain from tagging their
posts with the company’s hashtag! As far as posts are concerned,
Netflix creates funny picture sets from their shows and movies that
showcase the Netflix lifestyle. It honestly took quite a bit of effort to
find a single post that included a release date of a popular television
show.

21. TUMBLR
HULU
Right off the bat, as is the case with many of their social media
platforms, it is quite obvious that their Tumblr blog is owned by
a business. They even link the webpage to sign up for Hulu’s
services at the top of their blog. That being said they are smart
to link all of their other social media accounts to their blog. It is
also rather obvious through their liberal use of hashtags that
Hulu is very concerned with being searchable on Tumblr, likely
hoping to gain awareness and expand viewership. Hulu is also
quite obviously lacking in the original content department, as a
vast majority of their posts on Tumblr have simply been taken
from their Instagram and Facebook pages.

22. YOU GET A GOLD STAR!
TUMBLR WINNER
Netflix is the winner of the Tumblr comparison! Once
again Netflix has shown superior understanding of the
platform along with a creativity and originality that
Hulu fails to showcase in the same space. Netflix’s
focus on brand make their blog more authentic and
enjoyable to browse.

23. ONLINE FANS
FOLLOWER ANALYSIS
NETFLIX HULU
27,532,126
Facebook likes
2,394,532
Facebook likes
2.34 million*
Twitter
followers
256,000 Twitter
followers
2.5 million*
Instagram
followers
72,500
Instagram
followers
n/a Tumblr
followers
n/a Tumblr
followers
The numbers are quite clear in the story
they tell, Netflix is simply a more
popular brand than Hulu. With
significantly more followers on every
known platform it is rather obvious that
Netflix is no longer concerned with
brand awareness, something that shows
in their digital media strategies in
comparison to Hulu’s. On most of their
platforms Netflix is telling their story and
selling their brand, not their revenue
generating service.
* Netflix accounts specific to US based audience

24. IN SUMMARY
COMPARISON SUMMARY
Netflix undoubtedly swept this digital media comparison with four platform wins in Website,
Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr. While Hulu took the win for their clear and direct advertising
intentions on Facebook, Netflix illustrated that simpler can be better. When interloping into a
platform that was created originally for only social interaction now oversaturated with
advertisements and marketing some businesses can find success in just taking a step back
and trusting their brand’s story to attract future customers.

25. AND THE GRAND PRIZE
OVERALL WINNER
At this point it’s pretty obvious, Netflix is the clear digital media
champion. Netflix is quite notably superior in their their digital and social
media usage because they manage to stick to the platform, they are
using each and every website as it was originally intended to be used.
They are telling us their story, selling to us what it really means to be
Netflix. Hulu is telling us what the reasons for choosing their site are
while Netflix is showing us why we should spend our time with their
brand. When Hulu is throwing around dates and telling us what products
they offer Netflix has become that best friend we send funny videos to
during class or meetings. In a world where brands are becoming more
like people, and people are becoming more like brands, Netflix is
succeeding because they are connecting to us not brand-to-consumer,
but person-to-person.