Netflix | A transmedia project (2018) by Rica Pietersen

| A transmedia project

Rica Pietersen 2505800 CO-IEMES - Fontys ACI April 2018 1

CONTENTS Introduction

Brand Analysis Netflix Timeline Netflix Culture Netflix Focus Netflix Content Strategy Competition Summary

6 6 7 8 8 9 11

Transmedia Project Goal Target audience KPI matrix Netflix Amsterdam Netflix â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;transmedia dream team

12 12 12 14 14 15

Content Netflix Original Story Netflix & Lily The Characters The Stories Migratory cues

17 17 17 18 20 27

Design Chosen media platforms User journey

28 28 32

Bibliography

Reflection

38 3

INTRODUCTION “Netflix is the world’s leading internet entertainment service with over 109 million members in over 190 countries watching more than 125 hours of TV shows and movies per day, including original series, documentaries and feature films” (Netflix, 2017). The immense growth of Netflix does not happen overnight, and the company has actually been around for 20 years now. Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings had always wanted to stay ahead of the competition, which ultimately led to the decision to transform Netflix.com into a streaming site. The secret to Netflix’s success is social media. The platform of Netflix is favourable to producing “viral” original content which could give it a sustainable advantage over traditional networks (Franck, 2017). The company’s strategy revolves around creating these ‘Netflix originals’ in order to satisfy the diverse tastes of its global audience (Great Speculations, 2017). As is mentioned before, Netflix is now available worldwide, but are global users aware of the corporate story and identity of Netflix? The goal of this report is to do research on business (brand), content and design level of a transmedia project. Derived from the information from the three levels, a proposal for a transmedia strategy is set up that will fit the organization’s interest. The goal of the transmedia project for Netflix is to share the story and values of Netflix with their global audience by telling different stories through different media. By sharing these facets of the company, it will create a sense of openness and connection with the existent global audience. First, the story of Netflix is to be introduced to the global audience via a direct personal message through mail. This sets the tone for the whole project. Once the receiver is intrigued and willing to discover more of the company’s story, they are exposed to a more detailed story of Netflix in a book, written by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings himself. Values and emotions related to Netflix are translated into different stories containing different characters. By sharing its (core) values, the audience are able to feel more connected to the brand. Since digital entertainment and storytelling are at the heart of the company, it is fitting to share its origin story and values mainly through film and series via digital platforms. Also, these forms of media are the most frequently used by our target audience.

BRAND ANALYSIS “Netflix is the world’s leading internet entertainment service with over 109 million members in over 190 countries watching more than 125 hours of TV shows and movies per day, including original series, documentaries and feature films. Members of Netflix can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on nearly any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.” (Netflix, 2017). This is what the company currently states about itself. Netflix started in 1997 as a DVD-rental-by-mail-firm, and spent the first five years struggling to get to a sustainable model that was cash flow positive. Reed Hastings, founder of Netflix, had always had a strong belief in streaming video. Netflix originally began streaming in the US in 2007, and internationally in 2010. Below is a brief history of the company’s origin and evolution.

Netflix Timeline

Their first original series debuted in 2013, and they became global in 2016, nearly twenty years after starting Netflix. The table below shows its highlights from 1997 up until 2016. 1997 1998 2000

2002 2005 2007 2010

2012

Reed Hastings and software executive Marc Randolph co-found Netflix to offer online movie rentals. Netflix launches the first DVD rental and sales site, called netflix. com Netflix introduces a personalized movie recommendation system, which uses Netflix members’ ratings to accurately predict choices for all Netflix members. Netflix makes its initial public offering (“NFLX”) with 600,000 members in the US. The number of Netflix members rises to 4.2 million. Netflix introduces streaming, which allows members to instantly watch television shows and movies on their personal computers. Netflix is available on the Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, the Nintendo Wii, and other Internet connected devices. Netflix launches its service in Canada. Netflix became available in Europe including the United Kingdom, Ireland and in the Nordic Countries. Netflix wins its first Primetime Emmy Engineering Award.

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2013

2015

2016

Netflix expanded to the Netherlands. Netflix garners 31 primetime Emmy nominations including outstanding drama series, comedy series and documentary or nonfiction special for “House of Cards”, “Orange is the new black”, and “The Square” respectively. “House of Cards” won three Primetime Emmy Awards. Netflix was the first internet TV network nominated for the primetime Emmy. Netflix launches in Australia, New Zealand and Japan, with continued expansion across Europe in Italy, Spain and Portugal. The first Netflix original feature film “Beasts of No Nation” is released. Netflix is available worldwide.

Netflix Culture

The company attach great value to friendship, freedom and integrity at the workplace. Although there is not explicitly a vision stated, their core philosophy is as follows: ‘people over process’. Netflix has great people working together as a ‘dream team’. “A dream team is one in which all of your colleagues are extraordinary at what they do and are highly effective collaborators”, according to Netflix. This approach makes the company more flexible, fun, stimulating, creative, and successful (Netflix, 2017). Within Netflix, values are regarded as being specific behaviours and skills the organization care about the most. Netflix’s values are: - Judgment - Communication - Curiosity - Courage - Passion - Selflessness - Innovation - Inclusion - Integrity - Impact This is a big set of values for any organization. Preferably, an organization has a maximum of four values according to writers of the book “Conceptdenken, van slapend naar levend” by Gaby Crucq-Toffolo and Sanne Knitel. More than four values indicate an absence or lack of a clear focus, mostly translated in a vision. Netflix’s mission statement: “Over the following decades, internet TV will replace linear, and we hope to keep leading by offering an amazing entertainment experience” (Netflix, 2017).

Netflix Focus

Netflix is a global internet TV network offering movies and TV series commercial-free, with unlimited viewing on any internet-connected screen for an affordable, no-commitment monthly fee. Netflix describes itself being a focused passion brand, not a do-everything brand. Netflix focuses especially on being a movie and TV series entertainment network, whereby they strive to be an extremely straightforward brand. An example of this is their ‘no-hassle online cancellation’. Members can leave whenever they want and come back whenever as well. Netflix value the freedom of on-demand and the fun of binge viewing. “We are about the flexibility of any screen at any time. We are about a personal experience that finds for each person the most pleasing titles from around the world.” (Netflix, 2017).

Netflix’s Content Strategy

“People’s tastes are very broad, even in a single market. The internet allows us to offer a wide variety, and to have our user interface quickly learn and make recommendations based upon individual users’ tastes. Those members who love action blockbusters, Korean soaps, anime, sci-fi, Sundance films, zombie shows, or kids cartoons will find that Netflix fills their homepage with relevant and interesting titles.” (Netflix, 2017). The company’s strategy is to focus on original content in order to grow and satisfy the diverse tastes of its global audience. Currently, Netflix is increasing its focus on stand-up comedy and movies. Their aim is to build a portfolio of movies which will attract and retain viewers (Great Speculations, 2017). Since 2013, Netflix has been at a scale where the company can economically create original content and their offering has grown as they gain further scale and confidence. The Netflix originals serve as guidelines for their members’ tastes and as examples of how to produce and promote effectively, and about the positive impact of originals on the brand (Netflix, 2017). By personalizing promotion of the right content to the right member, Netflix has the opportunity for the members to promote their original content, one that’s effectively unlimited in duration. For example, the Netflix original series “House of Cards”: long after the premiere of season one of House of Cards, large numbers of members were still starting the series (Netflix, 2017).

Competition

The organization of Netflix compete for a share of members’ time and spending for relaxation and stimulation, against linear networks, pay-perview content, DVD watching, other internet networks, video gaming, web browsing, magazine reading, video piracy, and much more. Over the coming years, most of these forms of entertainment will improve. Consequently, Netflix is busy trying to stay ahead of the streaming curve by striving to win more of their members’ “moments of truth”. Those decision points are, say, at 7:15 pm when a member wants to relax, enjoy a shared experience with friends and family, or is bored. The member could choose Netflix, or a multitude of other options (Netflix, 2017). If you think of your own behaviour any evening or weekend in the last month when you did not watch Netflix, you will understand how broad and vigorous the competition in the leisure and entertainment market is. Because the entertainment market is so broad, multiple firms can be successful. For example, ABC and NBC have historically competed for viewers, attention and content but have also successfully co-existed for many decades. Similarly, in the internet TV world, HBO is now growing faster than in years past, while our business is also expanding. Many people will subscribe to both HBO and Netflix since we have different exclusive content. The transition to internet TV, with its greater consumer satisfaction, will mean growth for many internet TV services (Netflix, 2017). Video piracy is a substantial competitor for entertainment time in many international markets. It is free and offers very broad selection. Were video piracy to become easy, reliable, and socially acceptable, it could become our largest competitor. Global music revenues have been falling for 15 years due to large scale music piracy. Great inexpensive services like Netflix will hopefully help prevent video from following the decline of music (Netflix, 2017).

Summary of the brand analysis

Netflix started as a DVD-by-rental-mail-firm in 1997, founded by Reed Hastings. It was not until 2007 that Netflix introduced streaming, that allows members to instantly watch television shows and films on their personal computers. Since 2016 Netflix is available to a worldwide audience. Netflix values friendship, freedom and integrity at the workplace. The corporate culture is based on the philosophy of ‘people over process’ whereby employees work together in pursuit of common goals and ambitions. The organization call this a ‘dream team’, a team in which each individual is extraordinary at what he/she does and are highly effective collaborators. Although Netflix depicts a strong corporate culture, having too many values rather brings the vision down. The company’s mission is to stay ahead of the competition in the entertainment market and keep leading by offering an amazing entertainment experience.

TRANSMEDIA PROJECT The expansive growth of Netflix over the past few years has attracted a global audience. Besides being content about this, it is good to think about a strategy that will increase their knowledge about the brand and its identity. This transmedia project is designed to provide the audience of Netflix â&#x20AC;&#x201C; outside the US â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to get to know the story of the company and also its values. This will bring them closer to the brand and reach a more personal level with existent users.

Goal

The goal of this transmedia project is to share the story and values of Netflix with the global audience by telling different stories through different media.

Target audience

For this transmedia project it is important to identify who the audience is and understand what turns them on. By doing this, it is more likely to offer the right content to the right people at the right time. After all, the audience are the ones for whom the message is relevant and resonates (Pratten, 2015). Identifying target audience The target audience for this transmedia project consists of Netflix members (or fans) living in the Netherlands and Belgium. Both male and female Netflix subscribers (no age limitations) are included in this transmedia project. This means that people who actually pay for the subscription are included. Members from other countries are also able to know about the stories, since most of the stories are told via online platforms, but the main focus lies on Netflix members in previously mentioned countries. Currently there are 2.4 million Netflix subscribers in the Netherlands (Smeets, 2018). The current number of Netflix subscribers in Belgium is still unknown, however a report in 2016 states that, at that time, there were 600.000 subscribers in the Flemish region of Belgium (Vogelpoel, 2016). However, this number is outdated and has most likely increased by now. The target audience consists of people with a high level of media consumption; - watching series, films and youtube videos - reading blogs, magazines and books - spending (a great amount of time) on social media

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They possess a smartphone by which they have access to internet 24/7. They enjoy high speed internet through Wi-Fi and mobile data almost everywhere (home, work, school, on the go). New survey data from Netflix shows that about 67% of Netflix users watch Netflix outside their homes. And 37% of Netflix users binge-watch while at work (Luz Henning Santiago, 2017). This is due to a massive cultural change wherein more and more consumers purchase more data and widespread 4G coverage that leads to mobile users streaming large videos (Yang, 2017). Understanding target audience So, we have established who our target audience will be. Now it is time to get a better understanding of them. In order to be able to engage the audience in this project they are categorized into a specific type of player, namely explorers. They enjoy intrigue and curiosity and are immersed in stories when they are able to explore, imagine, learn and interpret elements of the story. However in his book, Robert Pratten mention that each type need another type in order to sustain their fun and engagement (Pratten, Getting started in transmedia storytelling, 2015). So, in order to set up a great transmedia project it has to reach another type of player as well. Of course, the most ideal situation is to reach all four types of players (killers, achievers, socializers and explorers), but looking back at the identification of our target audience there is one other type of player that is to be noticed amongst them: socializers. Because of their 24/7 wifi connection, they are able to look up information and communicate throughout instantly. They are to be found on social media and like to talk with others about their favourite books, films, series, music, games, and their interests (Pratten, Getting started in transmedia storytelling, 2015) Although there are already two major types of players to be identified within the target audience, that wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be enough to make this transmedia project a compelling experience. Socializers and Explorers are both interacting with or about the story, but have a passive attitude. Therefore, the Achievers are to be reached as well. This player type is acting in the story(world) and is more involved within the story. Achievers get enjoyment from their internal experiences in reaction to the behaviour, cognitive and social properties. They like to strategize, reach levels, interpret, investigate and complete tasks (Pratten, Getting started in transmedia storytelling, 2015). This will be a challenge, but is not an impossible goal to reach. In the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Designâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; chapter will be dicussed how the Achievers are supposed to be reached during this transmedia campaign.

KPI matrix

KPI stands for “Key Performance Indicators”. The metrics an organization uses to measure their performance depend on the type of business it is in and whether the things that an organization measures will be an accurate measure of performance. The KPI matrix is used by organizations to set clear targets and drive them forward (Grigg, 2016). In the KPI matrix shown below, I listed down what are considered KPIs – regarding the goal of this transmedia project – in the left row. In addition, the wanted result for each KPI is given. These numbers are reasonable guesses based on the current amount of subscribers, followers, tweets and likes on these social media channels. Wanted result Facebook likes

45.000.000

Youtube subscribers

32.000

Instagram likes (Netflix NL & BE account) Retweets (Netflix NL & BE account Books sold

3.000

Real result

Success?

30.000

Netflix Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the home of Netflix EMEA (European, Middle Eastern and African markets) headquarters, representing over 20 nationalities coming together in a fast-paced environment. Its international ambition is to share the world’s stories to the world’s people (Netflix, sd).

The teams at Neflix Amsterdam are: - Business Development - Content - Finance - Financial planning and Analysis - Human Resources - Legal - Marketing - Marketing Production - PR - Product Management (Netflix, sd)

Netflix ‘transmedia dream team’

The transmedia production team of Netflix consists of people from various backgrounds which adds to the sense of freedom and inclusion that fits the company. The different backgrounds in knowledge and experience contribute to a diverse set of individuals who are part of the ‘transmedia dream team’ within Netflix. Creativity and passion are at the heart of this team philosophy and each team member is eager to bring out his or her greatest potential. The ‘Netflix transmedia dream team’ consists of three people who met on the day this team is assembled. They are Tim, Nara and Anastazja.

Tim Voorhees already worked in marketing and communication department (social media coordinator) of Netflix Netherlands and Belgium, before entering the transmedia team. His knowledge on communication and social media is a valuable asset to the group. Also, he can fluently speak four languages – including Mandarin. In his free time, he likes to play soccer and visit the zoo. He is an excellent cook, and invites his friends often to eat dinner at his place.

Nara Owusu used to do her internship at Netflix. Nara worked hard and was always optimistic about her tasks. Right after finishing her internship, she came back to apply for a job at Netflix. And now she is in charge of the design of all characters, stories, and (social media) channels. Her attention to details ensure that design match perfectly with content. Outside the workplace, she owns a dog and a cat whom she adores, and regularly meet up with her best friend Lindsey.

Anastazja Pētersons has worked in the France office of Netflix before joining the one in Amsterdam. She was the Originals Publicity Manager of Netflix France. The decision to move to Amsterdam was because she wanted to work in another city in Europe. Anastazja is good at planning and coordinating people in a group. Both are crucial for a good workflow during group projects. Anastazja is regularly to be found at festivals and night events. She works hard, but also plays hard.

CONTENT There is one overall story that forms the main body of this transmedia project. Think of Harry Potter’s story from which other stories from different characters emerged. Except, this will be Lily Hastings’ story from which other stories from different characters emerge.

Netflix Original Story

Every Netflix subscriber in The Netherlands and Belgium receive a Netflix envelope containing a DVD. This DVD shows the story of Netflix: from its humble beginning up until its current global status. This subjective documentary consists of an in-depth interview with Reed Hastings, pictures, behind-the-scenes on film sets, an inside look in Netflix headquarters, and interviews with Netflix employees at Netflix Office in Amsterdam and celebrities starring in the Netflix Original series Stranger Things, Orange is the New Black and House of Cards. The envelope also contains a letter in which the Netflix story and transmedia campaign is introduced to the audience and shows a weblink that leads to Lily’s story. Once they reach the webpage, they have to enter a personal password - that is written on their letter - to enable watching Lily’s story.

Netflix & Lily

Netflix’s story is linear to Lily Hastings’ storyline. This means that everything that is happening in Lily’s life is also happening to Netflix in a way. Whenever a positive change occurs in her life, Netflix undergoes a positive change as well, and vice versa. Lily Hastings has almost the same age as Netflix. Thus she represents its humble beginning up until its current globalization. By connecting Lily’s story to Netflix’s makes the brand appear more ‘human’ and less detached from the audience. For the audience, she is the embodiment of the feeling of ‘comfort’, and that is ultimately what Netflix brings to most of the fans. So, Lily also creates this sense of connection of the brand with Netflix fans. The different characters in Lily’s story has their own story as well. These are to be told via different media, and each story represents one or two of Netflix’s values such as inclusion, passion and integrity.

The Characters

A character is a person or other being in a narrative work of art (NewEnglandYankee, 2017). Storytelling is about characters, since the story revolves around an individual, a person. The character may be entire fictional or based on a real-life person. In the development of creating characters for the story in transmedia storytelling, I used the hope-behaviour-looksfears model as discussed in class. Main character’s name is Lily (Hastings). She is a nice girl, with a beautiful smile and in her early years seems to live care-free; enjoying her freedom. We follow her life development from being born up until her current age (25) where she is now a college student. During her life Netflix has been playing a big role in the background. She is somewhat older as Netflix is and both have experienced growth and loss. To Lily, Netflix is a ‘safe haven’ to which she runs to when feeling sad or suppressed. Netflix = comfort to her. hopes graduating college, to live happily fears feeling sad and suppressed behaviours laugh and smiles a lot, talking, observing, fast pace walking, emotional, eats quickly and messy, hugging person, listening to music looks backpack, hoodie, comfortable shoes, hair in ponytail, earphones in her ears for almost everyday Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix is going to tell the story of him and his friend Marc Randolph. From their childhood up until the realization of Netflix.com. Reed Hastings is not the same as other CEO’s such as Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg. No, he prides himself on making as few decisions as possible, and he lets his team dream up new products and new initiatives (Snyder, 2014). Whereas other CEO’s make major decisions and are considered the ‘product genius at the top’, Reed fully trust his employees on their skills and decisions. hopes stay ahead in the global competition for streaming films and series fears losing everything he worked hard for 18

behaviours high five person, slow paced walk, kind bright eyes, thinks a lot, doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t talk that much only if it has to looks ironed shirt, wears a blazer occasionally, jeans, leather shoes, leather belt, unshaved, grey hair and beard, prefer to wear no make-up during interviews, Apple watch Tom Goodman is Lilyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best friend ever since they became neighbours at the age of five. Tom and Lily played a lot together when they were younger, but in high school that changed due to differences in interests and friends. When Tom moved to Chicago, they lost contact. Both are in college when they meet each other again. Tom have had a difficult time once he and his parents moved to Chicago. His mother died of ALS, and his father could not find a job, so he worked a lot to be able to go to college. After graduating from college, he moved to Manchester, UK. hopes to be able to take care of his father once he finish college fears for closed ones to leave him behaviours quiet, shaking hands, looks down, anxiously looking around him for no reason, smoking, hands in pockets looks curly long hair, unshaved, old clothes, dirty sneakers, earrings in his left ear

His name is Kevin Schmidt (35) and he is a new employee of Netflix. He is somewhat nerdy and doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t involve much in conversation at first. After meeting the receptionist Linda on his first day, he immediately fell for her. We follow his daily life; personal life, at work, and the lives of his friends. At the workplace, the viewer comes across all types of people; elderly colleagues who almost retire, hipsters, millennials (interns), celebrities, etc. He becomes good friends with one of his co-workers Sanjay, and both do a lot of pranks on each other and other colleagues. This helps him to gain popularity in the office and he and Sanjay eventually become part of the creative team.

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hopes fears behaviour looks

getting into a relationship with Linda exclusion from activities at work putting glasses into place, walk with shoulders inwards, fingers playing with each other, arms crossed while talking, bad singing glasses, ironed shirt (often blue), leather belt, hairs combed backwards, chino pants, comfy sneakers, geeky colourful shirt, laptop shoulder bag

Although the main character is Lily Hastings, it is important to remember that each character tells his own story as well. Lily Hastings is merely the glue that connects all the different storylines to each other. Lily Hastings represents Netflix’s timeline, since she has experienced the company’s humble beginning up until now. Her life story displays the emergence of Netflix.

The Stories

“Meet Lily” (Lily’s story) The film opens with a shot of the sun, shining over the suburbs of San Carlos, California. It is a hot day in mid-August. A three year old Lily appears on screen, laughing while holding an ice cream that has already melted and drips down her hands. Lily is lifted up by her dad and her mother is watching them with a smile on her face. It is a perfect family picture. A shot of father Hastings grabbing a torn piece of Netflix’s old letter paper, as he tries to clean little Lily with it. Then it slowly flashes forward to nine year old Lily playing with her best friend Tom in their backyard. The two seems to have a lot of fun chasing each other. Suddenly, Tom stops running and looked down; he saw an old cigarette. He is curious and wants to grab it, but Lily comes closer to see and yelled “no, my momma said that is bad for you!”. He was scared and removed his hand from the cigarette. Then, Lily’s mother shouted that dinner is ready, and the two get back inside the house. Lily’s father was not home yet. After dinner, Mr. Hastings comes home and he seems happy. Lily is excited to see him and runs in his arms. Then she got back to Tom and continue playing with Legos in the living room. Meanwhile, Mr. Hastings turns on the computer and showed something to his wife. He showed her that streaming is now possible on Netflix. Now, we see a much more mature Lily. She and her parents live in a bigger house compared to her childhood home. Today, she celebrates her 16th birthday with friends from high school. Tom is also at her birthday party but he seems uncomfortable. 20

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He doesn’t interact with others at the party, and actually wants to leave. He searched for Lily to say bye before leaving, but he couldn’t find her. During his search, he went into the home office of Lily’s father. He looks at the framed picture of Mr. Hastings and Marc Randolph shaking hands in front of a Netflix sign, that is hanging on the wall. He closes the door and went back to the party. A guy called Brent approached him and offers him a drink. A few minutes later, Lily saw them leaving the party together. She is a bit fed up of seeing him leave early, but is immediately cheered up by her other friends. The shot of her surrounded by her high school friends at the party changes into a shot of her being surrounded by her college friends. Lily is 20 years old now, and studies Psychology at the University of Chicago. One day, she meets Tom again and she was shocked to see his ripped clothes, messy hair and him smoking a joint. She walks towards him to say ‘hi’ but he doesn’t seem to want to talk to Lily. She asks him how his life has been since the last time they saw each other, but Tom doesn’t reply, shrugs his shoulders and walks off. Lily feels bad for him, but decides to leave him alone. Back in her dorm room, she grabs her laptop and sits on her bed. But right before she wanted to watch an episode of “Orange is the new Black”, her roommate comes into the room, shouting and crying that she saw her boyfriend kissing another girl. Lily got up, hugs her roommate and tries to calm her down. The story ends with a shot of her laptop, that shows the homepage of Netflix on her bed.

“Behind the Red Veil of Netflix”(Reed Hastings’ story) Netflix CEO Reed Hastings personal story about his childhood, achievements, setbacks, and of course – the founding of Netflix. For each chapter, a short summary is written to give a glimpse of what will be discussed in the actual book. This book is going to be translated in 4 other languages (French, Spanish, Korean and Dutch). Chapter 1 Wilmot Reed Hastings Jr. Wilmot Reed Hastings Jr. a.k.a. Reed Hastings talks about his childhood; growing up in Boston, going to a private school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and his father’s work. He and his parents lived a content life, filled with joy and surrounded by a loving family. After graduating from private school, he took a one-year detour before entering college; working as a door-to-door vacuum salesman. Eventually, Hastings chose to go to Bowdoin College to study math because he “found the abstractions beautiful and engaging.” At Bowdoin, he was head of the Outing Club, whose members participate in outdoor activities (Grinapol, 2013). Chapter 2 Swaziland While at Bowdoin, Hastings joined The Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Class. During this program he spend a summer training; leadership, military-related study and physical training. Hastings realized the Marines weren’t for him. He exhibited the kind of thinking that seeks to examine a way of doing in order to figure out if that is the best way. However, his questions weren’t met with much enthusiasm within the Marine Corps. Instead, he joined the Peace Corps, a program that encourages Americans to volunteer throughout the world, working with other countries. Hastings spend two years and seven months in Swaziland, a small country in southeast Africa, teaching math to high school students. It was during his time in the Peace Corps that he made the decision to go to graduate school (Grinapol, 2013). Chapter 3 Pure Software Hastings got his master’s degree in computer science at Stanford University in Silicon Valley. At first, the palm trees of Southern California felt very different from the East Coast educational backdrops he was used to. After graduating from Stanford in 1988 he worked for Schlumberger Palo Alto Research lab and a technology start-up company called Coherent Thought. At the age of thirty, he moved on to start his first company: Pure Software. The initial products that Pure Software developed were focused on helping programmers and developers de-bug their software. The company gained success early on, and creates the need for Hastings to expand the company. Ultimately, Pure Software merged with Atria and ‘Pure Atria’ arises (Grinapol, 2013). 22

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Although the company was doing well from this point on, Hastings’ excitement of working at Pure Atria had waned through the years. A lot of the problems were due to the organizational development in which new employees would come into and leave the company very quickly. He even tried to fire himself – twice. A rival company ended up buying Pure Atria (Grinapol, 2013). Chapter 4 Netflix The story of how Reed Hastings came up with the idea for Netflix starts in 1997 with a video (Apollo 13) Hastings had rented that, after being six weeks overdue, had accrued a $40 late fee. That same day, Hastings was heading to the gym, he thought about how a gym operated, with a flat free customers paid that allowed them to come and go as they pleased, and he thought how much better of a system that was. Those two everyday life experiences formed the seed of an idea for Hastings’s new company. Hastings used his former CEO experience and educational background in computer science. Hastings asked Marc Randolph to join him as a cofounder of his idea, a DVD-by-mail company, and started gathering the members of his team. On August 29, 1997, Netflix was officially incorporated (Grinapol, 2013). Chapter 5 2037 Reed Hastings gives his predictions on Netflix, technology and changes in the customer’s needs, wants and behaviours. Twenty years from now, artificial intelligence will expand in capacity, starting with self-driving cars which has already started to appear now. Also, in the future it could be very common to project images directly to the retina (eyes) via glasses, which means that the use of laptops and screens will be unnecessary. Hastings’ plan for Netflix in the upcoming 10 or 20 years is to offer all kinds of series and films globally, whereas it is now still differing per country. His greatest dream is to reach people in countries that have not been reached yet today. “We really want to be a global force; we think that if we can be successful in all the countries around the world, the amount of content sharing in shows from around the world will be incredible.” (NTR, sd).

“Practical Dreamer”(Tom Goodman’s story) This Netflix Original film is about Tom Goodman (26), an aspiring young film maker living in Manchester, UK. He is now working side jobs as runner on film sets and giving tours at different film locations in and around Manchester. Tom has had a tough childhood and upbringing, nevertheless managed to graduate college and got a degree in Cinema and Media studies at the University of Chicago. In the film we see bits of his history in the US, but mostly follow Tom Goodman’s life in Manchester, UK. The genre of this film is comedy/drama. The film opens with a close-up of Tom’s face, and zooms out slowly. It is a windy, yet sunny day in Manchester. The song “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” is playing in the background as he walks casually down the streets with earphones in. He’s on his way to work, being a tour guide at various film locations of the series Peaky Blinders. At night, he is working as a bartender at a local pub four days a week. Tom is an optimist and a dreamer. He works hard in order to eventually become a great film maker, but also seems to wander off in his own thoughts. He has already come up with a few film ideas, but doesn’t know how to “sell” them yet. Therefore, he gets help from a friend (Joey “Joe” Baldwin) who studied Sales and Marketing in London. Though, no producer seems to be interested in working with these two. So, they start their own film production company called BaldMan Films. The struggles and victories that comes with setting up their own film production and marketing company in modern society is what the main narrative of the film is about. Within a few years BaldMan Films gains popularity and many aspiring film makers in the UK submit their film ideas, and some turn out to be great productions too. These are to be premiered on Netflix UK and later on Netflix Europe. Despite the company’s success, Tom and Joe ultimately separate paths. While Joe stays at BaldMan Films, Tom leaves and decides to make artistic films, away from the big, money-driven companies.

Description of title: “Practical Dreamer” This title fits perfectly with the film, and relates directly to Tom Goodman’s and Joey Baldwin’s characters. Since Tom is able to leave his troubled past behind, he’d build up some hopes and desires for his future. His ultimate dream is to be a great (artistic) film maker, but what this fully entails he doesn’t know yet. He finds out when he and Joey start up BaldMan Films. Though, in the long run, this isn’t what he has expected it to be. The image of his dream is clouded and he comes to understanding that the physical reality has limitations. Joey Baldwin is the other side of the coin, whereas he has a rational mindset. He does not wander into the unrealistic realm of dreams. However, in the film Joey is noticeably unhappy at times and seems to become enslaved to reality as it is. He doesn’t understand Tom’s dreams sometimes and this brings tension. Tom however, seems to comprehend limitations of reality and wants to work by himself with this new outlook on handling things. Ultimately, Tom Goodman is a representative of the “practical dreamer”, whereby he is taught by Joey how to take the physical reality into account by pursuing his own dreams. What is a “practical dreamer”? The practical dreamer’s challenge is to bridge two worlds – the physical reality (money, time, effort, space, material) and the world of imagination (hopes, wishes, dreams, possibilities). The practical dreamer must walk with one foot in both worlds in order to create what could be from the reality of what is. Walking between these two worlds can also put a person at war with oneself. The dreamer within may oppose the person’s efforts to be practical, realistic and disciplined. The practical side of ourselves may crush one’s dreams, declaring them out of reach before exploring their potential (Edwards, 2000). Thus it is easy to get stuck at some point that turns desire into action and action into satisfaction. People can become disillusioned, stop dreaming and bury their desires. We can fail to act or become consumed with action and lose our dreams in the busyness of always having to be doing something. A person can dream or work his/her life away without stopping to feel the satisfaction one craves. “Practical dreamers embrace both the dreamer and the practical taskmaster within themselves, welcoming and encouraging their imagination while honoring their ability to face and live within the practicalities of reality. Their inner dreamer and their inner taskmaster become allies, working as a team toward a shared vision, drawing equally upon the unique perspectives and tools of their two worlds” (Edwards, 2000).

“Dream Team”(Kevin Schmidt’s story) The first episode of the Netflix Original series “Dream Team” introduces the viewer to Kevin Schmidt in his teenage years at school, where he and his friend Terry are bullied by three older boys. Kevin was a big nerd in high school and was often bullied, particularly by these three boys – Tom, Brent and Noah. Kevin narrates his life in a nutshell, of always having been an outsider and solely depend on his best friend for trust and understanding. His parents at home weren’t so much the caring type, particularly his father. He mostly push Kevin to “toughen up” and tell him to “not act like a sissy”. His mother seems to know something is up with Kevin but would rather not talk extensively with him about it. The story continues with a flash forward from his teenage years to his present life. Kevin lives in a very neat, modern apartment in Los Gatos, California. He is still single, but does own a dog called Lily. He got her from his boss Reed Hastings personally, since her daughter is going to college and could not take care of the dog anymore. He works at Netflix HQ as a software engineer for video algorithms. Kevin seems content about his current state of living, yet still have this feelings of exclusion at work and among his friends. Over the course of the first season, Kevin comes across people and challenges that may help him in overcoming these negative feelings. The main setting of the narrative is going to be Netflix headquarters in Los Gatos, California.

Migratory cues

Migratory cues can be explained as “jumping-off points” for users to go from one medium to the next (Rijnders & Corsius, 2017). Marc Ruppel defines migratory cues as “network edges in the form of fictional information that allow an audience to shift from one site in a transmedia network to another without any loss of engagement” (Soar & Gagnon, 2012). Migratory cues are in fact gaps that concretely link one point of the story to another. These gaps are created by the so-called ‘negative capability’, whereby “strategic gaps are built into a narrative to evoke a positive sense of uncertainty or mystery in the audience” (Gambarato, 2015). This uncertainty ultimately leads users to jump off from one medium to another. For each story, the possible migratory cues were underlined within the synopsis. These are summed up below, with a description of which medium the audience might be jumping off to. “He showed her that streaming is now possible on Netflix.” Jump-off point to: Behind the Red Veil of Netflix “picture of Mr. Hastings and Marc Randolph shaking hands in front of a Netflix sign,” Jump-off point to: Behind the Red Veil of Netflix & Webpage “Tom doesn’t reply, shrugs his shoulders and walks off.” Jump-off point to: Practical Dreamer & Webpage “Hastings asked Marc Randolph to join him as a cofounder of his idea” Jump-off point to: Meet Lily & Netflix Original Story “bits of his history in the US” Jump-off point to: Meet Lily & Webpage “BaldMan Films.” Jump-off point to: Dream Team & Webpage “Tom, Brent and Noah.” Jump-off point to: Practical Dreamer, Meet Lily & Webpage “He is still single, but does own a dog called Lily.” Jump-off point to: Meet Lily & Behind the Red Veil of Netflix

DESIGN Chosen media platforms

Each story is to be told via different (social) media channels, hence the name ‘transmedia’ which means ‘across different means’. Below you’ll find an overview of the different media that will be used for this transmedia project. Each medium is discussed by its workings and its link to (parts of) the stories. Every chosen medium has its own characteristics and creates different types of values that is beneficial for implementation of the whole project. Subjective documentary on DVD The story of Netflix is firstly introduced to the Dutch and Belgian audience by this subjective documentary, narrated and guided by the actor who plays Kevin Schmidt in the series Dream Team. The DVD is a perfect medium to reach the fans in the first phase of the transmedia story for multiple reasons; it provides a sense of exclusiveness, invites the receiver to watch the DVD, adds a personal touch, and has a symbolic meaning to the company since Netflix first started off being a DVD-rental-by-mail-firm. This is also to be mentioned on the DVD. The envelope contains a link to the shortfilm of Lily Hastings. Shortfilm and webpage The shortfilm contains Lily’s story, and is essentially a “feel good” film about a girl growing up in comfort, but when in distress e.g. the night before a test, an upset friend, or a breakup, she seeks for a way to comfort herself again. Therefore she often watches Netflix since this has been a constant comforting factor throughout her life. This shortfilm is premiered online, on a special webpage that is created for this transmedia campaign. This means that the shortfilm is to be seen only by the Netflix fans who received the envelope. The shortfilm is a medium to express the emotion “comfort” in relation to the audience, and the webpage offers the audience a summary timeline of Netflix. Moreover, the webpage also shares exclusive details and information about upcoming film (Practical Dreamer) and series (Dream Team) on Netflix. It gives a more in-depth explanation of the different characters within the “Netflix world”. After a few months - once the film Practical Dreamer is premiered on Netflix - the shortfilm of Lily is to be uploaded on Netflix’s Youtube account, to include the rest of the Netflix audience. The shortfilm is also shared on the Instagram and Twitter pages of Netflix NL & BE and Netflix facebook sponsored ad for these countries.

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Book (hardcopy, e-book) The autobiography of Reed Hastings about his life and the emergence of Netflix is to offer the audience a more in-depth story of how Netflix came to life.

The book is very pleasant to read for adults from all ages, and also not too thick. This medium is meant for fans who are curious to discover the story behind Netflix told by Mr. Hastings himself. Fans also get an impression of what kind of man, father, CEO he is and wants to be. His story is interesting for students, entrepreneurs, Netflix fans and CEOs who are curious to see what is the driving force behind Netflix’s global success. “Behind the Red Veil of Netflix” is also available as e-book, since the target audience is mostly to be seen with a screen and some prefer to download a book. This medium is not expected to reach all Netflix fans, but it is to give them an extra dimension to the Netflix story as it is told from a very personal, direct point of view. Netflix Original Series The series about (nerdy) Kevin Schmidt (Dream Team) is to be released on Netflix NL & BE. Besides it being a funny series, “Dream Team” is the medium within this whole transmedia campaign, that represents Netflix’s values and creates a sense of openness to the audience. The impersonal tone of voice from Netflix on e.g. social media and the private character of the corporate culture creates a distance between the brand and the fans. This series, that takes place in Netflix headquarters, shows a more personal side of Netflix and also their corporate values. Because of this, the audience are seeing a side of Netflix that was hidden before, and they will feel more engaged to the brand and corporate culture.

Netflix Original Film Tom Goodman’s story is a spin-off of Lily’s story, so it has its own distinct style and feel to it. Compared to Lily’s shortfilm, “Practical Dreamer” has a more of a darker undertone. Whereas Lily stands for ‘comfort’, Tom stands for ‘integrity’ and ‘creativity’. Lily shows more of a fan’s perspective on Netflix, while Tom shows more of an employee’s or filmmaker’s point of view on Netflix. Tom’s story attract the Netflix fans who are creative, dare to be different and speak their mind. Once people have seen this film, they can jump off to Lily’s story (for people who hasn’t received the envelope) and/or go to the webpage to see Tom’s information and details, as for the other characters. This film is also to be released on Netflix NL & BE only.

Social media (Instagram, Twitter, Youtube) Netflix is a digital entertainment company so its main marketing distribution channel is done online. Netflix has accounts on multiple social media channels, but not all stories are to be told via all of these channels. For this transmedia project, their accounts on Instagram, Twitter and Youtube are the most interesting media platforms to tell stories through. For each of the chosen social medium channel is written down on how its currently used and how it looks like. Based on these analyses, decisions are made regarding which (parts of) stories are told by which medium.

Instagram: @netflixnl current average number of likes on a post: 2.639 Currently, the Dutch (and Belgian) Instagram account of Netflix solely posts stills from films and series on Netflix. Usually provided with a ‘funny’ text. They do not respond to others’ reactions to their posts, and its main purpose is to provide its fans information about upcoming premieres of films and series on Netflix. Compared to the US Instagram account of Netflix, it seems less personal, less ‘fun’ (no use of memes) and targeted to an older audience. Their current average number of likes on an Instagram post is 2.639. This number is based the likes on their last six posts. Our goal is to reach an average of 3.000 likes. The weakness in their current Instagram strategy is the lack of communication between the company and the fans. Based on reactions on their posts, Instagram seems to be one of the channels on which the target audience is actively present. Throughout the transmedia project, the emphasis on Instagram has to lie on interaction with the fans and posting pictures of the envelope/book, behind-the-scenes, events and the office to warm up the audience before releasing the different stories. Twitter: @netflixnl current average number of retweets: 9.5 or 10 Contrary to Netflix’s Dutch Instagram account, its Twitter account does make use of humor and memes. Although, they also post information about upcoming premieres of films and series on Netflix, most of their posts contain a ‘funny text’, meme or gif. All related to series on Netflix. Netflix also has its own podcast that is shared via their Twitter account. On Twitter, Netflix uses a more personal approach than on their Instagram account. On this social media channel the brand feels more approachable and shows funny and relatable content for the audience. However, their number of retweets is quite low. To generate more involvement from the audience they need to feel connected to Netflix’s Twitter content and receive responses from the company as well. During this transmedia campaign, Netflix is expected to interact with the audience about the stories and characters. Through Twitter it is also possible to give hints about one of the (not yet introduced) characters. These kind of posts direct the audience to the webpage of a particular character from one of the stories. People who hadn’t received the envelope with the subjective documentary and link to Lily’s story have no idea where the characters come from. These people are kept in the dark during the first phase of the transmedia campaign – before “Meet Lily” is publicly uploaded on Youtube. Some might be intrigued, some might ask questions, and it is up to the Netflix transmedia dream team to keep sending hints to attract the Achievers and answer questions in a way that raises more questions. 30

Youtube: @netflixbenelux current number of subscribers: 30.651 Netflix Benelux Youtube account has been online since August 2014 and already acquired over 14 million views in total (Youtube, 2018). This particular Youtube account of Netflix focuses on the Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourgish audience. For this transmedia campaign, Lilyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shortfilm is to be publicly uploaded on this Youtube channel. Since this project is targeted to the Dutch/Belgian Netflix fans, this is logical. The shortfilm is, same for all elements within this transmedia story, exclusively for Netflix fans within The Netherlands and Belgium.

After analysing Netflixâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s social media accounts (Instagram and Twitter), it became clear that there is a lack of interaction between the brand and the fans. This is also evident on their Youtube account where there are none to only a few comments in the comment section under a video. Although Netflix has quite a large fan base, interaction with the fans is missing. This has to change, starting with this transmedia campaign.

User journey

A user journey is a series of steps which represent a scenario in which a user might interact with the thing a company or brand is designing. It demonstrates the way users could interact with the service/product. User journeys help understanding user behaviour and identify possible functionality at a high level. The latter means that certain key tasks the company wants the user to do require certain functions to enable those tasks (Mears, 2013). Before the start of creating a user journey, it is mandatory to understand the following things first: • The user’s goals • Their motivations • Their current pain points • Their overall character • The main tasks they want to achieve (Mears, 2013) Let’s analyse our target audience first before discussing the user journey. In the ‘transmedia project’ chapter, the overall character of our target audience has already been discussed. Our target audience consists of mostly Explorers and Socializers, based on the ‘player type’-model from Robert Pratten’s book. However, within this transmedia project, the goal is to also reach the Achievers within our target audience. Yet, this is not the primary goal, but they are also been thought of. So, the focus is primarily on the Explorers and Socializers. Both types of players has its own emotional goals. In her paper “Emotional Goals of Players” Nicole Lazarro identifies four keys to unlocking emotion in games: Hard Fun, Easy Fun, People Fun and Serious Fun. Explorers’ goal is to get enjoyment from their internal experiences in reaction to the behaviour, cognitive and social properties (Serious Fun). Socializers’ goal is to enjoy media as mechanisms for social experiences and to enjoy the competition, teamwork, as well as an opportunity for social bonding and personal recognition that comes from playing or talking with others (People Fun).

In order to motivate the user to engage in this transmedia campaign – both extrinsically and intrinsically – there are four primary design pillars on which experiences are built, being: • Allow audience to explore the story in their own way • Provide opportunities for the audience to connect with each other and with characters • Provide opportunities for the audience to gain a sense of accomplishment • Allow the audience to feel special or gain significance (Pratten, Getting started in transmedia storytelling, 2015)

Transmedia experiences tend to be unfamiliar to many people, and perhaps even more within our target audience who doesn’t really show an active attitude. A fitting extrinsic type of motivation for our users could be badges or in the form of signalling. This can be seen as products or levels that are locked and players have to follow a clue to earn it (Pratten, Getting started in transmedia storytelling, 2015). For this transmedia experience, we will use a development map. It is a personal journey that is on the webpage. The letter in the envelope contains a link to the webpage. After a personal login – created by the user - on the webpage, the user sees a timeline that starts with Lily’s story. The other stories are still unlocked at the beginning. It is up to the user to find the next character, based on Lily’s story and so on. Once they have successfully unlocked a character, they enter the character’s webpage (wiki). Ultimately, when the user has come to the end of the timeline, he/she has seen every story and also received information about the history of Netflix and its values. Extrinsic motivation Transmedia experiences tend to be unfamiliar to many people, and perhaps even more within our target audience who doesn’t really show an active attitude. A fitting extrinsic type of motivation for our users could be badges or in the form of signalling. This can be seen as products or levels that are locked and players have to follow a clue to earn it (Pratten, Getting started in transmedia storytelling, 2015). For this transmedia experience, we will use a development map. It is a personal journey that is on the webpage. The letter in the envelope contains a link to the webpage. After a personal login – created by the user - on the webpage, the user sees a timeline that starts with Lily’s story. The other stories are still unlocked at the beginning. It is up to the user to find the next character, based on Lily’s story and so on. Once they have successfully unlocked a character, they enter the character’s webpage (wiki). Ultimately, when the user has come to the end of the timeline, he/she has seen every story and also received information about the history of Netflix and its values. Intrinsic motivation To achieve engagement through intrinsic motivation, the transmedia experience must satisfy some of the core human needs, such as significance, certainty, variety, connection, growth and contribution (Pratten, Getting started in transmedia storytelling, 2015).

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The design of this transmedia experience meet some of these human needs, namely: significance, certainty and growth. The user is motivated to see all of Netflix’s stories within this transmedia campaign since it make the fans who received an envelope feel special. Of course, after a while Lily’s shortfilm is to be uploaded online so that others can be part of this experience as well, but in the beginning the importance lies on a select group of the users. So, they will feel significant compared to non-receivers. The timeline suggest a certain feeling of control since it is up to the user where and when he wants to continue the mystery. Netflix is a brand that is already associated with comfort, and control being in the hands of the user so this transmedia experience is also giving that kind of freedom to the user. This seems like a strange method of motivation, yet it works for the target audience of Netflix. Learning about Netflix’s (hi)story and its values creates this sense of growth for the user. He wants to get to know all the characters involved in this timeline, and so learn about them via their stories and on the webpage. Although the experience doesn’t explicitly teach the user about Netflix, he will still learn about it implicitly through the stories, characters and using different media. On the next page you can find the user journey map for this transmedia experience. It demonstrates the user’s behaviour throughout the experience. A few notes before reading this map: • The arrows represent the user’s movements; starting from the envelope to Lily’s story, moving on to the webpage and from here, there are multiple roads to walk on. It depends on the user which one of the characters he manages to unlock first. Preferably, the user unlocks Tom Goodman first, then Reed Hastings, and finally Kevin Schmidt. But it is possible for the user to notice Kevin Schmidt in the subjective documentary and follow the story from here. This is why there are many arrows that lead to different directions. • The “first row audience” – the ones who received the envelope – get two months to go through this transmedia experience exclusively. After two months, Lily’s story is publicly uploaded so that other Netflix fans (who doesn’t pay for Netflix) also get the chance to experience the Netflix stories. Though, they did not receive the envelope, therefore their route in the user journey is the preferable one. • During the two months for exclusive users, the film/shortfilm is not yet publicly released on Netflix but to be watched on the personal webpage. The public release on Netflix happens for the “second row audience”, whereby these will also be promoted on social media. • The use of social media within this user journey is only used after this transmedia experience is also available for non-receivers of the envelope. 34

BIBLIOGRAPHY Castillo, M. (2017, May 23). Reed Hastings’ story about the founding of Netflix has changed several times. Retrieved December 1, 2017, from Website of CNBC: https://www.cnbc. com/2017/05/23/netflix-ceo-reed-hastings-on-how-the-company-was-born.html Edwards, P. &. (2000, November 16). The Path of the Practical Dreamer. Retrieved February 14, 2018, from Website of Inc.: https://www.inc.com/articles/2000/11/21080.html Famous Entrepreneurs. (2018). Reed Hastings. Retrieved January 30, 2018, from www.famous-entrepreneurs.com: http://www.famous-entrepreneurs.com/reed-hastings Famous People. (2018, January 10). Reed Hastings Biography, Childhood & Early Life. Retrieved January 30, 2018, from www.thefamouspeople.com: https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/reed-hastings-6436.php Franck, T. (2017, June 28). A secret to Netflix’s success: Social media. Retrieved January 12, 2018, from Website of CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/28/a-secret-to-netflixs-success-social-media.html Gambarato, R. R. (2015, July 20). From Alice in Wonderland to Transmedia Storytelling. Retrieved February 16, 2018, from Website of FourScreens Blog: http://fourscreens.org/from-alice-in-wonderland-to-transmedia-storytelling/ Great Speculations. (2017, April 20). A Closer Look at Netflix’s Content Strategy. Retrieved December 8, 2017, from Website of Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2017/04/20/a-closer-look-at-netflixs-content-strategy/#297aa76f1fc5 Grigg, K. (2016, September 1). Key performance indicators, or KPIs. Retrieved January 12, 2018, from Website of grow.com: https://blog.grow.com/metrics-and-kpis-are-different/ Grinapol, C. (2013). Reed Hastings and Netflix. In C. Grinapol, Reed Hastings and Netflix (pp. 11-21). New York City: Rosen Pub Group. Retrieved February 6, 2018, from https://books. google.nl/books?id=ASGEAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4&dq=reed+hastings+childhood&source=bl&ots=mp1P9yQtgH&sig=37HhG8pJeRqcA9DKiAlpx4Dt4bY&hl=nl&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjH3fzNlZHZAhVCJFAKHc2FAWUQ6AEIfTAN#v=onepage&q=reed%20hastings%20 childhood&f=false Luz Henning Santiago, A. (2017, November 14). 37% of Netflix subscribers say they bingewatch while at work. Retrieved February 15, 2018, from Website of Business Insider Nederland: https://www.businessinsider.nl/37-of-netflix-subscribers-watch-at-work-2017-11/?international=true&r=US Mears, C. (2013, April 8). User Journeys - The Beginner’s Guide. Retrieved March 20, 2018, from Website of The UX Review: https://theuxreview.co.uk/user-journeys-beginners-guide/ Netflix. (2017, January 16). Long term view, Netflix Focus. Retrieved December 8, 2017, from Website of Netflix: https://ir.netflix.com/long-term-view.cfm

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REFLECTION What I have learned about storytelling... is how difficult and time-consuming it is to write a good story wherein everything fits together so perfectly. It becomes even harder when I had to think of multiple stories for this transmedia project. Each character has his/her own story, and I think the most fun part is to create this whole character by using the hopes/fears/behaviours/looks-tool since it gives a more in-depth characterization of the individual. In the process of writing stories for this project I was very uncertain about a few elements within the narrative. Once I talked about this with others and answered their questions, I felt more secure in why I had made certain decisions. From these conversations, it also became clear to me that some elements needed to be reviewed. Personally I find that storytelling is the best part of this course since it gives a sense of freedom to create new characters, write stories that match with those characters and ultimately define an imaginary storyworld within the real world. What I have learned about (trans)media… is not that much, to be honest. In my opinion, Philip could have taught me more about the design within a transmedia project. However I remember vaguely that one class was cancelled and that might be the reason why I feel like there is a lack of knowledge within this side of the course ‘transmedia storytelling’. That class was supposed to discuss the use of user journey and different types of media, I believe. Still, that is not an excuse to sit back and do nothing and I ultimately read through Robert Pratten’s book and had to educate myself basically. Though, I still find it very hard to think of what entry points each medium has and guess how the audience will move through a transmedia story (user journey). Especially since I was doing this solo. From the beginning I already knew this is an assignment preferably to do in teams, and that is been proven in the process of doing this assignment. Overall reflection I would have wished to do this assignment with at least one other person in order to ‘lift’ this transmedia campaign to another level. I am proud at what I have achieved on my own, but I also felt that I needed a partner with whom I could talk about certain choices I made and also generate ideas with each other.

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After third class of ‘transmedia storytelling’ I knew I would need more time to work on this assignment if I really want to create something I can be proud of. Also, with the burden of assignments from other courses I didn’t spend much time and effort in this assignment. While I still wanted to do well for this course, I wasn’t feeling it. For a good few weeks, there was a lack of motivation to work on this (and other) assignment(s). Now that I have had more time to work on it, I spent a great deal writing, thinking, discussing and rewriting for this assignment. Somehow, I managed to get a grip on myself again and hand in this assignment I am proud of. Of course, there will always be room for improvement but at least now I am certain of the choices I made, the characters I have created and the stories I have written. That to me, is already one great mission accomplished.