COM0014 – Blog #3 – Money Heist

Calling all Netflix bingers, if you haven’t seen Money Heist, you are missing out! Money Heist is a Spanish show where the main character, the Professor, leads a group of people all bearing aliases of world capitals, in major heists at the Mint of Spain and the Bank of Spain. 

Target Audience

Based on research and my own analysis, I’d say that the Money Heist audience is comprised of 18-30 year-olds, both men and women, who are more trendy than conservative given the amount of coarse language, sex, nudity and violence of each episode. I think this audience likes to travel, or at least aspires to travel someday. Additionally, I would assume that the majority of the audience are in school, binging the seasons as they are released. I think the viewers fall mostly into the middle class, given that Netflix is a paid subscription service, but also given that the characters are probably more relatable to those who don’t already have an abundance of money. I’d also guess that this audience would initially be followers in their everyday lives, but with the potential to transform into leaders, being inspired by characters like the professor, as well as the characters inside the heists who eventually adopt leadership roles in their own ways. 

Marketing

Netflix has done a phenomenal job at marketing Money Heist to its target audience. First, it began hosting red carpet premiers for each season, to attract media attention, as well as to make the show trend on social media with storms of images and hashtags that the 18-30 year-old demographic undoubtedly would have seen. 

Aside from those conventional marketing campaigns, Netflix took Money Heist to the next level by adding fiction to the mix. What I mean by this, is that Netflix started promoting Money Heist as if it was real. For instance, they put up a billboard in Times Square that acted as a call to action for audiences to join the heist gang. Though they weren’t actually asking people to plan their own heist, they played into the inner adrenaline junkie in young people, as well as insinuating a comraderie between themselves and their viewers. As such, those who did not understand the internal message to the billboard were likely to be enticed to start watching the show to be a part of that mutual understanding. 

My favourite technique that Netflix used to market Money Heist was they overtook the Frankfurt Airport and dropped fake luggage bearing the names of the characters onto the conveyor belts. Once again, people who watched the show were in on the play, and those who weren’t were intrigued to watch the show to understand. 

Overall, I think the best way to communicate to Money Heist’s audience is to do exactly as Netflix has done: to bombard social media, take space in major locations like Times Square and major airports, and most importantly, to use the storyline to create an insider group that those who watch Money Heist are a part of, and those who haven’t eventually join!