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Its been nearly a decade since Netflix introduced fans to the fictional town of Hawkins, Ind., the Upside Down, Demogorgons, and the Stranger Things universe. Since 2016, the sci-fi series has become a massive hit for Netflix making it one of the streaming services most-watched shows with the fourth season alone amassing over 140.7 million views globally, according to the company. The series has earned 12 Primetime Emmy Awards over the course of the last several years, has pushed its young cast into superstardom, and has become a global phenomenon inspiring several live events and pop-up stores in various cities. And its fifth and final season, which is premiering in three parts, is no exception when it comes to the scale. While the streaming giant and showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer have other spin-offs planned, the fandom was always at the top of their mind when planning the marketing for the show to give the original series a proper send-off. Stranger Things is the first franchise for Netflix overall so we do different things year round to reach all the fans and we’ve done that for years and it just keeps building, Marian Lee, chief marketing officer of Netflix, tells Fast Company. The fact that we started our live experiences with Stranger Things and have continued to evolve them in different ways is exciting.To really build that excitement for fans heading into the final season, Netflix launched a massive global marketing campaign that includes a mix of real life, immersive experiences as well as social media components. And by the beginning of next month, Netflix will have launched several fan events across 32 cities across 23 countries from Tokyo to London and Berlin to Los Angeles. Turning ‘Stranger Things’ into real-world experiences [Photo: Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Netflix] Netflix hosted a One Last Ride cycling event with CicLAvia with over 50,000 attendees; a transit station in Buenos Aires was turned into an Upside Down-portal at a transit station; a holographic featuring elements from the series was projected over the Sydney Harbour in Sydney; an old airport hangar in Berlin was transformed into the Stranger Things universe where visitors had the opportunity to enjoy a bike ride through pivotal moments from the show; and just last month in New York City, a Stranger Things-themed float was debuted at the Macys Thanksgiving Day parade to its three million attendees. Other events are planned in London, Bangkok, Milan, Las Vegas, and Madrid later this month. In Las Vegas, fans will be treated to One Last Adventure: Las Vegas, a drone show that will feature 5,000 choreographed drones and pyrotechnics highlighting moments from the show complete with a musical mashup. Meanwhile, fans will be able to watch the final episode in theaters across the United States and Canada. Earlier this month, Netflix House, the new live entertainment venue that launched in Philadelphia and Dallas this month, features Stranger Things elements at both locations. The Dallas location features an immersive Stranger Things: Escape the Dark experience with a brand new storyline, while the Philadelphia location features a Stranger Things: Catalyst game developed in collaboration with Sandbox VR. On top of that, visitors can enjoy food inspired by the show in the Netflix Bites food court at the Las Vegas location debuting next year. But even before Netflix began heavily leaning into the experiences during the second half of the year, they also opened its Stranger Things: The First Shadow show on Broadway and West End earlier this year. According to the entertainment giant, demand across Broadway and the West End saw an almost instant sustained increase in sales, with sales at their highest levels since the initial launch of both productions. The Upside Down takes over social media Lee said when her team was planning the marketing for the final season, it was important to start early with a social campaign that focused on rewatching previous seasons to get ready for the new one. Ahead of the final season, Netflix rolled out a pre-launch rewatch campaign, which has generated 5.7 billion earned global social impressions.Its a brilliant way for the team to really think about how to re-engage fans and to get them ready for this next season, Lee said. A lot of our strategy really leaned into those core moments. A video featuring the four boys played by Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Caleb McLaughlin, and Gaten Matarazzo, recreating a scene from the second season earned over 215 million impressions globally. According to Netflix, total earned social impressions for the fifth season has reached 11.5 billion and thats without the last two volumes of the episodes released yet.Since then, Netflix has also released many behind-the-scenes moments and audition tapes of the cast across its social channels, which all have millions of followers. Powered by brands and 80s nostalgia Lee said another essential part of the campaign was its various partnerships with brands and for this season, Netflix partnered with many companies across various lifestyle and retail categories like Spotify, Meta, Target, Walmart, Nike, Gap, and several food and beverage brands like Eggo, Doritos, Kellogg’s, Chips Ahoy, and Gatorade all infused with nostalgic elements inspired by the shows 1980s setting. [Image: courtesy Netflix] Netflix launched a collaboration with military quarantine snack Peanut Butter Boppers earler this month for a limited time, several other items and snacks inspired by the series with including a special collection with Target that included over 150 exclusive products like Demogorgon popcorn bucket, Demogorgon Bundle Box by Jazwares and exclusive Gatorade x Stranger Things apparel and accessories.Along with the partnerships with brands like Doritos and Discover, Netflix collaborated closely with each respective brand on a custom partnership that included commercials. [Photo: courtesy Netflix] Lee said her and her team set the bar really high when it came to working with its brand partners this season. This fandom is so rich and unique and it just happens to also dovetail really nicely with brands and retailers who are seeing the nostalgia for that 80s aesthetic come back so it came together in a really serendipitous way for us to lean in, Lee said. Ultimately, Lee said all the work her and her team really ties back to the fanbase the series has accumulated over the last five seasons.It is hard to even articulate the impact on culture that the Duffer Brothers has had, Lee said. To watch them tell their story of dreams they had of bringing this show to life and were lucky to be the home for that.
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E-Commerce
The seven states that rely on the Colorado River to supply farms and cities across the U.S. West appear no closer to reaching a consensus on a long-term plan for sharing the dwindling resource. The river’s future was the center of discussions this week at the annual Colorado River Water Users Association conference in Las Vegas, where water leaders from California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming gathered alongside federal and tribal officials. It comes after the states blew past a November deadline for a new plan to deal with drought and water shortages after 2026, when current guidelines expire. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has set a new deadline of Feb. 14. Nevada’s lead negotiator said it is unlikely the states will reach an agreement that quickly. As we sit here mid-December with a looming February deadline, I dont see any clear path to a long-term deal, but I do see a path to the possibility of a shorter-term deal to keep us out of court, John Entsminger of the Southern Nevada Water Authority told The Associated Press. An essential resource More than 40 million people across seven states, Mexico, and Native American tribes depend on the water from the river. Farmers in California and Arizona use it to grow the nation’s winter vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, and carrots. It provides water and electricity to millions of homes and businesses across the basin. But longstanding drought, chronic overuse, and increasing temperatures have forced a reckoning on the river’s future. Existing water conservation agreements that determine who must use less in times of shortage expire in 2026. After two years of negotiating, states still haven’t reached a deal for what comes next. The federal government continues to refrain from coming up with its own solution preferring the seven basin states reach consensus themselves. If they don’t, a federally imposed plan could leave parties unhappy and result in costly, lengthy litigation. Not only is this water fight between the upper and lower basins, individual municipalities, tribal nations and water agencies have their own stakes in this battle. California, which has the largest share of Colorado River water, has over 200 water agencies alone, each with their own customers. Its a rabbit hole you can dive down in, and it is incredibly complex, said Noah Garrison, a water researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles. No deal emerges During a Thursday panel of state negotiators, none appeared willing to bend on their demands. Each highlighted what their state has done to conserve water, from turf-removal projects to canal lining in order to reduce seepage, and they explained why their state cant take on more. Instead, they said, others should bear the burden. Entsminger, of Nevada, said he could see a short-term deal lasting five years that sets new rules around water releases and storage at Lakes Powell and Mead two key reservoirs. Lower Basin states pitched a reduction of 1.5 million acre-feet per year to cover a structural deficit that occurs when water evaporates or is absorbed into the ground as it flows downstream. An acre-foot is enough water to supply two to three households a year. But they want to see a similar contribution from the Upper Basin. The Upper Basin states, however, dont think they should have to make additional cuts because they already dont use their full share of the water and are legally obligated to send a certain amount of water downstream. Our water users feel that pain, said Estevan López, New Mexico’s representative for the Upper Colorado River Commission. Upper Basin states want less water released from Lake Powell to Lake Mead. But Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, said he hasnt seen anything on the table from the Upper Basin that would compel him to ask Arizona lawmakers to approve those demands. Within the coming weeks, the Bureau of Reclamation will release a range of possible proposals, but it will not identify a specific set of operating guidelines the federal government would prefer. Scott Cameron, the bureau’s acting commissioner, implored the states to find compromise. Cooperation is better than litigation, he said during the conference. The only certainty around litigation in the Colorado River basin is a bunch of water lawyers are going to be able to put their children and grandchildren through graduate school. There are much better ways to spend several hundred million dollars. Jessica Hill, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
A reader asks: I run a small business that supplies a product to major companies. To keep the details anonymous, lets say that we supply garments to a few mid-tier clothing retailers that you can buy in the mall. The problem is that one of my employees two levels down (he reports to someone who reports to me), Dave, behaves as though were making clothing for Gucci or Prada. This causes enormous production headaches. It means everything moves much more slowly through his department, because he is extremely conscientious about quality. That is admirable, but it results in things like being short with our subcontractors because they have not produced the products to his standard, even though they have produced them to industry standards. Weve lost freelance designers because theyre being asked to make Prada-level clothing for Old Navy-type wages. He also causes many things to be done over or redoes them himself. This dramatically drives up the cost of what we produce. He should be producing 5,000 items a year in order to justify his salary but he only produces 3,000. This means we have gotten to a point where it actually costs us more to produce these products than we are being paid for them. Both his manager and I have attempted to tell him directly that he is overdoing things. This angers him and causes him to dig in his heels. Weve said, You dont have to redo this work. It was fine the way the freelancers produced it. Just concentrate on the big issues like the overall cut of the fabric. What he apparently hears is, What you do doesnt matter. Youre wrong to be concerned about quality. His reaction is to stay up all night and work through the weekend to try and increase his numbers instead of just not doing everything twice. Daves heart is in the right place. This is tricky because its not like were asking him to do X and he refuses. Were asking him to do X, and he does X twice and then adds Y and Z! How can I motivate Dave to take a step back and be more in alignment with the market tier we serve instead of driving up cost and increasing everyones aggravation by overdoing things? Or perhaps he is just a bad fit for this job? Green responds: He might be a bad fit for the job. Whether his heart is in the right place or not, you cant keep someone on who refuses to work in the way that you need, wildly misses your production metrics, and drives up your costsand who, when spoken to about it, flatly refuses to change what hes doing. But first make sure you have been very, very clear with Dave. Not just Concentrate on X, not Y clear. This needs to be, If you do not immediately start doing X and stop doing Y, we are going to need to let you go clear. You need to say it that way to make sure Dave understands the stakes. Its possible that he has been hearing, We would like to have the level of care and quality that youre providing and obviously it would be better if we could, but sadly we cannot find a way to sustain it. And hes thinking, Let me show you how we can do it! So you need to be crystal clear that you dont want it and will not allow it. You also need to be clear about the consequences if he continuesthat you will fire him. If you dont spell that out explicitly and then you let Dave go, he sounds like he might be shocked because hes focused on how much he cares and how hard hes working (and in his mind, who would fire someone who cares so much and works so hard?). So its a kindness to let him know now that thats the path hes heading down. If you have this conversation and the problem continues, then youll know that he just cant do the job you need done. At that point, you can move forward with a clear conscience because youll have told him clearly what he needed to do to stay in the job and will have given him a chance to do it. Want to submit a question of your own? Send it to alison@askamanager.org. Alison Green
Category:
E-Commerce
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