Netflix uses NFTs to harvest engagement data
The alpha
- To commemorate the launch of the third season of Love, death + robotsNetflix launched an NFT collection on OpenSea.
- The collection contained corresponding NFTs depicting scenes from the season’s nine episodes.
- Netflix also conducted a virtual and IRL scavenger hunt for these NFTs, leaving QR codes across various IRL billboards and on social media for fans of the show to find.
Why it matters
When Duncan Cock-Foster mentioned the need for the NFT space to move beyond its current status as a speculative market at nft now’s State of NFTs IRL event, this is exactly what he was talking about.
A quick look at Love, death + robots‘ collection page on OpenSea will immediately show you that these NFTs do not have much value as financial assets. So why make such a big fuss about this collection in the first place? And why did more than 32,000 people bother to look for the QR codes that gave them access to make these NFTs?
The answer is simple: the participants in the NFT treasure hunt really enjoyed the show. Admittedly, any project led by David Fincher is hard not to like (he also directed House of cards). Still, NFTs – and crypto – have long derived much of their value from community sentiment.
And that’s what makes Netflix’s march into NFTs so remarkable. Instead of collecting raw funds from the sale of this collection, Netflix pulled some truly unique engagement data from Love, death + robots NFT bonanza. Through this initiative, Netflix was able to create a framework that just might be the future of TV ratings.
What will be next
With traditional TV ratings, showrunners only have access to how many viewers a given show’s episode attracted when it aired. That means no data on how many viewers actually liked every episode. Think about it – everyone and their dog was there to watch the Game of Thrones finale. And (almost) everyone hated it.
Now Netflix can use NFTs to gauge audience sentiment on each episode of Love, death + robots‘ third season by looking at the sales figures. And what the data suggests is that even though the season opener Three Robots: Exit Strategies may be the most popular episode of the season, the season finale, Jibaro, may be the most beloved. At the time of writing is Jibaro NFT has fetched the highest price in the collection, selling for 0.005 ETH. The NFT collection’s sale will end on 25 September.
