Source: Instagram | Netflix Bites
Does Netflix Have A Screen-To-Table Opportunity?
Netflix is opening its first pop-up restaurant, “Netflix Bites,” showcasing creations from chefs featured on shows available on the streaming service, including Chef’s Table, Iron Chef, Is It Cake? and Drink Masters.
The pop-up opens at Short Stories Hotel in Los Angeles on June 30.
“Have you ever watched Chef’s Table (the longest-running nonfiction series on Netflix), Is It Cake? or Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend and wished you could dive into your TV to sample the delectable dishes on screen? Now, for the first time, you can get a taste of the shows you know and love through this limited-time pop-up restaurant,” Netflix wrote in a press release.
Michelin-starred chefs Dominque Crenn and Curtis Stone are among the chefs collaborating on the menu. “This screen-to-table experience of giving fans a taste of what happens on camera is just awesome,” said Mr. Stone.
Netflix likened the pop-up to its Netflix “live experiences” such as “The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience” and “Stranger Things: The Experience” which have recently toured U.S. cities.
“From episode to entrée, with Netflix Bites we are creating an in-person experience where fans can immerse themselves in their favorite food shows,” said Josh Simon, Netflix’s VP, consumer products.
Mr. Simon, a former Nike VP, is also monetizing Netflix content around merchandise. Netflix Hub in-store shops selling merchandise tied to Netflix’s original content have opened in more than 2,400 Walmart stores with the items also available on Walmart.com. Last October, Netflix opened a 10,000-square-foot pop-up at Los Angeles’ The Grove shopping complex to mark its first multi-title brick-and-mortar destination.
Netflix Bites represents the streaming service’s first restaurant experience tied to its content.
The most successful movie or TV-themed restaurant is Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, which was inspired by the 1994 film Forrest Gump and operates more than 30 locations worldwide. Themed bars and restaurants, however, have become fairly common. People magazine recently profiled a number of pop-culture themed restaurants, including ones celebrating Golden Girls, Top Gun, Star Wars, Breaking Bad, Seinfeld and the Lord Of The Rings.
Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Does Netflix Bites seem like more of a marketing opportunity for Netflix or could it evolve into a viable commercial opportunity? Does Netflix Bites point to a bigger opportunity around pop-culture pop-ups or restaurants?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Lisa Goller
B2B Content Strategist
Ryan Grogman
Managing Partner, Retail Consulting Partners (RCP)
Netflix Bites is a marketing opportunity that will attract avid fans and new viewers with a culinary and content feast.
Consumers’ appetite for media can translate into new service and merchandising extensions that drive growth. If Netflix Bites succeeds, more streamers will consider adopting a retailtainment model.
I like the idea – there are plenty of entertainment newsletters etc. who make food and drink “pairing” recommendations for what to have while you watch the latest show. What Netflix is doing is more experiential than that – taste the actual dish that was made in this show – but that is very difficult to scale. Which makes this solidly a marketing ploy, or maybe an attempt to butter up all the critics living in LA, but not a sustainable business model. Pop-ups by their nature are temporary – but if you’re going to do it, you still need scale, you need the ability to pop up anywhere at any time and make whatever localization is needed to be relevant to both the place and the time. That is incredibly difficult.
I think it would be more interesting to partner with chains or local restaurants (and delivery partners) to offer more like the pairing – here’s what to eat and drink while watching Extraction 2 or whatever. Order it now from DoorDash and have it to your house in less than an hour…
Commercializing shows via merchandise or partnerships with fast-food brands is fairly common and is often a huge success. However, commercializing using a dining experience is a fantastic opportunity that allows fans to immerse themselves in a much more holistic way. It is also accessible and has a potentially large reach given that so many consider dining out a pleasurable pastime, and love to experiment. Netflix Bites is only a pop-up, but there is potential for this to become a regular thing.
This is a double play for Netflix. I like the immersive dining experience that Netflix Bites offers. It is a creative homage to foodies who are a dedicated lifeline for the network. Netflix Bites is also a smart way to test the waters of experiential dining and launching in LA is a perfect start. Love this concept and hope it travels to other urban settings.
Netflix and themed merch makes sense given how many of their original content series have become so pop culturally relevant. However, I’m not as bullish on the pop-up restaurant viability. I think it would make more sense to brand the pop-ups around the shows themselves (e.g. “The Iron Chef Experience”) as opposed to “Netflix Bites”, which to me doesn’t translate to high-end culinary food coming out their shows. Either way, I view these as something that will make news cycles and serve as marketing vs. any sort of long-term commercial opportunity.
Coming from an immigrant Italian family where food and family are closely tied and celebration of family moments is a very special and cherished opportunity, it seems odd to anchor around social media and film. Call it old school, but this appears to be a pop-up fad that will not have long legs on it. Therefore, I believe it is a short lived promotional value at best.
One of the many next frontiers for brands is in the “Platform” model of retail. This is distinct from “Ecosystems” like Amazon, Walmart, Target, and “Habitats” like the multiple versions of online and offline experience and buying destinations. It is a key new area for brands, DTCs and manufacturers to focus on in the next couple of years.
Netflix is setting itself up to be the earliest and most aggressive mover in using their content and community advantage to become a platform for commerce. This latest move is a new addition to setting up their own retail platform, the tie-up with Walmart, and their Bridgerton and Stranger Things experiences.
Watch for “Platforms” (content and community spaces not originally intended for retail) to be major players in retail. Twitch, Roblox, Youtube, and others are primed and ready.
Sounds like a brilliant idea to me. Could be an amazing way to enliven a boring mall food court. It doesn’t have to be a fine dining experience, but a fun dining experience could be a whole reason unto itself to visit the mall. It might not rise to the level of Eately, but it’s a start.
Great marketing move. If they don’t expand the idea in-house, it becomes a great opportunity for a franchise concept.
There is a big difference in running a video-streaming enterprise and a restaurant. I’m sure Netflix is thinking this through. Is this about marketing or being a player in the restaurant business? There’s a difference!
First of all, is it me, or is this not one of the worst naming decisions in brand history? The potential reviews write themselves with headlines like, “Netflix Bites Alright.” Running a media business is not the same thing as running a restaurant, just look at what has happened to many of the outlets opened by television celebratory chefs — individuals who, after all, ar supposed to know the business. The idea may work as a pop-up in highly selected markets and venues. But, while the chefs are consulting on the menu the article seems to be suggesting they won’t actually be preparing it, and there’s the rub.
Great insight, Ryan. I’m sure the price to drink and dine will be a consideration, too.
Done right, this could be a good opportunity for Netflix as more consumers gravitate toward experiences vs services.
Also, this helps soften the blow to streaming revenue constantly under challenge by steep competition and emerging platforms.
The key is to create an essence of aspiration without feeling overly unattainable. Pulsed rightly throughout the year, there could be value in revenue diversity for Netflix.
This is kind of mysterious with very little insight into exactly what the concept is. Unless they are streaming the show while you are dining or the actual chefs are on-site, I don’t see the immersive angle. It’s just a pop-up restaurant that you learned about through Netflix. As a foodie I’m all in, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see.