7
But it still helps move the needle for
companies in a competitive market.
Verizon relies on overall commercial
performance as a barometer of whether
a partnership is working, and Boulben
pointed to the company’s most recent
quarterly earnings—its fourth quarter
was its best in six years, with Verizon
netting 790,000 wireless subscribers—as
evidence that Verizon was pleased with
its results so far.
In a recent call with investors, Verizon
Communications chairman and CEO
Hans Vestberg labeled the deal a success.
“Both of them have been a win-win for
both our partners: for our customers and
for Verizon,” Vestberg said on the call.
“This is the strategy we want to have go-
ing forward.”
PARTNERSHIPS EQUAL
CROSS-PROMOTION
In addition to the scale a big company can
offer a streamer, partnerships can some-
times provide an opportunity to double up
marketing dollars for both parties’ benefit.
Disney and Verizon’s partnership
included a wide-ranging marketing
strategy aimed at leveraging both
companies’ retail, television and
digital properties. Disney+ promos got
placement in Verizon’s 16,000 retail
locations, while Verizon got to use Dis-
ney-owned clips from Guardians of the
Galaxy and Toy Story in its TV spots.
Some members of Verizon’s loyalty
and rewards program VerizonUp got to
screen the first three episodes of The
Mandalorian to help build even more
hype around the service’s debut.
“We developed a fully integrated
marketing plan, which was quite unique,”
Boulben said. “[Disney] provided us with
their assets so that we could use them in
our TV commercials, digital content, in
the merchandising of the stores and in all
of our digital marketing—so in our app,
emails, newsletters, et cetera.”
Verizon will continue promoting its
year of free Disney+ throughout the
2020 calendar year as part of a long-
term marketing strategy, said Boulben.
The company will also pursue other
partnerships with other streaming
video companies as it sees fit.TECH COMPANIES ALSO TRY THE
STREAMING PARTNERSHIP GAME
Other streamers have also looked for
ways to combine marketing efforts, and
they’re not just turning to telcos to do it.
Netflix and Samsung, which have enjoyed
cross-promotional opportunities over theyears, made waves last fall with an ad for
Samsung’s QLED television and the Net-
flix film 6 Underground with actor Ryan
Reynolds’ Aviation Gin brand. Netflix
CMO Jackie Lee-Joe told Adweek she was
proud of those “fun” efforts.
Last month, the companies forged an
even deeper partnership when Netflix
said it would release bonus content from
some of its shows on Galaxy smart-
phones. (That deal is not exclusive.)
Even small players are looking to
leverage big tech platforms’ built-in
audiences to launch their own services.
The publisher Flipboard, which has also
had a strategic partnership with Sam-
sung, is pushing into streaming itself
with Flipboard TV. And as part of its
Samsung partnership, Samsung Galaxy
S20s get three months of the video-on-
demand service for free.
Flipboard’s partnership with Sam-
sung “has always been a win-win,” said
Claus Enevoldsen, vp, global growth and
business development, Flipboard. The
offering also helps extend the new service
to a wide user base at the outset, helping
the company learn and iterate as soon as
it launches.
“It’s a good starting point for us
because there’s a really good audience be-
tween what Flipboard has today and the
type of audience that would buy a phone
like the Galaxy,” Enevoldsen continued.
While partnerships and promotions
help in the short term, McQuivey warned
that they alone will not be enough for
either party to find long-term success.
These deals help companies build momen-
tum, he said, but won’t help maintain it.
“At some point, everyone who wants
access to those services will get them,
so it’s not a meaningful churn preventer
for services in the long run,” McQuivey
said. “Eventually, to keep people coming
back every month, you have to have the
promise of an amazing catalog.”Verizon and Disney+’s
‘Win-Win’ Deal
In its first three months, Verizon’s
partnership with Disney+, which will
run through 2020, is already a rousing
success. Over 5 million people, or roughly
20% of Disney+’s 28.6 million subscribers,
came to the streaming service through
the Verizon deal. Partnering with Disney+
enabled Verizon to “reward our existing
customers for their loyalty,” said Verizon
Wireless’ Frank Boulben. And given that
the company was Disney+’s only wireless
partner, Verizon was able to “use this as
differentiation to acquire customers, as it
was exclusive to us.”KELSEY SUTTON IS THE STREAMING
EDITOR AT ADWEEK, WHERE SHE
COVERS THE BUSINESS OF STREAMING
TELEVISION. @KELSEYMSUTTON.Verizon used Guardians of the
Galaxy clips in its TV spots via
its partnership with Disney+.