Bridgerton Is A Brand: What Brands Can Take Away From The Famous Netflix Show
Netflix’s hit series Bridgerton has stolen the hearts of over 40 million people worldwide with its first three seasons debut. Known for its legendary “Dear Gentle Readers” line, the scandal, and the ATTRACTIVE cast and for being an adaptation of Julia Quinn’s bestselling novels, it’s grown to become one of the best series of the decade. As a marketer, it’s difficult to simply enjoy something without finding parallels that can translate to branding and marketing. I’ve loved to witness Bridgerton not only becoming a well-loved series but its own brand entity. Although it’s a 19th-century drama, there are a lot of marketing lessons that today’s brands can note to improve their branding. According to Netflix, within the first month of season 3 part 1 hitting the screens, it has received over 83M views.
Keep reading to get a full breakdown of how this show is so successful.
Fresh Faces
Let’s be honest, the over-recycling of mainstream celebrities in campaigns and in TV gets BORING. It’s time to give new talent a chance. Netflix casters choosing not to cast a-list celebrities for the series was the wisest choice and adds a breath of fresh air to watchers looking for an escape from reality. Seeing new faces brings curiosity and people are desperate for new talent to fall in love with. One of the number one complaints from most media lovers today is that a small group of A-listers are being cast in most of the popular movies/shows. Bridgerton opened the doors for “underground” actors to step out of the shadows and get the recognition they deserve.
If a brand wants to break out of complacency, a strategy to consider is to welcome something new instead of trying to rely on what’s popular to carry it through. Embrace the unconventional, utilize new faces, and collaborate with new talent. If you’re in it for the long-run, it’ll all work out!
2. Standing Out From The Competition
There are hundreds of shows and movies based in the 18th century that tell historical stories of love and romance. Why risk making another show when people have already seen Little Women, Pride & Prejudice, Phantom of the Opera, Wuthering Heights, and Belle? Some people would argue that as a collective, we’ve seen enough period dramas. Over the years, many book-adapted shows and period dramas didn’t gain much success. What makes Bridgerton different? Outside of the other reasons I will explain during this post, Bridgerton’s decision to challenge the boundaries of historical accuracy, bring in a diverse cast, and add modern elements to the show separates them from the others. Bridgerton adding a modern touch through post-production (editing style), music choices, and the choice to include people of color into the cast (which is obviously not the true depiction of high society around that time) is what sets Bridgerton apart from historic-inspired TV productions. Now, we’re slowly seeing new films and shows follow in their footsteps.
3. Knowing Their Target Audience
Over 70% of Bridgerton’s audience is millennial women. The team does an OUTSTANDING job making intentional decisions that will cater to their group of women viewers. We spoke about the casting earlier, but the casting directors truly thought about the female gaze when casting both the men and women for the series. Using attractive, but everyday-looking actors of all shapes, sizes, and ethnicities to appeal to every woman’s taste was an amazing decision by the casting directors. The team understands what their audiences’ interests are and does an amazing job pulling references and paying tribute to specific “eras” that their audience appreciates. For example, most of the fandom has watched early 2000s shows like Gossip Girl, or Princess Diaries so using the beloved Queen of Genovia’s Julie Andrews to be the voice of Lady Whistledown and keeping the center of the show surrounding a mysterious gossiper really played tribune to their audience’s nostalgia. Even through music, choosing songs that would be on any millennial/Gen Z woman’s playlist and turning it into a classical hit just adds the cherry on top.
“With Bridgerton, it’s about female pleasure and intimacy and romantic connection at a deep level.””
4. Taking Creative Risks
The directors and team really understand how to bring words on paper to life. They did an amazing job of keeping the foundation from the books but adding necessary tweaks to really create this new fantasy world. The directors could have easily stayed the course of the depiction of the era in the books and made the show similar to other regency-era shows. Instead, they take calculated creative risks and continuously give the viewers unexpected surprises. This works because it gives those who know the original stories some unpredictability and allows them to also be on the edge of their seats with everyone else. Even through their marketing, the campaigns do an amazing job of balancing the Bridgerton theme but bringing something fun, new, and unexpected every time.
The risks that brands are afraid to take are usually the ones that drives appeal and long-term success.
5. PR Is Their Second Language
There are two languages that Bridgerton’s team speaks- scandal and PR!! Outside of being attached to the show, Bridgerton’s fans are also addicts for the Bridgerton press tours. The leading casts always bring fun, flirty, down-to-earth charisma to their interviews that keeps fans wanting more. The leading couple for the show’s prequel Queen Charolette India Armarteifio and Corey Mylchreest set the internet ablaze with their amazing off-screen chemistry. Now following in their footsteps, the season three leading couple Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton have fans on the hunt for every single interview just to watch the two interact off-screen. These two press tours have been responsible for hundreds of thousands of TikTok edits and commentary and have also been the spark to generating new Bridgerton watchers who want to see how their off-screen chemistry “mirrors” their roles as Colin and Penelope. The casts talk about in many interviews how they spend 4-8 months on press tours to promote the show and to meet fans. THE DEDICATION!
Brands should take note that who they choose to be attached to their business plays a pivotal role in their success. Being intentional with choosing people who understand the purpose behind the brand and are great at executing but also impactfully helps build the reputation of the series through their natural authenticity and commitment to their tye to your business.
Think about Savage X Fenty. During their early campaigns, the Fenty team recruited a lot of famous public figures (reality TV stars, content creators, influencers, actors, etc.) to be ambassadors for their brands. Fenty’s core value is inclusivity and by nature cares deeply about womanhood. Ari Fletcher's (influencer) ambassador deal with Savage X Fenty was pulled due to her insensitive comments regarding domestic violence. With their quick action, the brand wasn’t held accountable for Ari’s comments but this is a testament to why it’s important to thoroughly vet people to ensure that you’re working with those whose values align with yours. Having people attached to your brand that don’t share the same core values can be a literal PR nightmare and has been known to tarnish a brand’s trust with their consumers.
It’s amazing to note that the audience is just as attached to the cast as they are to the actual show. Bridgerton has done such an amazing job choosing a skilled and well-rounded team that truly cares about the craft, the community, and the reputation of the series. It’s so great that even the fans joke about how the cast succeeds so well in their press tours that the PR team can just go on vacation.
Brands that take this approach with their social accounts and show their team, clients, and members of their community do way better than faceless brands that only show their products. This serves the purpose of humanizing a brand which increases brand loyalty.
6. Playing The Long Game
The choice to choose a novel with 8 (9 including Queen Charlotte's) stories and including the franchise queen herself Shonda Rhimes to help develop this story provides audiences with a sense of safety knowing that their attachment to Bridgerton will not be short-lived.
There are businesses and brands out there that only create projects and products for instant gratification and to generate profit. They fail to realize that consumers and audiences value longevity. Neglecting the audience who get snubbed due to cheap execution, or never seeing the product or project get followed through causes distrust and flopped future launches. Coming into a project understanding that the process is going to be long and trusting that results will be generated over time is what keeps businesses and shows like Bridgerton successful. Their team is more willing to take longer on production or pace releases to ensure perfect execution than rushing a franchise at this scale for immediate benefits.
The divergent series is a prime example of this. Fans (like myself) who fell in love with the story, grew attached to the on-screen adaptation, just for the execution to decrease each movie release to the point that the on-screen story wasn’t even released left a whole fandom disappointed and forever displeased.
7. Showing the Process
When an audience is invested into a show/movie/brand, they want to consume and digest as much information as they can to feel included in the process. Most do this through interviews, following the casts online to watch their POV, watching behind-the-scenes footage, or even reading full scripts. The more a brand lets its audience in, the more willing the audience to feel considered and included. Bridgerton FEEDS their audience content after content to keep them interested and also obsessed with the story and the casts. People’s attention spans are shorter than a goldfish these days, the smart thing a brand can do is to not “ghost” their audience.
What Brands Can Take Away From This
Rather you’re selling skincare, clothing, or even a service, you can always take away from different industries to understand how to connect to your audience and build your community through branding. I hope after reading this, you have a deeper understanding of the factors that make a successful, growing brand. Here’s a few takeaways;
Bridgerton has become more than a TV series. It’s a brand that has developed into a brand that is now home for nerdy, millennial/Genz bookworms who love romance and drama. It has built a reputation for being inclusive, and timeless, and for providing a fun twist to a historical-based story.
Understanding your target audience’s persona BEFORE creating a product will drive long-term success, fandom, and community.
Taking calculated, creative risks can help you stand out from the crowd
Watching TV can be productive :)
As much as I’d like to say that I over-binged this series and all of their content a thousand times to be able to write this blog, I’d be a filthy liar. But what’s the fun of being a marketer, if I can’t indulge in a little media every now and then right?
