SCOTTS VALLEY: After years of mining data analytics to maintain itself as the top streaming service in the world, Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) has asked producers to keep things simple to cater to the large South Asian market.
Leaked emails, available exclusively with The Dependent, reveal that Netflix has issued a list of keywords for producers to not only enhance their chances of getting their work released on the streaming service, but to also attract a wider audience.
“Sex. Yes, that’s your golden word if you want tens of millions in Pakistan to hook on to your show or movie,” reads the email sent out to various producers and directors, some of whom are multiple-award winning filmmakers.
“Sex. Yes, all variations prefixed by the word will work wonders for you as well. Sexy, sexed-up, sexual, sexualize, sexiness, sexting, etc. Even sexist works, and not because the vast majority of audience realise that it’s a word that associates perfectly with them,” the email adds.
Netflix has also announced an annual ‘Keyword Maestro’ award that will be given to one of its films or shows. The first award this year will be given to ‘Sexify’, The Dependent has learnt.
In a separate email sent out to producers hoping to attract an audience from Pakistan, Netflix has also asked that the suitable keywords be coupled with imagery on the poster that ‘matches the keyword, but doesn’t bare it all’.
“Keep in mind that most of the Pakistanis will be hiding what they are watching from their parents, spouses, children, society in general, and even their own subconscious,” the email says.
“So use an image that clearly conveys that the show has exactly what they are looking for, but at the same time has a poster that is relatively safe enough in case ammi jaan or abba huzoor walks into the room, while they are about to press play.”
