Fueled by data.

Driven by creativity.

Netflix invited two members of the Omnicom Media Group Montreal team to attend the TUDUM 2025 event, held in late May at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. It was an opportunity to dive into the platform’s universe, meet the content creators, and discover from the inside the trends that are redefining the entertainment industry.

Here are the key takeaways they gathered from these four days.

1.TUDUM: When Netflix Creates Its Own Cultural Super Bowl

The TUDUM 2025 event was far from a simple season launch. It was an immersive showcase designed for fans worldwide and broadcast live on the platform. It featured exclusive previews of cult series like Stranger Things, Wednesday, One Piece, and Squid Game—but also live performances, interactions with actors, and highly anticipated announcements.

In short, Netflix is turning its shows into cultural events, much like Comic-Con, with a global reach. And it’s no longer just digital: the experience extends into real life.

2. Content for Everyone, All the Time

Netflix reaffirmed a strong belief: to build loyalty, you must offer an extremely diverse range of content.

Why? Because the average user consumes between 5 and 7 different genres, depending on their mood, the time, or their viewing context. And every viewer is unique.

The platform therefore prefers to accumulate niches rather than rely solely on a few universal "blockbusters." The result: from stand-up comedy to true crime, from K-drama to Japanese animation, it covers everything. It’s not just a mass strategy—it’s a large-scale ultra-personalization strategy.

3. Creating Connection: Fandoms, Gen Z, and Immersion in Show Universes

What makes a show strong today is not just its audience size but community engagement.

Netflix bets on creating fandoms—passionate communities that embrace a universe, share it, remix it, and defend it. The perfect example: Squid Game, a South Korean series that became the most-watched of all time on the platform in just a few weeks, thanks to organic spread supported by powerful visuals, simple codes, and addictive storytelling.

This phenomenon is even more true with Gen Z, who—contrary to popular belief—watch more "TV" (broadly speaking) than the previous generation. But they do it differently: they want to experience it, identify with it, express themselves. TUDUM is designed for them: a gathering place, a space for participation, not just passive consumption.

4. Netflix Steps Outside the Screen: Live, Sports, Events

While Netflix has long embodied "on-demand" VOD, the platform is evolving. It is now embracing live broadcasting, with a clear strategy: offering real-time cultural events where its subscribers already are.

Notable examples include:

• Streaming Monday Night Raw (WWE) starting January 2025, as part of a 10-year deal.

• Streaming NFL games for the Christmas Day Game.

• Women’s boxing matches and more live events announced for 2025.

Netflix is becoming a serious competitor in the live space, until now dominated by traditional TV channels and social networks.

5. An Advertising Model in Full Transformation

On the advertising side, Netflix has also accelerated. In two years, they moved from a 100% direct-buy approach to a more segmented platform, with multiple formats and access levels.

But for major franchises (like Stranger Things, F1, etc.), sponsorship remains very selective. Brands are not just buying visibility—they are chosen based on their fit with the series’ universe. The goal: to preserve storytelling and enhance immersion.

This model is still largely global but could adapt locally, opening the door to more regional partnerships. For example, Canadian productions like North of the North or Who Killed the Expos? could eventually attract local brands wishing to associate with quality content rooted in local culture.

6. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles...

This trip also revealed a striking fact: Hollywood’s face has changed.

On the famous billboards of Sunset Boulevard, no more films. It’s now series and streaming platforms that dominate the space. Netflix, Prime Video, Paramount+—they showcase their shows, characters, and slogans. There are even "For Your Consideration" posters targeting Emmy and Golden Globe voters.

The movie capital has become the streaming showcase.

Conclusion

TUDUM 2025 confirms that Netflix is no longer just a distributor: it’s a universe creator, a community connector, and a central player in global popular culture. Behind all this lie exciting opportunities for brands, creators, and agencies like ours.

📺 Watch: The TUDUM 2025 replay
👉 Watch on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81969517
📚 Read the official recap: https://about.netflix.com/en/news/tudum-2025-the-live-event-recap

With Google Marketing Live just around the corner, Google has started to announce their latest product rollouts, beginning with AI Max for Search campaigns.

What is AI Max?

Rolling out as a global beta later this May, AI Max is touted as a one-click solution featuring the most advanced targeting and creative tools available for Search campaigns. While details are still emerging, the feature suite of AI Max includes several familiar tools for search practitioners:

• Search Term Matching: AI Max expands on existing keywords using broad match and keywordless technology to discover relevant and high-performing search terms. Google will use the provided signals (e.g., keywords, creative, URLs, etc.) to serve ad messaging to a broader audience, similar to the controls on Search and Performance Max campaigns.

• Automatically Created Assets Redefined: “Text customization” is an enhanced version of automatically created assets that advertisers can use to generate new headlines and descriptions tailored to a searcher’s query.

• Enhanced Controls: Locations of interest allow advertisers to target searchers based on geographic intent, and brand controls enable the inclusion or exclusion of specific brands from targeting considerations. Enhanced reporting is also expected, providing more transparency on search terms and creative performance.

Going Beyond the Keyword: Potential Impact to Search

AI Max is designed to elevate Search campaigns by going beyond traditional keyword strategies, identifying new and potentially untapped audiences. This approach builds on a theme that has been developing for some time as AI solutions continue to grow and evolve.

When considering the potential impact on Search, it's still early days, and it remains unclear how this solution will interact with previous ones, especially for brands already invested in similar products like Performance Max and Broad match.

What is clear, however, is that the need for more relevant, personalized ad experiences is becoming increasingly essential. As the competitive landscape becomes more saturated and advertisers continue to rely on automated tools, it’s crucial for search practitioners to adapt their targeting and creative strategies to stay top of mind.

What’s Next

While the impact of AI Max is still unfolding, the continued push for AI-powered solutions indicates that advertisers will need to act strategically to test and integrate these solutions into their media plans. While AI Max’s potential to scale quickly and help brands stay competitive is promising, many questions still surround its efficacy. Like Performance Max and Broad match before it, advertisers will need to test, learn, and challenge AI Max’s capabilities to understand its true potential.