Netflix wanted to celebrate the end of a year that didn’t have much to celebrate. So as the world spent 2020 stuck on the couch, we had to acknowledge our unique role of helping fans visit other worlds, through stories. In a tense climate, it was important to opt for humor. The focus was thanking the biggest fans, so it was important to act like a fellow fan instead of a preachy brand, who didn’t just ‘understand’ the 2020 experience, but had also gone along for the ride.

A 3-minute surreal sing-along song to celebrate the end of a strange year. To compose the lyrics of the original song, first, working with the Netflix social listening team, we mapped the year's fan sentiment on social. Then, along with the comedian and songwriter Matt Buechele, who also starred the film, we turned the most engaging tweets into relatable lyrics about each show.

The film:

After receiving a prompt that he’s “finished Netflix”, a relatable fan is taken on an immersive metaphorical trip down memory lane; back through everything he and the wider audience had watched and felt, together. As this hero moves through his retrospective journey, the lyrics and bizarre visuals make fan-centric references to some of 2020’s most iconic and talked about moments.

In lockdown, people found a way out through Netflix stories. But soon, things went way out of control. We all spent so many hours in front of screens that it felt like we had watched it all on Netflix. Even memes started to emerge, playing around with the possibility of reaching the end of the platform. This behavior was seen from fans to celebrities, like Conan O'Brien, who tweeted to his 28 million followers: "I did it. I reached the end of Netflix''.

Our strategy was to enter into the fans' conversation organically, bringing fun to such a bad year. So, we mapped out the collective sentiment of 2020, found the most engaging tweets for each Netflix content throughout the year, and composed a song referring to each comment from these fans.

In December 2020, the film was teased with a back-and-forth on social between our star and songwriter, Matt Buechele, and Netflix.

Then, we launched the film on Netflix's social networks — Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

This was followed up with AR filters, and music track releases, to keep the audience fully immersed in the moment.

Capturing the audience's sentiment in 2020, We Watched it All outperformed mega-title content counterparts on Netflix's social channels.

4MM organic views in 1 week

99,89% positive sentiment

180k engagements in 24 hours

"Netflix song celebrates users who ‘Watched It All’" - Nerdist

"A catchy Broadway-style show tune" - Shots

Editor's pick on Ad Age.

On Google Trends, we noticed the year's peak for the expression "Thank you Netflix" precisely in the week of the film's release, showing the feeling of gratitude for the content and the journey throughout the year along with Netflix.

And, most importantly, the project received thousands of high-praise in audience comments as a demonstration that Netflix understands its fans, like:

“The best 2020 rewind ever. Period.”

“This made me forget that I was in 2020”

“This speaks to me during this year”

“Finally… a song about me”