Definition and example of cross platform advertisement

Cross-platform advertisement is a form of advertising that spans multiple media types such as TV, online ads and posters. Most well funded advertisement campaigns are cross-platform. This is because cross platforming can engage a product with a far larger audience than a single media type could.

One of the best cross-platform advertisement campaigns was the ad campaign for the Netflix series Stranger Things. It featured extremely innovative collaboration adverts in preparation for the airing of its second season after the success of the first series.

The marketing team collaborated with Clothing brands to create lines of clothing featuring the characters in the run up to the second season.They collaborated with Reebok to create limited edition shoes in the style of one of the shows main characters. This acted as a reference to the show for those returning and would garner interest for people who haven't seen the show. Netflix also paid the retailer Topshop to refurbish their Oxford street store into a Stranger things theme. This went with the line of clothing that they also released in the run up to the season's release.


The music streaming service Spotify created a test for users to see which character they were most like and let users listen to a playlist of music based on the characters. This works well because the age demographic of Spotify users and the target audience of the show are very similar with the majority of users of Spotify being 18-24 and the majority of Netflix users being 18-29.

A mural to the show was created in oxford circus tube station through TFL which was larger than any other posters around the station. Rather than being just a poster the art extended onto the signs around the station to stand out to passerby's and make them more likely to take notice than with a traditional poster.

However the traditional posters that were created didn't advertise the show directly they advertised a Fictional company from the story of the show which looked like a normal energy provider's poster. The locations chosen for the posters were even among other posters for energy providers and similar companies. All of these posters featured a number which when called played a recording from one of the shows actors which played a message about the plot of the new season. This was targeted more at those who were already fans of the show but also may have played a practical joke on unsuspecting people to create interest in their show.