Finding a show that can get me seated and entirely focused is hard.
I’d be scrolling mindlessly on my phone or thinking about what to eat for breakfast.
Even at Avengers: Endgame, when everyone had their mouths open with awe, I had my mouth open with my eyes closed.
But Beef on Netflix is a different animal. It got me hooked.
What started out as a simple road rage incident involving two humans turned into spray-painting and peeing on the floors of a beautiful house. Which then escalated into an almost-arson and kidnapping, with family members embroiled in this full-blown war.
Over ten episodes, the show cleverly increases the stakes, hitting new highs with successful retaliations worse than before, and at times toppling it — as with the failed attempt to set Amy’s car on fire.
But beneath this evil war, lies two humans with very human fears and desires, surrounded by loved ones who never understood them.
Amy was born into a poor family that didn’t want her. Because of that, she’s always trying to prove herself by working harder than anyone else.
She has a beautiful big house. She owns a profitable business waiting to be acquired. She’s married to a wealthy Japanese man with a cute daughter.
By definition, she’s successful.
Danny? Everything about Danny spells poor — struggling parents, idle brother, and on-off income from his construction business.
But Amy and Danny have one thing in common — they want to be seen and understood. They didn’t want to be alone.
Amy and her husband have different worldviews, and he can’t listen. In her luxurious house that looks as cold as an art gallery, she never feels at home. Danny works equally hard but fails. He wanted so badly to keep his brother by his side, he threw away all his university acceptance letters.
It’s 100% relatable.
And this applies to marketing as well.
Customers want to be seen and understood. They want brands to speak to them as humans do.
They have their own set of needs. And if businesses can understand and show that they do, they already have half the battle won.
Here are a few brands that nailed this part.
Casper the experienced sleeper
Like an experienced sleeper, Casper understands the pain points of people who cannot sleep well — the heat, sunken mattresses, tossing and turning to find the best position.
They even broke it down into the 3 phases of sleeping: Getting into bed, falling asleep and staying asleep.
Simple copy like “wake up refreshed”, “relieve the day’s pressures”, and “help you doze off with ease” directly address their needs.
Notion the friendly colleague
One of the most frustrating problems at work is being unable to find files and documents. It’s so basic and slows you down unnecessarily.
This particular copy from Notion hits the spot, in plain-spoken English. You can almost hear your colleague Tom saying it.
Jasper the objection fighter
Jasper recognises one major objection behind writing with an AI — generic copies that sound good but sound like another brand.
This copy is simple and tackles the objection head-on. Jasper works well.
Understanding customers is the first step that we can’t skip. Not only does it help us write copies that resonate better, but we can also use this intelligence to tweak our products to something more people want.
My point is, Beef on Netflix is an amazing show. Go watch it.