By Olly Reed, Marketing Director
"Netflix House Will Let You Experience Your Favourite Shows and Movies in Real Life."
That's the tagline. That's the pitch. That's the opening line of the press release written by someone who probably once majored in English Lit and now spends their days trying to find synonyms for "immersive."
A place where you can step inside your favourite Netflix stories. Physically interact with characters. And, crucially, hand over your hard-earned cash for the privilege. There'll be merch, themed food, awkward photos of adults pretending to be Eleven from Stranger Things, and probably somewhere, a gift shop called "You Might Also Like."
Why?
Because real-world experiences build loyalty. And loyalty builds empires. Let's be honest: Guinness didn't need to build an attraction to sell stout. But they did. Warner Bros could've stopped after eight soundstages of Harry Potter. But they didn't. (Thank god, because who among us hasn't shed a tear in front of Hagrid's Hut?) Disney could've stuck to one theme park. But no, they built entire cities of wonder, all based on things that don't actually exist. Because they know something the rest of the world sometimes forgets:
If people experience something in the real world, they connect with it.
If they connect with it, they spend. If they spend, they come back. If they come back, they tell their friends. And then? You've got a fan. Not just a customer. A fan for life.
So what does that have to do with UK tourism and culture?
Everything. While Netflix is throwing millions into building a new physical universe, you already have one. You've got the castles. The museums. The coastlines. The galleries. The parks. The places. You've got actual stories, the kind with footnotes, archives and, in many cases, bones (dinosaurs etc). You don't need to invent a fantasy world. You're living in one. And yet, while media companies act like master storytellers, building brands, creating digital content, running targeted ads, and seducing audiences, too many visitor attractions are still operating like it's 1997, and a leaflet rack in a service station is peak outreach.
Netflix is making things up. You have authenticity and in an age of AI-generated nonsense, misinformation, and deepfakes, authenticity is currency. So here's the shift: if digital-first businesses are heading into the physical world, physical-first enterprises need to start getting serious about digital.
At Navigate, we've been (loudly) pushing the idea that digital is your most significant opportunity. It's your way of turning interest into action. It's how you take your existing space and amplify it. Because the truth is, people are no longer just booking based on what's nearby or what they remember. They book based on what they see, what they feel, what they're served via ads, content, social, and stories.
Netflix has figured that out. Their strategy?
- Make digital content that sparks curiosity.
- Use data to target the people most likely to care.
- Offer them an experience that's worth showing off about.
- Repeat.
You can do the same.
But it's not just Netflix House; they've now opened Netflix Bites, a restaurant in Las Vegas where you can order "Stranger Wings" and "Orange is the New Mac." (Yes, really.) You may roll your eyes, but they're not doing this for irony. They're doing it for market share. The screen was never the final stop, but instead a step in a never ending loop. The binge now becomes the pilgrimage.
So what comes next? Netflix Nights: a hotel built for uninterrupted streaming and overpriced themed cocktails? Maybe. But while Netflix expands its empire one experience at a time, the UK's tourism and culture brands already have something the algorithm can't create, places where people can actually be.
You don't need to build a "House." You are the house. You are the place where people come to make memories. All you need is to treat your brand like it matters as much as theirs.
This isn't just a marketing challenge; it's a mindset shift. It's a rallying cry to stop thinking like a leaflet and start thinking like a franchise. You don't need to become Netflix. But you do need to act like a brand people want to belong to.
You're sitting on the real deal. Let's make sure people know it. And if you're wondering how, well... let's talk.
Let's talk
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