Written by:
Stay updated with Roku Advertising.
Every streaming search tells a story, and when many of those stories meet, you have a trend. In our latest Roku Trends, a content series that examines how Roku users search for and engage the moments that matter to them through TV streaming, we see an eagerness to find the perfect Halloween watch, the buzz around Netflix’s “Squid Game,” and even how streamers are feeling about Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement that Facebook is rebranding as Meta.
Streamers Embrace The Spooky Season
Before the clock struck midnight on November 1st (cue the Mariah Carey pronouncement), streamers had one thing on their mind (aside from making sure they had enough candy for trick-or-treaters): what to watch on Halloween weekend. Here’s what streamers searched for the most on “Halloweekend”:
| Top 10 Title Searches, 10/29-31 |
Halloweekend vs. Weekend Prior
|
|
Halloween
|
55% |
| Hocus Pocus | 142% |
| Halloween Kills | 4% |
| The Addams Family | 61% |
| It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown | 184% |
| Beetlejuice | 90% |
| Scream | 62% |
| The Nightmare Before Christmas | 126% |
| Ghostbusters | 133% |
| Halloween II | 48% |
“Squid Game” Takes the Big Prize
Any recap of the past month wouldn’t be complete without examining the “Squid Game” phenomenon. Here’s what we observed about searches for the show:
Mark Zuckerberg Wants Us to Be More ‘Meta’
From the period before vs. after the announcement (10/21-24 vs. 10/28-31), we've seen the following searches increase:
- Ready Player One up 72%
- Black Mirror up 29%
- The Social Network up 22%
- Over same period, Roku searches beginning in “meta” increased by 24%
Was “Ready Player One” prescient? Do streamers feel the universe colliding with the themes of “Black Mirror?” We may never know, but based on those searches streamers appear to be approaching this new era of social media with caution.
If It Happens in Pop Culture, It Happens on Roku
Roku is more than a content discovery platform; it is a way for streamers to explore the world and feel a sense of connection to it. For marketers and brands, understanding how key audiences think and search is crucial to understanding how to reach them. Curious to know how Roku can help your brand tap into big cultural moments and reach engaged audiences at scale? Contact us to get started.
