House of Cards

At a time when streaming television was still emerging, House of Cards became one of Netflix’s first major global originals and a defining test case for how a streaming series could build cultural momentum around the world.

For five seasons, I led social media strategy for House of Cards, developing a real-world political campaign approach that blurred the line between fiction and reality and helped position the series as a global cultural event.

The Challenge

How do you use a tentpole original series to build global awareness, drive conversation, and help accelerate adoption of Netflix around the world?

The Strategy

We developed a real-world political strategy that connected House of Cards characters and storylines to live cultural and political moments.

Working with a political consultant in Washington, D.C., we built a reactive campaign model designed to make the fictional world of House of Cards feel present inside real-world conversation. The strategy began as a Twitter-led U.S. campaign in season one and evolved into a global, multi-platform social campaign by season five.

Across markets, the work used timing, tone, character voice, cultural context, and real-time response to turn the series into an always-on political brand.

The Impact

The global social strategy drove millions of earned media impressions and helped make House of Cards one of Netflix’s most visible early original series around the world.

Season five became the campaign’s most successful global season, and the work received multiple awards, including a Cannes Lion Gold for Digital & Social Response / Real-Time Activity.

Watch the case study here.