Stranger Things season four drives £22.8m in product placement

The latest series of Stranger Things generated more than £22.8m in brand placement since launching in May, according to new research.

The fourth season of the hit Netflix science-fiction show, which was released in two volumes, was also a critical success and earned more than a dozen Emmy nominations.

Data from YouGov Stream in the UK and US suggests Coca-Cola was the big winner commercially with placements of £2.8m – the highest of any brand.

Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven in Stranger Things Netflix

The company’s highest performing asset was the can with £1.4m followed by the bottle with £590,490 and the fountain cup with £387,000.

Coca-Cola’s total valuation across all assets saw it receive almost six times the value of Pepsi, which had a placement valuation of £486,700 across both the UK and US.

This far outstripped other soft drink brands such as 7Up with £120,460, Sprite with £58,150, and Dr Pepper with £41,540.

Other brands that benefitted from placement in the show include Sony with £2m, Reebok also with £2m, and Lacoste with £1.9m.

Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, Joe Keery as Steve Harrington, Joseph Quinn as Eddie Munson, Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley, Priah Ferguson as Erica Sinclair, Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield, and Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair in Stranger Things. Netflix

The precocious Max Mayfield, played by Sadie Sink, became a standout character in season four after a memorable storyline featuring the song Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush.

She drove more than £4m in net placement value for brands including Sony, Vans, Hang Ten and Swatch.

The most favoured episode for product placement was the series finale, which drove more than £6.1m of value and featured more than 35 brands over its two-and-a-half-hour run-time.

Dominic Prince, associate director of product at YouGov, said: “What we’re seeing in this data is an extremely healthy return provided by Netflix for the brands featured in Stranger Things.

“Coke, as reportedly the largest buyers of product placement in the show, will be happy with over £2.8m in advertising value driven by their efforts in the UK and US.

“As will the likes of Reebok, Sony, and Jif Peanut Butter. Note that the audience figures for Stranger Things will only continue to grow over time, and consequently so will these valuations.

“It’s also important to look at this data in the context of the broadening push by SVOD (subscription video on demand) services to offset production costs by creating new revenue streams.

“Our total valuation of £22.8m demonstrates the value that this media can generate for brands.

“A blue-chip streamer like Stranger Things is effectively a marketing tool with monumental reach for brands looking to target even the most stubborn, ad-averse consumers.”