Why the intimate confessions of stars are multiplying on Netflix and co

Bigflo and Oli, Mylène Farmer and Gims, stars of their own documentary -

• After Gims, it's Bigflo and Oli's turn to reveal themselves in a documentary available on Netflix.

• For some time now, the classic promo in the media has given way to long time on streaming platforms.

• A profitable strategy for artists, whose communication is well established, but also for the giants of video on demand, who see a marketing interest in it.

Bigflo and Oli on Netflix, Mylène Farmer on Prime Video, Billie Eilish on Apple TV +, Justin Bieber on YouTube Premium… It's raining stars on streaming platforms!

For several years now, personalities have taken the time to confide in a format dedicated to them, like Beyoncé in 2013 with

.

But with the multiplicity of video-on-demand giants, more and more artists (from the music world in particular) are settling in our living rooms, having tea with us and telling us everything.

Well almost.

Obviously, you can't go back over an entire life in an hour and a half.

Choices are then imposed: what things to show?

What subjects to cover?

What themes to avoid?

“It is necessarily part of a global communication strategy, notes Stéphane Jobert, head of the Media & Event division at Uprightly, a strategic consulting firm.

It is piloted by the star and she has the right to oversee it, so she will validate the elements she wants to broadcast.

»A way for artists to show their sensitivity while controlling the setting.

To confide in a documentary is to be part of an image strategy that advocates honesty, fragility and resemblance to ordinary people.

“We mix authenticity and consent.

It is authenticity granted, reports Fadhila Brahimi, specialist in communication and image for leaders.

We are also in this era where we say to ourselves that if we have to tell something, "it is better that it is me who say it rather than someone else."

"

Blame it on social networks

The recent proliferation of these long formats which plunge the viewer behind the scenes of the life of a star is not trivial.

It actually stems from a reality that has become common today: sharing your daily life on social networks.

“They allow you to break the ice, to give a more human side to the celebrities, indicates Stéphane Jobert.

Documentaries also go in this direction and push the strategy so that there is less distance between them and their audience.

"

"There is this need to tell his life continuously, in real time, we have observed it with all social media where we share the off," says Fadhila Brahimi, co-author of the book

.

The spontaneous emotion and the interaction with the public allowed by social networks have therefore raised the desire to maintain the long term.

All this with the “premium” aspect of a documentary, highlighted by the streaming platforms and whose production resources put American and French stars in the same rank.

The "economic and marketing" interest of platforms

Choosing Netflix, Prime Video or Apple TV + rather than a good old television channel "it makes good sense in terms of image" according to Fadhila Brahimi.

In this communication system well mastered by artists and their teams, the giants of video on demand are not left out.

"There is necessarily an interest in communication on the part of the stars and an economic and marketing interest on the part of the platforms," ​​says Stéphane Jobert.

On the one hand, there is the celebrity which allows to communicate with high added value on its image, and on the other the platform which allows itself to attract a targeted audience that it will be able to promote.

"

With documentaries on Gims or Bigflo and Oli, Netflix wants to attract a certain audience.

If he answers present and the success is there, the platform has every interest in renewing the exercise with similar artists.

All these elements then become useful information for its marketing for the future.

And the fans in all this?

In the end, who are all these documentaries for?

To fans, at first, always on the lookout for an anecdote, information on the private life of their idol or any novelty.

However, showing off your strengths and weaknesses remains a great promise for the less initiated.

When Mylène Farmer delivers behind the scenes of her show for more than two hours, “it is not for her acquired audience, it is for her acquisition audience, Fadhila Brahimi analyzes.

She feels that to catch a younger audience she needs this.

"

According to Stéphane Jobert, “the strategy pays off when we manage to capture an audience other than the fans.

For that, it is necessary that the celebrities agree to reveal a part of themselves in order to attract a broad spectrum of spectators.

The most recent example is given by Gims, who confesses to having been a member of an Islamist sect in the film dedicated to him.

An excerpt that made a lot of talk about him, and which undoubtedly piqued the curiosity of Netflix subscribers.

A risk persists around the abundance of documentaries about the stars of the song: that of saying too much.

What relationship will Mylène Farmer have with her fans, she who has always cultivated the mystery?

Doesn't that risk creating a lack and causing frustration?

Fortunately, Gims, he still has not removed his dark glasses.

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"Sometimes, Mylène Farmer would say to me, laughing:" Are you tired of filming me? "

", Tells the director of" Mylène Farmer, the ultimate creation "

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France (and its pictures) in the spotlight in the last clip of Bigflo and Oli

• Culture

• Media

• Mylène Farmer

• Master Gims

• Bigflo and Oli

• Netflix

• Documentary

• Amazon Prime Video