Bringing Back Britain’s Boldest Heist for Netflix

Netflix was gearing up to launch ‘The Diamond Heist’, Guy Ritchie’s first-ever documentary feature and the retelling of one of Britain’s most daring attempted robberies: the Millennium Dome Diamond Heist. However, there was a hitch: anyone under 35 simply wasn’t old enough to remember the actual event.

Luckily, Guy Ritchie’s fanbase skewed 35 and older, so Netflix decided to bring back the swagger of the early 2000s for this older audience. Netflix needed to reignite interest in a 24-year-old crime and make it feel fresh, relevant and irresistible. This would be about sparking a national conversation and repositioning the heist as a legendary moment in British crime history.

Even if people didn’t remember the heist, they might well remember the headlines. So Netflix decided to recreate the media frenzy of 9 November 2000 — the day the attempted robbery hit the front pages. News brands were central to this campaign as they would give credibility, reach and the nostalgic punch of the original headlines. 

Netflix leaned into the cheeky, stylish tone that Guy Ritchie is famous for and built a campaign that felt like a time machine back to the early noughties. At the heart of it was a legendary tabloid headline: ‘I’m Only Here for De Beers’, ranked the ninth-most memorable in The Sun’s history. 

The campaign kicked off with a media-first Sun cover wrap that recreated the front page from that November day in 2000. The wrap ran on launch day and was supported by homepage takeovers, a takeover of the TV section, and social coverage across The Sun’s platforms. This was followed by further activity across print, online and social. 

The campaign was instrumental in driving ‘The Diamond Heist’ to the top of the Netflix charts upon release, remaining in the top 10 shows for three weeks post-launch. The Sun activity produced over four million impressions in one day (overdelivering by 91% against plan).

Search trends for ‘The Diamond Heist’, De Beers and the Millennium Dome all spiked around launch day, demonstrating the cut-through the campaign delivered. Netflix pulled off a media heist — stealing headlines, sparking nostalgia and making Guy Ritchie’s crime of the millennium unmissable.

Surfacing a famous headline from the past combined with bold creative and a multi-channel approach resulted in cut through and outstanding performance for Netflix.

Charlotte Turland, head of marketing, NatWest Premier