Manuel Román Cantón leaves Netflix after four years at the helm of its marketing strategy in Spain and Portugal. The manager, who held the position of Senior Marketing Director for both markets since February 2023, has announced his departure through a publication on Linkedin in which he reviews a stage marked by the review of the strategy, team building and the development of campaigns designed to take the platform’s stories beyond the screen.
“Four years ago, I came to Netflix with a vision. Today, I leave with the satisfaction of having fulfilled it”Román said when announcing his departure. The manager has not yet detailed what his next professional project will be and has closed the message using the company’s own language: “This season is over. The next one will premiere soon.”
He joined Netflix in May 2022 from Google
Román joined Netflix in May 2022 as Marketing Director for Spain and Portugal, from Google, where he had developed a good part of his professional career. The company subsequently elevated his responsibility by appointing him Senior Marketing Director in February 2023.
His arrival occurred at a time of maturity for Netflix in the Spanish market. The platform had already passed the initial implementation phase and faced the challenge of reinforcing its cultural relevance, differentiating its proposal in an increasingly competitive streaming ecosystem and connecting its premieres with conversations, communities and local events.
Four years to redefine the strategy
The balance shared by Román places the emphasis less on quantitative results than on the process built during this period. Talk about “four years of redefining a strategy from scratch” and to form “a dream team, capable of achieving goals” that not even he himself had imagined when he joined.
His story summarizes a vision of marketing based on risk, creative ambition and the ability to transform audiovisual content into recognizable experiences outside the platform itself. “Four years without fear of betting on so many moments that were only possible on Netflix”he wrote before listing some of the initiatives that have defined his stage.
Among them is “The robbery of the end of the year”, the action developed by Netflix and Estrella Galicia to promote “Berlín” during the Chimes of 2023. The proposal built an intrigue around the disappearance of the necklace that Cristina Pedroche was wearing during the Antena 3 broadcast and connected the fiction with one of the highest-rated television moments of the year.
The campaign subsequently received the Grand Prize for Effectiveness in 2024, in addition to establishing itself as one of the most outstanding examples of integration between entertainment, brand and recent cultural context in Spain.
Román also mentions the actions linked to “The Squid Game”, the campaign at the end of “Stranger Things”, the collaborations between “Peaky Blinders” and Atlético de Madrid or the masked balls inspired by “Bridgerton”.
The repertoire chosen by the manager reflects the evolution of platform marketing in recent years. The premiere of a series or movie has stopped depending solely on conventional awareness campaigns and has extended to alliances with brands, physical experiences, urban interventions, events, social content and actions capable of being integrated into already existing conversations.
During Román’s time, Netflix has worked precisely in that direction. The platform has used its productions as cultural universes that can dialogue with sports, music, gastronomy, cities or collective rituals.
Román had already explained this way of working by pointing out that at Netflix they aspired to make “the best job of our lives”an idea that linked to the search for proposals capable of taking advantage of the team’s creativity and connecting with the public.
His farewell returns to that same idea. The manager assures that his time at Netflix has allowed him to learn from a company that leaves him prepared to be “a better executive” and “a better person.”
A good part of the message is dedicated to the people with whom he has shared this stage. Román thanks his team for accepting the challenge of dreaming with him, encouraging him to take risks and inspiring him during these four years. “To my team: thank you from the bottom of my heart for daring to dream with me, for pushing me to take risks and for inspiring me much more than you think”he has expressed.
Román thanks colleagues, agencies and collaborators for a stage from which he also takes away personal relationships
The recognition also extends to his colleagues within Netflix, as well as to the agencies, partners and collaborators who have participated in the different initiatives. Román assures that from this stage he takes away personal relationships that will remain beyond the professional relationship.
In his publication he specifically mentions Marian Lee, Chief Marketing Officer of Netflix, for having trusted him from the beginning; to Benjamin Cléry-Melin and Laura Dyer, for their support in the early stages; to June Sauvaget, for the last years shared; and María Ferreras, whom she defines as “a true mentor and reference.”
The form of the farewell fits with one of the ideas that the manager himself highlights from his time at Netflix: the importance of a corporate culture that requires autonomy, judgment and willingness to take risks.
A career linked to technology, entertainment and media
His departure from Netflix closes the most recent chapter of a professional career developed for more than twenty years in companies located at the intersection of entertainment, technology, media and consumption.
Before joining the platform, Manuel Román spent more than nine years at Google, where he held different positions of responsibility. His last position was Director of Consumer Marketing in Spain, with responsibility for the company’s hardware products, services, subscriptions and software.
Previously, he had been Head of Marketing for Consumer Applications for EMEA, Director of Brand and Marketing for Consumer and Business for Spain and Portugal, and Head of Marketing for Large Agencies, Advertisers and YouTube in both markets. His relationship with YouTube had begun before, between 2011 and 2013, when he was Head of Marketing and Display for the platform in Spain.
Román came to Google after a period of almost four years at Fox International Channels. There he served as Marketing Director, Director of Special Sales and Alliances and Marketing Manager, participating in the integration of Fox and National Geographic within the same commercial and marketing structure.
His first professional steps were precisely linked to National Geographic Channel, where he worked as Marketing and Sales Coordinator.
The trajectory shows a clear continuity between different moments of transformation of the audiovisual sector: the expansion of thematic television, the growth of digital video platforms, the consolidation of technological ecosystems and the current competition between global entertainment services.
