During the Social television Summit final thirty days, Facebook’s Andy Mitchell told the audience that he’s “pretty confident” the huge myspace and facebook might help drive ranks. Since Facebook has a lot more than 800 million active users, many sites have used a method of fabricating show-specific pages to produce and nurture the communities around their programs. This is certainly additionally the actual situation for VH1’s ‘Tough like, ’ a real possibility show about matchmaking and advice that is dating hosted by matchmaker and celeb-host Steven Ward.

Nigel Cox-Hagan, VH1’s Executive Vice President, Creative Group and Consumer advertising, offered us an in-depth meeting how they received over 45,000 new Facebook fans because the end of September by starting the “Ditch or Date” Twitter application to show fans that perhaps the worst dates may have an ending that is happy. Through the software, developed along with their agency Attention, they crowd sourced over 10,000 ditch or date votes across 1,0000 stories from fans about their dates that are horrible.

Lost Remote: that which was your method of TV that is social ‘Tough Love’?

Nigel Cox-Hagan: Facebook, specially throughout the last 2 yrs is becoming a really platform that is prominent our branding and every thing over the course of the past a long period. We’ve gone from a single approach, a single VH1 Facebook experience to a multi-faceted, multi-prong Facebook strategy. Each of our major Franchises have actually their facebook that is own web web page. Tough Lough, Top Twenty Countdown, our Music programs. We now have Facebook pages for the particular truth programs. That development may be the underpinning of just what led us to crate this app for Tough Lough.

LR: What ended up being the app to your strategy you created on Twitter?

NCH: we realize Tough prefer, from three roughly rounds. We knew it had a fan base that is solid. We knew they really like the host, Steven Ward, the love guru, via their brand that is special of medication of providing love advice. Our strategy happens to be to produce Facebook pages, that focus on fans of certain shows, for them to get and share and engage into the experience of the show. We made a decision to produce an software that replicated large amount of just just what the viewers discovers appealing. Additionally, to offer the fans whatever they would want probably the most, the opportunity to connect to Steven.

In developing this app, we took a step right straight back, looked over the notion of the date since the mechanism that is primary of taking part in a relationship. We chose to consider a date as one thing to share with you, as one thing to generally share, whilst the commonality upon which the app would be taken by us. We have all an account to fairly share about a disastrous date. Everyone else loves to hear other individuals horror stories. Every Tough Love fan really wants to get advice through the master himself. Finding a method to bring the fans, the supporters of this show, extremely close as well as Steven using a Facebook dialogue and particular advice he will give up to a specifically selected date.

LR: Who did you make use of to build up the software?

NCH: Attention. We’ve worked using them a true quantity of that time period. Extremely smart, extremely adaptable, really funny therefore we constantly attempt to have a little bit of humor within the branding, marketing and marketing efforts. Really skillful.

LR: What sort of successes perhaps you have seen?

NCH: certainly one of our goals that are underlying would be to develop the viewers for Tough Love. We’ve seen the fan base grow to 104,000 since I last examined. The period for the show has just covered up, they simply did the reunion. We’ve seen an amount that is tremendous of. 45,000 new fans since we established the application. We established the software on 23, 2011 september. We had over 10,000 Ditch or Date votes from the various tales and over 1,0000 tales. They weren’t one or three phrase tales, these people were horror tales. Individuals invest a complete great deal of the time describing what they went into. We felt there clearly was a complete large amount of comarordorie that the individuals felt. This concept of the horrible date.

LR: just How do you utilize linear tv and partnerships to advertise the app?

NCH: we’d baked in to the leading show a call-to-action, telling watchers to generally share their stories with Steven. We additionally did a complete great deal off channel. We caused large amount of lovers. Both electronic and conventional, including, Sheky’s girls night out. We’d have Steven produce a individual look at Shekys. Steven is situated in Philly and we’re situated in nyc so we had activities at Shekys in both places. Steven came out, hung away and met their fans. Sheky’s promoted greatly through their email that is own news and site. We also partnered with Zagat for a custom Ditch or Date guide, through Zagat.com, their newsletter and social media marketing.

Along with promotions that are on-air we used pictures on our personal internet sites and ads in the MTV family members. Our blog sites talked we had a CRM email, which allows us to capture names and demo data across our Viacom family so we can target likely people who would be interested about it. We used our very own media that are social, Twitter and Facebook.

There was clearly a Ditch or Date part showcased on Jimmy Fallon that people we re in a position to score with your very own press division, a part on Elvis Duran’s morning show, that will be syndicated in 41 areas. Buddy television, Monsters and experts, Betty Confidential, Pop Crunch, Celebuzz, Hollywood lifetime, and Social Vixen whom provided linkage or coverage.

Based on exactly exactly what the horror story, we attempted to match the award towards the tale. For example, we offered one participant Dr. Dre Monster Beats headphones so she could block out the noise from her date. It absolutely was a great window of opportunity for us to give something to your group of fans, some sympathy and perhaps a reward. our teen network

LR: What can we expect for future years?

NCH: The show is going to be moving to New Orleans and there’s a large amount of trouble to there be had. Facebook helps us keep carefully the life of the franchise happening if the cycle that is linear over. Now we’ve founded a grouped community around Tough appreciate, that people can continue to nurture. We now haven’t gotten the killer concept yet when it comes to next advertising but we shall undoubtedly be utilizing Facebook in an effort to tell them once the show comes right back and things to look ahead to.