How WGN America Used New Technologies to Launch “Bellevue”

amp8220We wanted to be innovative with the campaign using new technologies to reach new viewers and broaden our overall reachamp8221 explained Brian Dollenmayer WGN Americaamp8217s Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer amp160amp8220The landscape is more crowded than ever amp160You have to take some chances and find unique ways to reach viewers amp160America loves crime stories and solving mysteries so more than ever weamp8217re embracing thatamp8221Bellevue which premiered January 23rd focuses on the disappearance of a high school hockey star in the town the series is named after and if thereamp8217s a connection with the murder of a young woman two decades earlier in the same area amp160Academy Awardwinner Anna Paquin pictured at top and below stars as the local police detective investigating the situationamp160 Three more original crimemystery series will debut on WGN America in the coming months starting with Shoot the Messenger on February 26Social media had a major promotional role in Bellevueamp8217s rollout amp160However instead of putting full emphasis on Facebook and Twitter the usual social media suspects for generating buzz Dollenmayer and his colleagues complemented those two platforms with a second pair of Web social destinations amp160The less prominent but highly engaging additions are USeek which allows users to interact with videos to vie for prizes and the Telfie app which invites fans to check in while watching a show and connect with other fans to unlock stickers pertaining to specific subjects see imageamp160belowamp160 In the process Telfie generates a list of users who can meet and exchange comments on the subject on displayBefore the debut of Bellevue Dollenmayer and his team created a custom 60second trailer of Bellevue for USeek inviting users to hunt for clues and earn points for prizes such as 250 Visa gift cards which were awarded to users who correctly solved the mystery amp160More than 33 percent of people watching the trailer stayed with it to the end the level of repeat viewers estimated by Dollenmayer at three times each was also very strongWhile USeek had executed a number of campaigns involving movie studios Bellevue was the first TV series to launch with the platform generating higher video completion rates compared to the typical trailersamp160 amp8220A typical completion rate for a longform video on social media was nowhere near 33 percentamp8221 Dollenmayer saidamp160 amp8220Itamp8217s been more on the order of two to three percentamp160 We know how hard it is for someone to watch a video from start to finish onlineamp160 amp160The fans here were engaged They played along They had a reason to watchamp8221Ann Glenn who heads up WGN Americaamp8217s social media outreach team suggested the use of Telfie amp160It has sparked more than 500000 social impressions as of the end of JanuaryA trio of promotional partnerships also supported Bellevueamp8217s launchamp160 W Hotelsamp8217 Bellevue Washington location presented the first episode to guests via closedcircuit transmission from January 16 to 23 amp160In return WGN Americaamp8217s social media outreach awarded trips to that hotel through a special giveaway campaign amp160W Hotels conducted a similar showcase at its Hollywood location amp160Separately WGN America ran an onair sweepstakes titled amp8220Watch ampamp Winamp8221 with the Northern Californiabased winery owned by Oscarwinning filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola Viewers watching the first two Bellevue episodes could enter the sweepstakes to win a threeday tour of the California wine country amp160Coppolaamp8217s organization offered discounts on individual wine selections to viewers using a code process see image belowBy far the most unique play by WGN involved the coloring book app Colorfy amp160A free experience available through Google Play and the AppStore Colorfy released an illustration pertaining to Bellevueamp8217s storylines after each episode Tuesday night for fans to color use at will and place it on their social media pages amp160amp8220They consider it online therapy as viewers sit and color Colorfyamp8217s contentamp8221 Dollenmayer explained amp160amp8220Colorfy loved the idea and thought the showamp8217s content was perfect for their audience amp160Plus they ran the trailer within the app so we received added promotionamp8221WGN America also worked with agency RED Interactive to create a game that is essentially a prequel to Bellevue via a speciallycreated feature in Facebookamp8217s Messenger chat app amp160The chatbot offered a chooseyourownadventurestyle game allowing users to partake in a text chat with images and look for clues to solve a mystery amp160Those who donamp8217t succeed and get killed in the process go backward in the game while those who like Paquinamp8217s character decipher clues continue to advance amp160So far the average viewing time of this chat space is nine minutes and more than 35 percent of viewers have completed the game which typically runs 1520 minutes amp160amp8220To stay on a social site for that long indicates an incredibly high engagement rateamp8221 said DollenmayerBefore any promotional initiatives were introduced WGNamp8217s marketing staff consulted with Bellevueamp8217s producers amp160amp8220They let us know the important themes then they let us handle themamp8221 Dollenmayer continued amp160amp8220They had complete faith and trust we would position the show correctly and were very supportive along the wayamp8221Dollenmayer believes this assortment of campaign tactics accomplished WGN Americaamp8217s mission to generate and extendamp160Bellevueamp8217s appeal beyond a core audience of mystery lovers age 2554amp160 The opening episode and its six encores reached more than 22 million viewers all but two running at 10 pm local time amp160He feels these kinds of unique marketing initiatives helped spur WGN America to its ranking as the No 1 entertainment network in growth on cable in 2017 and aims to continue the effort for Shoot the Messenger and other forthcoming WGN America originalsamp8220I want to keep innovating and come up with new ideas so each of our campaigns feels fresh organic and new to our audienceamp8221 Dollenmayer said amp160He is optimistic that upcoming campaign elements will be directed at the more than 60 percent of US households with smart TV sets and TVconnected devicesamp160 Ditto for the fastgrowing percentage of those homes with artificial intelligencepowered voice controls such as Alexa Google Assistant and Siri built into those sets and devices amp160amp8220Weamp8217re talking to a lot of those people about what is possibleamp8221 he acknowledged amp160amp8220That is the future just years ahead months ahead days ahead where people will continue to watch TV amp160We know we have to move in that directionamp8221Bellevue is telecast Tuesdays at 10 pm on WGN AmericaClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160amp160

APPLY FOR JOBS | SUBMIT YOUR RESUME | REGISTER FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT

How WGN America Used New Technologies to Launch “Bellevue”

Author

Publish date

Channel

Simon Applebaum

APPLY FOR JOBS | SUBMIT YOUR RESUME | REGISTER FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT

How WGN America Used New Technologies to Launch “Bellevue”

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Simon Applebaum

Cookies