OBJECTIVE
Crown Media Family Networks held an impromptu Facebook Live event in Central Park to make key announcements slated for their Upfronts 2018 party, which was cancelled due to Winter Storm Toby on March 22, 2018. This is a classic example where the Crown Media Family Networks team made, "lemonade out of lemons" by embracing the situation of having a natural disaster and tapped into the social power of Facebook via it's Facebook Live tool to make key announcements.
STRATEGY
Winter Storm Toby forced Crown Media Family Networks to cancel its Upfronts event, but it did not stop the team from finding a creative way to announce the exciting projects in store for the upcoming broadcast season via an impromptu Facebook Live on it's official Hallmark Channel Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/hallmarkchannel).
TACTIC
With the help of Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries' fan-favorites, Candace Cameron Bure and Danica McKellar, the company staged a Facebook Live event at 6:30 pm EST on March 22, 2018 with Bill Abbott, President & CEO, and Ed Georger, EVP of ad sales, against the backdrop of a winter wonderland in Central Park, where they announced several new programming developments for the networks. The social team even managed to secure festive costumes for Abbott and Georger, in spite of limited transportation in all of New York! The Facebook Live was also shared over to its sister network Hallmark Movies and Mysteries during the same time to allow fans from both channels to interact and ask questions.
To view the event, please visit the URL https://www.facebook.com/hallmarkchannel/videos/10155127286236050/
Fans were thrilled to interact with Crown Media Family Networks key executives and talent and learn about developments on their favorite shows and renewals through a surprise Facebook Live event. Usually, the Upfronts is a closed-door celebration with limited media in attendance. This Facebook Live event expanded the viewership and pick-up of these announcements to a much wider audience.
Below please find links to the individual press announcements, which were covered in this live Facebook event.
Key Upfront Announcements:
▪ Hallmark Channel Expands Pet Initiative Adoption Ever After with New Original Special 'Cat Bowl' and Renewal of 'American Rescue Dog Show'
▪ Hallmark Channel Greenlights Second Season of Docuseries, 'Meet the Peetes
▪ Hallmark Channel Orders Season Six of Original, Primetime Drama Series 'When Calls the Heart'
▪ Hallmark Channel to Launch First Ever Interactive 'Home & Family Dream Holiday Home Decorating Contest'
▪ Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Adds Three All New, Original Movie Franchises to Network's Successful Lineup
EVALUATION
● The Facebook Live event was covered by several trade and press including Variety, AdAge, AdWeek, Deadline, MultiChannel, Entertainment Weekly, Broadcasting &Cable and several others calling it a super genius method of announcing new developments.
STATS INCLUDE:
500,000 Impressions
325,000 Reach
150,000 views
55 minutes viewed
800 comments