In 2022, Arthur, the longest running animated children’s series in the U.S. was celebrating its 25th anniversary and final broadcast season. Since 1996, Arthur is a brand that has had a multi-generational impact, especially for Millennials and Gen Z that grew up watching the show and currently many of whom are parents themselves.
GBH is a foundation dedicated to media and education. But to reach a diverse (age, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and ability) audience, we knew we needed to be on the platforms where these audiences consume media and information. We already have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram but we knew we were missing an opportunity to not be on TikTok. To launch our presence on TikTok, we partnered with a Gen-Z led and run consulting firm, JUV Consulting, to develop the strategy, content on the platform- to reiterate the memories we’ve made with Arthur growing up stay with us no matter how old we are.
We decided to launch Arthur on TikTok to achieve three goals:
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Tap into the multigenerational appeal of the show by having the brand present on a popular social media platform that speaks directly to the audience we were trying to reach- Gen Z and Millennials
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Reinforce the message that even though there would be no more new broadcast seasons of Arthur, the brand will live on and be available on new digital platforms including social media.
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Reclaim our content as Arthur was already being leveraged on the platform.
Launching a TikTok account with diversified, relatable content will allow Arthur to better reach, entice, and inform audiences of all generations. Through TikTok, Arthur can highlight the lessons learned, the sass of D.W, and laughs shared as a community. This Tiktok account will rejuvenate the memories that so many have shared and the lessons learned with Arthur over a 25 year history. Our goal when developing our strategy on TikTok was to remember to share, educate, and have fun.
Our strategy for launch centered around a content pillar, a goal for that pillar and how we would activate the content on TikTok. We landed on 3 content pillars:
- Content Pillar: Girls That Get It Get It:
- Arthur can utilize funny show clips, sound bites, TikTok trending sounds, a relatable experiences to demonstrate humor.
- Goal: Rejuvenate Gen Z’s love for Arthur through the blunt comedy consistently portrayed on the show.
- Activation: Humor- Pull funny clips and audios from the show to remind audiences that Arthur is relatable and entertaining at any age.
- Content Pillar: Not Me Crying RN
- Arthur can post historic moments from the show, participate in nostalgic trends, and engage with the audience through the comments to create an emotional response.
- Goal: Foster emotional responses from Gen Zers by showcasing the lessons Arthur has taught us and the memories we’ve made along the way.
- Activation: Emotional/Nostalgic- Highlight historic show clips and quotes of characters learning life lessons paired with emotional music.
- Content Pillar: "Read" All About It
- Arthur can post fun facts and informational content to drive traffic to resources about Arthur so the audience can see all the ways Arthur is still relevant today.
- Goal: Drive traffic to other Arthur resources by communicating the many ways Arthur lives on.
- Activation: Informational- Shed light on the shows fun facts, community discourse, and new ventures.
For each content pillar we also developed a specific tone of voice:
Girls that Get it Get It:
- Create personality-packed, duetable content
- Use light-hearted humor and simple language
- Leverage quotes from the show
Not Me Crying Right Now:
- Leverage trending language or narration
- Engage with audience through community management (e.g.stitch comments)
Read All About It:
- Act as a trusted friend for Gen Zers as they begin to reach the age of parenthood
- Emphasize representation
- Look to bring in new audiences
We also knew that we wanted to engage with our audience on the platform, so for community management we committed to:
- Liking and responding to comments on Arthur’s TikTok
- Liking and commenting on TikToks tagging us with #Arthur, #ArthurTurns25 and #ArthurLivesOn
- Searching through relevant hashtags and using keywords to find TikToks that mention Arthur without tagging us
- Engaging with mainstream viral media to show Arthur is apart of the Gen Z community
- Interacting with other successful brands and accounts on TikTok to establish a greater presence on the platform
- Connecting with content creators on TikTok that are making Arthur-related content
Week of Launch
- Followers: 76,945
- Profile Views: 197,595
- Video Views: 7,410,194
- Likes: 1,385,109
- Comments: 17,553
- Shares: 140,176
- Total Engagement: 1,740,433
- Engagement Rate: 20.82%
- Reach Rate: 256.80%
After First Month
- Followers: 92,868
- Video Views: 8,116,607
- Comments: 20,237
- Total Engagement: 1,866, 784
- Engagement Rate: 23%
- Reach Rate: 308.98%
- Growth Rate: 1005.95%
- Gender
- Best Performing Posts
- Missing Your Bestie
- Arthur Savage Moments Pt.1
- Your Friend's NFTs
- Verified Interactions
Today:
- Followers: Over 351,000
- 10.3 million likes
- Video Views: 15,791,252
- Total Engagement: 2,479,874
