Objectives

Leading up to the new season premiere of Younger, TV Land set out to introduce the series to new audiences and drive existing fans to catch up on prior seasons. In an effort to appeal to the show's female-skewed audience, TV Land's goal was to launch an engaging promotional campaign with ties to a women-led organization.

Strategy and Execution

Kick Back & Give Back
TV Land teamed up with Refinery29 to present Binge-Watch for a Cause, a nationwide viewing party that encouraged existing fans and new viewers to binge-watch Younger in support of the Joyful Heart Foundation. The Joyful Heart Foundation was a natural fit for this campaign as one of its board members, Peter Hermann, is also one of the stars of Younger.

Refinery29, TV Land and the Joyful Heart Foundation promoted the initiative across their websites, email databases, and social media platforms. Messaging pushed to a Binge-Watch for a Cause splash page that provided an overview of the event, information about the Joyful Heart Foundation, and details on how to participate. TV Land pledged to donate $10 per consumer action to the Joyful Heart Foundation, up to a maximum of $30,000. A consumer action was defined as an online entry to receive a binge-watch kit from Refinery29, a social media post using #BingeYounger, or attendance at the live event in Brooklyn, NY.

National Promotion
People around the country participated by pledging on social media to binge-watch past seasons at home. The first 200 people to respond received a care package filled with binge-watching necessities, such as Younger seasons 1-3 on DVD, a Younger–branded mug, snacks, and beauty products. The initiative was promoted on Friday, June 9, 2017, via email to Refinery29's national database of 600k+ people, as well as from the Refinery29 and Younger social platforms. All care packages were claimed within hours of the initial email deployment.

Live NYC Event
On Saturday, June 24, 2017, an outdoor screening festival was held at North Brooklyn Farms in Williamsburg, where guests binge-watched season 3 and enjoyed a special advance screening of the season 4 premiere episode. Peter Hermann kicked off the event with remarks about the Joyful Heart Foundation and their work to end sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse. He then stayed for a portion of the event to take pictures with fans and let them know more about how they could get involved with the organization. Onsite activations included a digital photo booth, pampering stations, and lawn games, which all helped keep attendees engaged throughout the 6 hour event.

Results

Binge-Watch for a Cause successfully drove awareness of and donations to the Joyful Heart Foundation:

• TV Land donated the maximum amount of $30,000 as a result of the overwhelming fan engagement.
• Joyful Heart experienced 6x the average engagement social media viewership during the weekend of the event.
• @TheJHF_CEO saw a 200% increase in engagements on Twitter compared to the week prior.
• Posts about the binge-watching marathon from the Joyful Heart accounts were seen over a quarter of a million times throughout the weekend.

The event in Brooklyn exceeded live attendance and social interaction expectations:

• 1,000+ viewers attended the 6 hour event, exceeding initial benchmarks by 5.6x.
• #BingeYounger trended as #3 on Twitter in NYC on June 24th.
• There were over 300 Instagram posts using #BingeYounger during the event, equating to 1 out of every 3 attendees.
• There were 2.9k mentions of #BingeYounger across Twitter and Instagram on June 24^th.

Binge-Watch for a Cause drove social conversation around Younger, ultimately helping to drive new and loyal viewers to tune into the premiere.

• There were 5k total mentions of #BingeYounger across Twitter and Instagram leading up to the premiere.
• The season 4 premiere episode was the highest-rated and most-watched premiere in series history.
• With 1.3 million average total viewers, the premiere posted double-digit gains versus last season's premiere (L+3).
• Among people 25-54, season 4 is outpacing every prior season (thru 11 episodes) and is up +30% versus season 3 to date.

Media