You don’t need to be a foodie to crave Bravo’s hit show Top Chef. In celebration of its season 10, Bravo pushed the envelope and developed the ultimate social experience. Beyond watching on-air, fans tuned into Bravo’s digital extension of the show: Last Chance Kitchen. In LCK, eliminated chefs proved their skills in a weekly head-to-head cook off. Each week, the reigning LCK winner battled the chef most recently eliminated from Top Chef. The LCK finale winner won a spot in the coveted Top Chef finale. To further increase engagement, Bravo developed the “Save A Chef" social voting campaign. Unlike any other season, fans had the opportunity to voice their opinions by voting to save the most deserving chef. As chefs were eliminated from LCK, they entered Save A Chef and battled the reigning leader. The chef with most votes earned a spot in the LCK Finale. The level of social engagement exhibited throughout LCK and Save A Chef directly impacted the Top Chef experience. By extending the story from TV to web, mobile, and social, fans watched the story unfold and joined judges, chefs, and celebrities in voicing their opinions to LCK and Save A Chef voting with the opportunity to directly impact the finale. Fans debated the chefs’ skills, personalities and of course the judge’s decisions. After airing Top Chef’s “Restaurant Wars" episode, fans were in disarray when Kristen was eliminated. As the leader of her team, Kristen took the blame for competitor Josie’s weak dish. Fans instinctively turned to social networking sites to voice disappointment. During the week, conversations intensified, and Top Chef head judge Tom Colicchio joined in: “However you might feel about Josie and/or Kristen and/or the outcome of this challenge, I have two more things to say. First of all, I’ve had tweets for weeks now asking why Josie’s still here. Second, Kristen’s assumption of responsibility and refusal to set the record straight when she could have shows a lot of character. I commend her for that." Fans then turned to LCK in hopes of seeing Kristin defend her honor. Social platforms quickly evolved into a support center- with many fans yearning to see Kristen face Josie in LCK. Two weeks later, Josie was eliminated from Top Chef; Kristen ousted her rival. Similarly to LCK, the Save A Chef voting evolved the Top Chef social sphere from a foodie conversation center to a battleground. Fans were encouraged both on air and online to join the social conversation. Each week, “#SaveChefA" or “SaveChefB" on-air graphics launched Twitter battles. Beyond Bravo’s promotional elements, the chefs turned to their followers and used social media to lobby for votes. In one case, Chef Kuniko Yagi tweeted that fans also use the hashtag “#kunkosarmy." The hashtag trended during voting, and Chef Kuniko advanced in the competition. As more talented chefs were eliminated, Kuniko faced stiffer competition. Pitted against Chef Tyler, she garnered only 48% of the votes during the east coast feed. Kuniko’s army quickly joined forces, and by the time the west coast episode aired, Kuniko had the lead. After Kuniko’s fans mobilized, voting participation increased 33%. The impact of our successful social media campaign was spelled out weekly as the SAC winner was determined. Ultimately, the chef’s fans -- and their votes -- decided who was victorious. The cross platform experience transformed what was a once-a-week show into a seven-day interact
Last Chance Kitchen: http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-10/last-chance-kitchen Save A Chef: http://www.bravotv.com/vote Company Info: Bravo Media Consumer Marketing Team 30 Rockefeller Plaza, 46th Floor New York, NY 10112
