For MSNBC’s passionate fans, political events like the Democratic National Convention are not a spectator sport. They are the ultimate opportunity to articulate beliefs, espouse one’s values, and celebrate being part of a progressive community. We realized that MSNBC had a significant opportunity to provide our fans with the ultimate DNC experience – to allow them to get closer to the on-air personalities that they love…and to each other. In just 3 days, through social media we were able to not only deliver the DNC experience to fans in Charlotte and nationally via our broadcasts, MSNBC was the vehicle for fans at home to be full participants in a major political and cultural event. Social media played a critical role in both content creation and dissemination – significantly increasing the reach and impact of the brand’s efforts. Everything we did had a social media component, including: (1) Lean Forward Button Wall: MSNBC fans and convention attendees could create a personalized DNC souvenir button at the MSNBC Experience in Charlotte. These buttons were shared on the spot via Facebook and Twitter. MSNBC Facebook fans could also create virtual buttons (via a custom Facebook application) that they could post as a badge on their personal Facebook pages. We created a physical Lean Forward installation in Charlotte comprised of buttons created on site and via Facebook, as well as a virtual wall on the Facebook tab. (2) Conversation Station: The ‘conversation station’ served as a central hub for twitter activity during the convention. The station included oversized monitors displaying the twitter feeds of MSNBC’s prime time talent, as well as the official MSNBC hashtag for the event, #msnbc2012. Attendees could follow and participate in real time conversations about what was happening at the DNC and share their thoughts with the broader MSNBC community. (3) Photo Booth: We worked with Polite in Public to create a custom photo booth that allowed event attendees to take photos with their favorite MSNBC hosts. These photos were shared immediately via Facebook. (4) Google+ Chats: Each day, we hosted a full schedule of live events in our Lean Forward Living Room space. Google + chats provided a critical way for us to not only connect our fans in Charlotte with talent and producers back at 30 Rock, but also for fans at home to participate in our DNC programming. Our Google + events included a broadcast of the The Ed Shultz Radio Show, chat with The Rachel Maddow Show EP Bill Wolff and MaddowBlog Editor Steve Benen, and behind-the-scenes control room chats with PoliticsNation EP Matt Saal and Hardball EP John Reiss. Measuring Success: In just 3 days... -5000+ photo booth photos were taken and shared via FB (Facebook) -5000+ buttons were made at the DNC and shared via FB; over 1000 were made via the FB application and 2500 (submitted via FB and on-site) comprised the physical installation -An average of 150 people physically attended the Google + Hangout w/thousands of views on YouTube -FB fans increased 15% & MSNBC broke 50k fans (significant as page launched less than 2 months prior) -FB page views week of DNC increased by 472% from previous month -FB "talking about" percentage week of DNC increased by 391% from previous month -Charlotte, NC ranked #4 in cities "talking about" MSNBC during DNC, did not rank top 20 month prior
http://tv.msnbc.com/shorty/ http://www.facebook.com/msnbc https://twitter.com/msnbc
