Chicago-based TV station WGN America was looking to boost ratings with a younger audience. Although it refreshed its content with shows such as “South Park" and ‘Entourage," its ratings were lagging. Story’s challenge was to drive offline behavior—namely, tune-in—by developing engaged online communities. Story approached WGN America with a focused plan to use the power of social media to drive viewership to a single show: “How I Met Your Mother." Story proposed a three-stage campaign to grow ratings and amass awareness with an efficient and flexible use of hypertargeted media and engaging content focused on empowering the show’s “SuperFans," which would help the content spread to the traditional and casual fans. Facebook played a crucial role in this strategy. "Meet at MacLaren's"—WGN America’s branded “How I Met Your Mother" Facebook Page—acts as a thriving hub of content and conversations for "How I Met Your Mother" SuperFans - http://www.fb.me/MeetAtMacLarens The “Meet at MacLaren’s" Facebook Page, conceived and managed by Story Worldwide on behalf of WGN America, curates and manages content and supervises conversations about the show with the goal of motivating fans to share and engage more often by distinguishing the diehard fan contributors among them. Some highlights from 2012: For International Suit Up Day—a fan-created holiday centered on one of “How I Met Your Mother’s" biggest inside jokes—Story championed a social celebration by asking fans to submit photos of themselves in a suit. See it here: http://j.mp/VLh7CQ. For a Thanksgiving-themed “How I Met Your Mother" marathon on WGN America, considerable buzz and user content was generated on Facebook during the days leading up to the on-air event. A Best Slapsgiving Memes photo-album feature (Slapsgiving being a long-running inside joke dear to fans of the show) used a popular type of content on the page (show-related meme photos) for an album continually updated with new fan-created images. See it here: http://j.mp/124aYam. The community even helped one young SuperFan, Tyler Madden, get a mention by none other than Neil Patrick Harris himself when Harris joined Kelly Ripa on her morning show after he had been featured as one of the community’s biggest SuperFans. The Story-launched “Meet at MacLaren’s" Facebook Page is a bona fide success story. As of January 2013, more than 1.9 million of the show’s most loyal fans have called it home. The audience-management efforts have earned total engagement rates of 10 percent to 20 percent on any given day—unheralded compared with many well-known brands that earn less than 1 percent. RESULTS More than 1,947,000 Likes and 100,000 followers in less than 24 months. Facebook ads drove more than 2.04 billion total impressions, 3,185,205 clicks and 1,321,735 new fans at a cost-per-like of $0.41 and cost-per-click of $0.17. More than 280 photos were received and utilized in compelling on-air television spots and posted in a comprehensive Facebook album. The Best Slapsgiving Memes photo album netted a total combined engagement of 33,000+ Likes, 400+ comments and 7,000 shares. The Thanksgiving Day “Happy Slapsgiving" post received 61,734 Likes, 382 comments and 13,088 shares—by far the page’s most successful post ever. The daily-updated Facebook cover photo promoting Slapsgiving garnered 12,228 Likes, 90 comments and 698 shares.
Top Engagement Numbers: Post Likes: 98,371 Comments: 15,634 Shares: 13,042 People Reached: 1,307,991 People Talking: 107,449 Virality: 21.32% Weighted Engagement Score: 29% Campaign Video: http://www.storyworldwide.com/wgna-award/ SuperFan Tyler Madden's WGNA Spot: http://youtu.be/-28ZALGY0VY Tyler's mention on Live with Kelly: http://youtu.be/4tXyNKyryLc
