Just when you thought the Internet ran out of 30 Rock appreciation posts… @NBC30Rock to the rescue!
On a day just like any other in September 2014, the official show account launched #30RockEmojiQuotes, a lunchtime Twitter game with fans that tapped into the show's seven season strong quote database and audiences' love of quoting their favorite 30 Rock characters. The show threw down the gauntlet with "[high five emoji] a million [angel smiley face emoji]!" and fans heard the call, posting their emoji interpretations of classic quips. Activating a dormant fanbase is a difficult task, but @NBC30Rock was able to prompt fans to participate in a matter of minutes, generating tweets from users of classic show lines like "It's after [6:00 clock emoji], what am I? A [corn emoji] [horse emoji] [chicken emoji]?" and "Who has 2 [thumb emoji], speaks limited [French flag emoji] and hasn't [crying face emoji] once today? [woman raising hand emoji]"
A little known (but probably very obvious) secret about NBC's social media team is that the people behind the profiles are actually some of the network's biggest fans! What began as a fun texting game between members of NBC's social team became a nationally trending topic on Twitter that invited fans to chime in with their favorite, memorable quotes. The campaign needed only one resource - an encyclopedic knowledge of the show. There was no talent required, no substantial media spend and no long-term product builds, creating the ideal atmosphere for a one-off, turnkey fan engagement campaign. It also strengthened the voice of the page, reinforcing the fact that the brand is fun and personable, and not some marketing robot talking at its audience. The campaign depicts the interwoven relationship between television and social, with users natural tendencies to quote TV shows – even for a show that's been off the air for more than a year.
Although the campaign lasted only a few hours, 30 Rock enthusiasts used the hashtag more than 1,200 times for 3.5M estimated potential impressions (per Sysomos). 10 tweets from @NBC30Rock earned more than 96K impressions, and the profile actively retweeted and favorited fan tweets, all helping #30RockEmojiQuotes to trend on a national scale.
