Country Deep, AT&T U-verse's Country Music App, offers exclusive music videos, performance clips, artist interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage to U-verse subscribers. Fans can access the content wherever they are - on their TVs, smartphones, computers or tablets - creating an "on-demand" source of entertainment.
Country Deep's focus has always been on the music, however the music world is always evolving - and so are the ways that fans interact with the songs, the artists and each other. Fans needed a place where they could instantly connect with their beloved artists – the music itself is no longer enough, they crave the story behind the notes. To connect with this ever-changing audience, we created the @CountryDeepTV Twitter handle to provide fans with real time conversations and access to artists. The objective was simple – create a community of 50,000 passionate country music lovers, built upon strong relationships between the fans, artists and our platform. Using paid and organic social media content, offline activations, and on-screen experiences, we aimed to drive traffic to the content available on the app - wherever the user chose to access it.
As the year progressed, our goals were hit quickly – our community exceeded 110,000 followers on Twitter at the end of 2014.
Music is one of life's greatest connectors. From heartbreak to triumph, people turn to music to amplify the good times, and to support them through the bad. Country music fans are particularly ardent--about their genre, their artists, and their history. Country Deep fuels their passion by providing fan-only content and behind-the-scene access to the artists they listen to day after day, and introducing them to the rising stars of tomorrow.
Content was developed along five pillars – industry news; exclusive "fan's only" content; fan feedback; videos on the application and website; and trivia. In addition to a daily drumbeat of content, we developed four marquee moments throughout the year - the AT&T Country Deep Tour, the CMA Music Festival, My Opry Debut and Women In Country. These campaigns shine a light on up-and-coming musicians such as Maddie & Tae, who started their Country Deep experience on our CMA Fest stage in June, then made their debut at the Grand Ole Opry in September with Country Deep along for the ride. Most recently, they helped launch our Women In Country program, providing exclusive clips of the EP to their fans.
AT&T Country Deep Tour: Few experiences compare to seeing your favorite artists live. Country Deep took rising stars David Nail and Jana Kramer on the road, with tour dates across the country. From the tour, we created an original content series that provided both exclusive performances and an all-access view from the tour bus - where they shared their secrets of the road and took fans home to see where their musical roots began. While on tour, fans were invited to talk directly with the artists during Twitter chats - generating more than 50.4 million Twitter impressions.
CMA Music Festival: CMA Fest is the mecca for Country Music fans. As title sponsor of Fan Fair X, AT&T U-verse and Country Deep brought fans face-to-face with the artists they love. From rising stars Maddie & Tae and Rae Lynn, to iconic legends of the stage Charlie Daniels and The Oak Ridge Boys, fans had a front row seat to performances and interviews. Whether they were first row at the Fan Fair X stage in Nashville or in front of a screen, our audience didn't miss a beat. Real-time content was shared throughout the Festival, while capturing the best performance and interviews exclusively for Country Deep and artist's own channels. The content was shared across Country Deep TV and U-verse's social channels, generating 13 million social impressions over the four-day event.
My Opry Debut: Stepping foot into the Grand Ole Opry circle is a huge moment in an artist's career. Country Deep followed six up-and-coming artists on their journey to perform their #MyOpryDebut. The camera kept rolling throughout the day of the performance, capturing moments between the artists and their closest friends and family. The Opry and artists helped cross-promote the series, hosting Twitter chats and sweepstakes around their performances, helping to generate over 35 million impressions on Twitter.
Women In Country: Female artists are over being the "Girl in a Country Song" – they're the #WomenInCountry paving their own road in the country music world. As a celebration of female artists, #WomenInCountry provides unrestricted access to their music through never-before-seen videos, performances, one and one interviews, and live fan chats. Our inaugural #WomenInCountry artists Maddie & Tae shared exclusive clips of their debut EP with Country Deep fans, while providing a glimpse into their creative process during a live chat. With their support, as well as fellow #WomenInCountry artist Rae Lynn, the program drove nearly 70 million Twitter impressions in just two months. In addition to the rising stars featured, each month a legendary female artist was highlighted, including Reba McEntire and Faith Hill.
Country Deep is more than an application - it's a bridge between artists and fans, music lovers and songwriters. Our passion for music extends beyond the final chord - we bring out the story behind the lyrics.
