Couples have #RelationshipGoals, Taylor Swift has #SquadGoals, but how about the citizens of Fargo? In order to build awareness for the second season of the acclaimed hit series, we wanted to create a hashtag that would remind viewers of the show's darkly humorous tone and encourage creative fan participation. With #Fargoals, we capitalized on a popular social trend in a natural way that highlighted the show's signature combination of Midwestern charm and sinister violence.
To kick off the campaign, we created a series of graphics, stills, GIFs, and other tweets that answered a very simple question: what would the folks of Fargo want to brag about? Using photography and video clips from the upcoming season, we built assets that boasted relatable, funny, and twisted "#Fargoals." Some examples included:
-When it's Bingo night an' yer lookin' right. #Fargoals
-A beard so manly it'll keep ya warm all winter long. You betcha. #Fargoals
-When the only thing cleaner than your shirt is your conscience. #Fargoals
-Sideburns so tough they'll scare off the Minnesota winter. #Fargoals
-When ya clean up the blood before it freezes against the asphalt. #Fargoals
We started releasing these #Fargoals on Twitter the two weeks leading up to the show's premiere. As we released the original content, we also encouraged fans to tweet their own #Fargoals and RT'd our favorites. While we focused primarily on Twitter, we also cross-promoted between social channels and encouraged fans on Facebook and Instagram to join in the fun.
Fans responded quite positively to #Fargoals, making this one of the most engaging elements of the pre-season campaign. In addition to fan engagement, several brands also got in on the fun. Time Warner Cable tweeted: "Today's #Fargoals: Watch all the @FargoFX episodes #OnDemand before the new episode" to their 108,000 follower fanbase. And the Fargo-Moorhead tourism Twitter account created a graphic: "Ya wait just long enough to shovel yer sidewalk that yer neighbor does it for ya. #Fargoals." We were pleased to see that the initiative made enough of an impact to attract the attention of these organizations and thus, extend our marketing reach beyond the Fargo fanbase.
