Cut Through the Noise and Engage Your Fans

America was just glued to their television screens for the 53rd edition of the Super Bowl… as well as their phones, tablets, computers and other digital devices. Why? Because content is the real MVP of the viewing experience.

It’s not enough to simply binge watch a show, fans want exclusive content, gamified experiences and, at the end of the day, a sense of exclusivity or privilege. Giving fans a place for more content and rewarding them for watching and engaging with that content can not only build brand loyalty, but ultimately ratings.

But how can you cut through all of the noise?

We live in a social age where content is driven by us – everyday people. Getting that perfect shot on your tropical trip to post on Instagram, live video coverage over an unannounced concert, even reacting ‘first’ to breaking news. How does your brand fit into that narrative? Giving fans a reason and platform to do this around YOUR content will help blur the lines of who is driving the content conversation.

The Masked Singer premiered on Fox in January with a simple premise: guess who is behind the mask. The surprise hit for Fox had fans rushing to Twitter to begin announcing their guesses driving a loud social conversation and battle to guess correctly amongst fans and friends.

Fox capitalized on the chatter driving fans to exclusive clues on their site, highlighting fan content and guesses, and visualizing guesses in a leaderboard for each masked singer.

The series premiere delivered television’s greatest Live+7 Day gain among unscripted debuts ever in both adults 18-49 and total viewers. The premiere rose by 1.2 ratings points to a 4.2 in L+7 and by 3.6 million viewers to 13 million total. To date, the premiere has delivered 17.6 million total viewers in multi-platform viewing.

On the gamified front, Bachelor Nation has been running their own fantasy leagues for a few years. ABC saw the avid fan base’s need for more and jumped on that train. Fans select their top ladies each week, who they think will get a rose, predict who will cry, or do something absurd all in the name of points and leaderboard. The gamified experience not only continues to keep fans engaged outside of broadcast, it also offers the brand a reason for fans to share socially, and creates room for sponsorship opportunities.

These experiences don’t only work for reality TV. IFC recently re-launched their #IFCGameNight. Each Thursday night they play a movie and give fans the ability to play along and win creating a gamified experience around non-live, non-reality content. Fans can play along with BINGO – tuning in to see which of the numbers are called, complete crossword puzzles with movie themed clues, and answer Trivia questions all for the chance to play against their friends and win.

Fans want a deeper experience with your content – so give it to them. Telescope can help.