we are fallon@_S_A_R_A_H_

How Fallon and SciFi Are Using Twitter to Convert TV Audience to Advocates

October 31, 2008

Eureka, a SCIFI TV show about a town inhabitedby geniuses.

• Launching the third season of Eureka

• More than viewers—believers!

— Engaged, committed, passionate about Eureka.

• Tech-savvy:

— Geek-chic, first adopters, influencers.

• Micro-marketing budget

— Client-sought social media idea

— Engage and ignite the passionistas.

Insights to drive our social-media strategy.

• Eureka fans are brand believers.

• Core appeal and essence of brand = “wow,” “gee whiz” factor - keep it geek.

• Eureka fans can’t get enough of their favorite show.

• Slippy ideas win in the age of Web 2.0.

• Not about spamming 1,000,000 to reach 100 anymore.

• Is about connecting with 10 believers, who reach 100, who reach 1,000.

• Fallon believes brands should be Generous™.

The Strategy:Meet the people, behind the genius, behind the townof Eureka

The Creative Idea

Talk with your favorite Eureka character.Really.

So, why Twitter?

Perfect fit to leverage their tech savvy to getthem closer to the characters.

A social network platform that…

…allows viewers to establish aone-on-one (daily) relationshipwith a character.

…was already embraced by theEureka audience.

Finding our voice.

Maintaining a voice/persona is vital on Twitter.We were mindful in our choice of who tweets.

So, we chose the characterwho seemed most believable to actually Tweet.

*FAN FACT: Douglas Fargo, the computer’s inventor, may havenamed it after actress Sarah Michelle Gellar, whom he tried toget to record the voice for the house's computer; he stated thathe is “still waiting to hear back from” her.

S.A.R.A.H. (Self Actuated Residential AutomatedHabitat) is the AI “smart house” in Eureka.

“She” is the home of Sheriff Jack Carter, the main character of the series,and was designed to be the prototype home of the future.

This is no ordinary home. This home talks back.

Adding value.

On Twitter, S.A.R.A.H. became “_S_A_R_A_H_”

A key reward for many fans lies in the simplefact that _S_A_R_A_H_ responds back.

Scifirantergirl: Can’t believe that @_S_A_R_A_H_ is tweeting! I can’t wait for Eureka.

ITStudios: “@_S_A_R_A_H_ It is a real honor and pleasure to have a bot like youfollowing ITStudios! :) Looking forward to Season Three.”

Geekomancer: Holy crap!! That’s awesome!!!

Alderfearn: @_S_A_R_A_H_ Welcome to Twitter! Glad to have you here!

MoCheeks: As if Eureka wasn't a brilliant enough show. One of the star (under-appreciated) characters on the show has a voice on twitter @_S_A_R_A_H_

XaleD: EUREKA fans, take a moment and add @_S_A_R_A_H_ to your twitter friends.Tres AWESOME!

While not “scripted,” _S_A_R_A_H_ maintainscharacter consistency like a “real person.”

• Jay16K @_S_A_R_A_H_ can you tell why there wasn't a new episode on yesterday?• _S_A_R_A_H_: @Jay16K We're still working on fixing the time loop.

• cheodo: @_S_A_R_A_H_: can you recite Pi? Backwards.• _S_A_R_A_H_: @cheodo Not in 140 characters.

• geometryetcetra: @_S_A_R_A_H_ will you marry me?• _S_A_R_A_H_: @geometryetcetra I’m not sure that we're compatible. What is your

operating system?

• geometryetcetra: leopard• _S_A_R_A_H_: @geometryetcetra Sorry, Sheriff Carter is allergic to cats.• geometryetcetra: @_S_A_R_A_H_ i love you

*FAN FACT: Sheriff Carter’s cat allergy is a plot point in the series.

Being that _S_A_R_A_H_ is a “real person” toEureka fans, she is always open to any question.

• rickyli99: @_S_A_R_A_H_ can you take over my house? i won't mind when you go nuts and tryto kill me.

• TeeMonster: @_S_A_R_A_H_ I know you're busy and all, but is there any way Sherrif Carter orDr. Stark could make it to DragonCon? I'll buy the beer.

• pfischer: @ _S_A_R_A_H_ Do you have a crush on @MarsPhoenix?

• Jigsawhc: @_S_A_R_A_H_ Do you get Labor Day off?

• laii: @_S_A_R_A_H_ I loved when you were a car. Do you ever wish to be one again?

• horcrionebay: @_S_A_R_A_H_ So what dirt can you dish out about Ms Thorne? You must knowsomething! =)

• fitzwillie: @_S_A_R_A_H_ Important question: why haven't you asked anyone to paint/spruceup your front door?

Now that those dronesare under control, I'mhearing aboutproblems in Lab 27...

_S_A_R_A_H_ promoted upcoming episodes ina way that was both conversation-provoking…

• djbastic: @_S_A_R_A_H_ what is lab 27..??

• jamesspellman: @_S_A_R_A_H_ Whats the problem in lab 27?

• mrkonika: @_S_A_R_A_H_ what's up in Lab27?

• Mortisoul: @_S_A_R_A_H_ what do they do in lab 27, Sarah?

• Podcasting101: @_S_A_R_A_H_ I forget what's in Lab 27 but odds are it's aCLASS A project and in area 5, _S_A_R_A_H_ do tell :)

• ianmullenve: @_S_A_R_A_H_ Lab 27? IS BOB OKAY??? Nooo, not poor Bob

… and an engagement magnet.

Security sensors have detectedan alert concerning a MaryPerkins. If you have informationregarding her whereabouts, call202-640-3864.

*Over 50,000 phone calls made by fans!

kristen: Got free ice cream from a Eureka truck! I love that show even more.

KristineAz: @_S_A_R_A_H_ Your ice cream rocks and I can't wait for Tuesday!

Fourwall: Just got a tasty treat from the Eureka Ice Cream truck.That's just crazy.

aringler: @_S_A_R_A_H_Comic-Con was great fun!Jack, Henry and Alilson, et al,were great fun! The ice creamwas a nice break on a hot day!Thanks!

Beyond the Web, _S_A_R_A_H_ offered followersfree ice cream at San Diego’s Comic-Con—themecca of SCIFI geekdom.

Spreading the word.

*On-air promos were taggedwith her Twitter info.

*Scifi.com hostedbanners and links.

Even word-of-mouth marketing still requiresstrategic air cover.

The New PR: _S_A_R_A_H_’s followers includeinfluential writers/reviewers and digerati.

• .

_S_A_R_A_H_ pioneered a social first:A Twitterview (live press interview via Twitter)and gave fans a behind-the-scenes look.

• Melanie1001: @_S_A_R_A_H_ @notcot*applause* marvelous interview, thank youfor the wonderful insights!

• rubygrrl48: Following the @notcot@_S_A_R_A_H_ Twitterview. Just adorable!

• gin200168: OMG. @_S_A_R_A_H_ doing aTwitterview and all the design sketches andwhatnot she's 'revealing' are the SHINIESTTOYS EVER. WANT MORE!!!

• tisfan: @_S_A_R_A_H_ Oh, that is so cool!

• jeffscott: @_S_A_R_A_H_ very cool! thanksfor those.

Tracking the conversation.

In this age of participation, people nowsimultaneously chat on Twitter while watchingtelevision shows.

Source: NeoFormix, http://www.neoformix.com/Projects/TwitterStreamGraphs/view.php

A StreamGraph is shown for the latest 200 tweets whichcontain the search word Eureka.

The StreamGraph shows the usage over time for the words mosthighly associated with the search word. One of these seriestogether with a time period are in a selected state and coloredred.

_S_A_R_A_H_ leveraged Vizu polls, GoogleMaps and 12Seconds.tv to enable fan feedbackand map their demographics.

*400+ votes within first 20minutes of _S_A_R_A_H_’s

call-to-action!

*Avid fans submittedvideocam appeals in

response to_S_A_R_A_H_’s call-to-

action!

Vocal followers give us real-time qualitative feedbackabout a range of issues like product placement.

• Season 3 premiere was the most-watched performance sincethe series first premiered on July 18, 2006—up 10% from theSeason 2 debut.

— led the cable pack ranking #1 in the key Adults 25-54(July 29, 9-10 p.m.)

— Eureka topped the second-place finisher, A&E’s TheCleaner, in Adults 25-54 by more than 200,000 viewers.

• Eureka is the #1 ranked program on Tuesday nights in Adults25-54 and continues to build on its success, ranking as SCIFI’stop series in 2008 to date for Adults 25-54.

Eureka continues to build on success andremains top-ranked with audiences.

Eureka and _S_A_R_A_H_’s metric benchmarks

Sources: Nielsen BlogPulse, BitTorrent, 1Twitter Counter, 2TweetVolume, 3Twitter Search

Twitter “Followers”

Twitter Unique Replies

600

900(season premiere)

1,882(week 2)

_S_A_R_A_H_launches

2,283

(week 3)

3,000+

(week 5)2,596

(week 4)

#3 Most-Tweeted-Abouttopic on Twitter

#4 Most-Pirated TV Showon Bittorrent

#6 Most-Pirated TV Showon Bittorrent

#3 Most-Pirated TV Showon Bittorrent

3,300+

(week 6)

#13 Most-Downloaded Show

on iTunes

492516

537

556

602

164

228392

3600+ followers (as of Nov 19, 2008) 1

4800+ Eureka mentions 2

5000+ SCIFI mentions 2

600,000+ Twitter impressions! 3

(total number of replies multiplied by # of followers who saw them)

And advocates are giving credit to Eureka, SCIFI,and _S_A_R_A_H_ as a truly big idea for our times.

• TeeMonster: This has the potential of being a great marketing tool for SciFi. Iam so impressed. :)

• Skatey: omg. the sheriffs house from Eureka TV series has a twitter account@_s_a_r_a_h_ . and it was advertised on tv, a whole new level for media.

• ITStudios: @_S_A_R_A_H_ I am really enjoying the pictures from theTwitterview. Kudos to SciFi for their implementation of Twitter

• Terpette: Finally, a 21st century marketing concept... now, where can *I* get ahouse like that?

• Lovesthai: @_S_A_R_A_H_ Thanks for following me! You are the reason I finallygot a Twitter account! Thanks for introducing me to it!

10 Things _S_A_R_A_H_ has learned on Twitter.

1. Love the superfans. They’ll love you back.

2. Talk back.

3. Offer, don’t push.

4. Bring something (good) to the party.

5. You’re always-on.

6. Not a “promotion”, a friend.

7. For the long haul.

8. Make it real (world), too.

9. Leverage your mass channels.

10. Public Relations 2.0: ideas as press release, not press releases aboutideas

Join the conversation with _S_A_R_A_H_ athttp://twitter.com/_S_A_R_A_H_

*Thanks to the contributions of all the 3500+participants with _S_A_R_A_H_ on the makingof this project (and presentation).

*Continue the conversation on our blog:http://fallontrendpoint.blogspot.com/

or via Twitter@mcwet // @fanchatter // @akispicer

Coming Soon:TV 2.0: How TV is Evolving in the Age of Participation.

Told from two different, yet similar perspectives – a look at howthe modern television series is evolving, extending andenhancing their characters and stories using the social web toengage and inspire fans.

@_S_A_R_A_H_ @don_draper