CASE STUDY
The Simpsons
Role: Creative Director
When the FXX network acquired the entire Simpsons catalog, it was the biggest off-network deal in TV history. To launch with a bang, the network decided to run a marathon of every Simpsons episode ever made, in order; a staggering 288 consecutive hours of television over 552 episodes (and the movie).
For an event this momentous, FXX required a social-media campaign on a scale as big as the marathon itself.
Enter #EverySimpsonsEver.
Armed with audience insights and some deep Simpson’s know-how, my team of 12 writers, designers, community managers and strategists developed a highly detailed content calendar that included hundreds of pieces of episode-specific graphics, memes, quizzes, gifs and trivia, all designed to spark real-time engagement to drive tune-in to the marathon.
In addition to this round-the-clock publishing schedule, we live-tweeted the entire marathon non-stop; 24 hours a day for 12 days straight.
RATINGS AND RESULTS
The enormous effort paid off. By demonstrating our deep knowledge and appreciation for all things Simpsons, we built an impressive following within days. Soon, celebrity guest stars and Simpsons luminaries, including show creators All Jean and James L. Brooks, had joined-in on our conversation. The resulting boom in online engagement helped push the marathon's ratings to 3 times higher than the network had anticipated. In fact, FXX jumped a jaw-dropping 46 places over the course of the marathon, hitting 3rd place in the key 18-49 age demographic.
SIMPSONS SOCIAL SPECTACULAR
Creating social content that would hit on all aspects of Simpsons fandom meant going deep into their catalog. Like, very deep. Pulling from 552 episodes, we collected and organized sharable content across multiple categories that would appeal to Simpsons fans, including Simpsons Trivia, Quote Cards, "Frosted Facts", "Duff Hour" and "High 4s".
TRIVIA GAME
HALO EFFECT
Not only was our Simpsons social effort incredibly effective, but FXX’s Twitter account enjoyed a bump of 60,000 followers in just 3 weeks.
After the marathon (and once everyone got some sleep) we continued to publish daily content that expanded upon our original themes, and went deep on each episode, with live tweeting and lots of fan engagement.
