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Gossip girl case analysis
The document analyzes a PR campaign proposal to revive viewership of the CW Network show "Gossip Girl" among its target 18-24 year old female audience. It considers three primary research tactics: 1) Teaser videos on social media costing $10,650 reaching 1.5 million people, 2) A finale watch party sponsored by CW costing $57,750, and 3) A flash mob recreating a scene from the show on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City costing $1,640 and reaching 10 million people. After analyzing the costs, outreach and effectiveness of each option, the document recommends the finale watch party tactic.
Gossip girl case analysis
- 1.
- 2. PROBLEM Revive the CWNetwork’s loss of live television viewers, and the resulting television advertising dollars that followed, among the “Gossip Girl” target audience, by implementing a non-traditional and outside-the-box public relations campaign.
- 3. CRITICAL FACTORS 1. Non-traditional“outside of the box” PR campaign 2. The rise of “on demand” viewing 3. Gossip Girl target: Women ages 18-24 4. The CW advertising budget: $20.20 million 5. Gossip Girl ad budget: $1.68 million 6. Gossip Girl emphasizes fashion and tech/interactivity 7. 2009 was milestone year for social networking 8. New season of the show airs in 14 weeks 9. Gossip Girl aired from 2007-2012 10. Competitors: ABC, FOX, NBC 11. Desire to reach a secondary market of college aged males
- 4.
- 5. 1. Teaser Videos Seriesof 3 “hype” videos launched on social media including cast interviews, behind the scenes, etc.
- 6. 1. Teaser Videos TOTALCOST: $10,650 TOTAL REACH: 1.5 Million PROS/CONS
- 7. 2. Win aFinale Watch Party Sponsored by The CW Tune in live to the upcoming Gossip Girl season for a chance to win a finale watch party
- 8. 2. Finale WatchParty TOTAL COST: $57,750 Measurement: Video engagement, media coverage, post-party video. PROS/CONS
- 9. 3. “Flash Mob”on the MET Steps Actors will recreate a scene on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC
- 10. 3. “Flash Mob”on the MET steps TOTAL COST: $1,640 TOTAL REACH: 10 million PROS/CONS
- 11.
- 12. CRITICAL THEORY ▪ Lackof diversity ▪ Inaccurate target market ▪ Glamorizes alcohol, substance abuse, bullying, and sexual abuse ▪ Scandalous ad campaigns
- 13. BUDGETING ▪ Total Budget= 20 mill / 12 (# main shows in 2009) = 1.6 million per show ▪ Teaser videos: ▫ Video editing: $300/hour (6 hours) = $1,800 ▫ Kristen Bell costs: $350 (flight) + $900 (hotel) + $2,000/hour (2 hours) = $5,250 ▸ Cost for one teaser video = $3,550 ▸ Total Cost for three teaser videos = $10,650 ▪ Watch Parties: ▫ Flights: ($600) x 7= $4,200 ▫ Hotels: ($200) x 7= $1,400 ▫ Catering: ($3,000) x 7= $21,000 ▫ Venues: ($4000) x 7= $28,000 ▫ Videographer Crew: $150/hr = 150 x 3 hrs x 7= $3,150 ▸ Total cost of all watch parties: $57,750 ▪ Flash mob: ▫ Actors/Actresses: $100 per person, 6 total= $600 ▫ Stylist: $40 ($9/hr) ▫ Hair/makeup (6 people)= $30/hr, $550 total ▫ Videographer Crew: $150/hr = 150 x 3= $450 (5 crew members) ▸ Total Cost for flash mob = $1,640
- 14. SOURCES Carter, Ruth. "TheBasics of Flash Mob Law, Vol. 1, No. 10." American Bar Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. "The CW Television Network." Advertising Spend. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. "A Look At The Benefits Of Flash Mob Marketing | Grassroots Advertising Inc." Grassroots Advertising Inc A Look At The Benefits Of Flash Mob Marketing Comments. N.p., 01 Dec. 2015. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. Marsi, Steve. "A Look at Gossip Girl Ratings, Viewers." TV Fanatic. N.p., 05 Oct. 2007. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. Ostrow, Adam. "YouTube Is the Top Social Media Innovation of the Decade." Mashable. N.p., 22 Dec. 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. Ostrow, Adam. "YouTube Is the Top Social Media Innovation of the Decade." Mashable. N.p., 22 Dec. 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. Perrin, Andrew. "Social Media Usage: 2005-2015." Pew Research Center Internet Science Tech RSS. N.p., 08 Oct. 2015. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. "Stylist Salary." Stylist Salary. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. "2009: Year of the Social Network." PCWorld. N.p., 26 Dec. 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
- 15. Thanks! Any questions? xoxo, FourCorners Consulting
Editor's Notes
- #2 Intro Slide Amanda
- #3 Amanda
- #4 Amanda Rick Haskins, executive VP of marketing and brand strategy at The CW Network must create a non-traditional PR campaign Traditional advertising sales have been undermined due to on-demand viewing The CW targets women ages 18-34 CW advertising budget is about $20.20 million In 2009, there were around 12 shows that The CW actively advertised (Smallville, The Vampire Diaries, GG, etc.) -- dividing their total budget from 2009 by these 12 shows gives us $1.68 million per show for ad spending Gossip girl has an emphasis on women’s fashion and technology/interactivity Demographic of GG viewers is women ages 18-24 The new GG season starts in 14 weeks GG is filmed in NYC and based on young-adult novels by Cecily von Ziegesar CW’s main competitors: ABC, FOX, and NBC Desire to leverage different elements of social media to attract a new secondary target, college males Gossip Girl aired between 2007 and 2012.
- #5 Amanda We decided to rank the secondary target last due to these results of male viewership. It was not cost efficient to focus on a secondary target.
- #6 Clare Our first alternative involves the release of 3 teaser videos to promote the upcoming Gossip Girl season with the hope that the video series will go viral over various social media platforms.
- #7 Clare There are 14 weeks until the premiere of the new Gossip Girl season and we will release one teaser video every 4 weeks. We will hire a professional video editor to create three different teaser videos promoting the upcoming Gossip Girl season. The videos will consist of clips from the new season so the costs incurred for this alternative would come from professional video editing and necessary voice overs with famous actress and the voice of “Gossip Girl” Kristen Bell. The average cost for professional video editing for TV shows is around $300/hour. Each teaser video will take 6 hours to edit. The video editing will cost $1,800 per video, and hiring Kristen Bell for voice overs will cost an additional $5,250 in total. The estimated cost for one teaser video will be $3,550. Because we are releasing 3 teaser videos, we would multiply this cost by 3, equating to a total cost of $10,650 for this alternative. We calculated the total reach for this alternative from GG’s season 2 teaser video, which had over 1 million views. This large reach did not happen right when the teaser video was released, seeing that the video was uploaded to YouTube in 2008. We took this information and estimated that each video would reach less than what the season 2 video has garnered over the past 8 years. We have estimated that each video will reach 500,000 people, leaving us with a total reach of 1.5 million people. Pros: Shareable content for our target audience on Facebook and through YouTube allows for high interactivity with the Gossip Girl brand. Youtube popularity in 2009 -- according to Mashable, Youtube was the top social media innovation of the 2000s decade (Mashable article). Delayed release of teaser videos keeps viewers on their toes, leaving them wanting more as the season progresses. The teaser video production uses .63% of Gossip Girl’s total advertising budget. Scenes in teaser videos highlight the trendy clothing that makes Gossip Girl so popular to their target market Cons: The teaser video series is not necessarily “outside of the box,” a factor that the CW Network said is crucial to the non-traditional campaign. While the teaser videos make viewers excited for the upcoming GG season, there is no incentive to watch the show live. These teaser videos do not differentiate the Gossip Girl brand amidst shows from competitors like ABC, FOX, and NBC -- each of these networks releases teaser videos for several of their shows. Current fans of the show will watch the teaser videos, not college aged males. Source for video editing cost: https://www.directimages.com/blog/how-to-determine-professional-video-editing-costs Source for Kristen Bell cost: http://gossipgirl.wikia.com/wiki/Kristen_Bell Source for total reach: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO3dP5jrJ8g Source for YouTube popularity: http://mashable.com/2009/12/22/youtube-2010/#_Et_fJUlGkqn
- #8 Clare Our second alternative involves a contest for viewers to win a finale watch party sponsored by The CW in an effort to revive the number of viewers that watch Gossip Girl live.
- #9 Clare Fans will tune in for the season premiere to find out contest instructions to earn a CW sponsored watch party for the last episode of the Gossip Girl season. Contestants will submit a video explaining why they and their friends want to have a watch party and whomever gets the most engagement (likes, comments, shares) with their video will win a watch party with a cast member of the show. There will be a total of seven watch parties, so CW will pick the top seven videos with the most engagement. Contestants will submit videos by the third episode of the season and will have one week to gain likes and comments. Measurements will be taken the night of the fourth episodes and the winners will be announced during the fifth episode of the season. This incentivizes more organic shares and increases the likelihood of the events going viral. This experiential event will be a lavish party at a venue in the closest city of each winner with the goal of a creating a Gossip Girl-styled NYC party including high-end catering and decor. The total cost including cast member flights and hotels, catering, venue and videography of the event is $57,750. PROS: Multiple layers of shareable content that has the potential to go viral, from the contestant videos to professional videos and photos from watch parties. Physical incentive to tune in live Effectively targets primary market Allows for new viewers to be introduced to Gossip Girl (winners can invite friends who have never seen the show) Rise of Facebook and YouTube allows for increased shareability and engagement -- much easier for people to share content through these platforms Tons of time to plan the events -- make them lavish like a Gossip Girl-style NYC party CONS: Most expensive alternative out of the three we are presenting Current fans of the show will make videos and enter the contest, not the college aged male target that the network wants to reach
- #10 Clare Our third alternative involves a “flash mob” located on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in an effort to draw attention to the upcoming season of Gossip Girl via a non-traditional form of communication.
- #11 Clare Flash mobs were extremely popular in 2007-2012. We decided to hire actors to recreate a scene on the MET steps where the main characters met up in the episodes. This would be filmed and posted to social media. We would also have an actor or actress from the show present to take photos with bystanders after the flash mob. This would encourage people to share on other social media platforms. The downfall to this idea is the lack of reach if the video does not go viral. It also has a weak call to action to encourage people to watch live and be aware of the start of the season. The reached is based off of T Mobile’s extremely successful flash mob marketing campaign -- The “T-Mobile Dance” happened in Liverpool Street Station in January of 2009 and garnered over 40 million YouTube views -- obviously, like alternative 1 with the season 2 trailer of Gossip Girl, these views have been accumulating since 2009, so we are estimating that our “flash mob,” when it goes viral, will reach around 10 million people. We plan to measure the success of this “flash mob” through mentions on various social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook, using media monitoring software to do so. PROS: Flash mobs are a relatively low cost creative guerilla marketing tactic. Videos will be shared on YouTube, which, again, was named the top social media innovation of the 2000s decade. Fashion featured in the show will be worn by actors and actresses Photos will be taken with the select cast member on-site, encouraging bystanders and fans to share their experiences on various social media platforms. CONS: There is no incentive for viewers to watch live. There is a low incentive for college males, the secondary target market, to watch the show. The media coverage associated will be traditional, not non-traditional like the CW is looking for.
- #12 Ford The CW Network should select Alternative 2, a sponsored finale watch party in order to create a marketing strategy that will revive the loss of live viewership. This tactic also includes a cast member to be present which will increase the incentive to ensure live viewership. This also reflects back to the shows theme of high-end lifestyle that our demographic is vicariously living through.
- #13 Ford “The show is widely popular among young people, even winning multiple Teen Choice Awards, but the show repeatedly reinforces racist stereotypes, renders invisible class divisions and trivializes very real threats of sexual violence and rape culture.”
- #15 Cost: Redbooks