Social strategies are great for retaining and engaging viewers. But they’re also great ways to create a buzz and prime that audience.
MTV and Logo get it. They’ve been taunting “RuPaul’s Drag Race” fans all winter preparation for the premiere of its 7th season on Monday. The marketing team held a Snapchat scavenger hunt in December, leaking the identity of the new season’s queens hint by hint. Die-hard fans flocked to their account, increasing their base by 300,000%. If you aren’t using Snapchat, you should start getting used to it now.
Today, the season 7 premiere is available on the Logo app and fan page. Everything but the elimination, of course, so fans will have to tune in in real-time on Monday night.
Perhaps the best and sneakiest part of the lead up to the new season is that the team withheld the premiere date. Anyone who’s patiently awaited a new season of their favorite show can imagine how infuriating that can be. Fans complained all over social media. And then the MTV/Logo team filmed some of the stars reading the mean tweets, Jimmy Kimmel style.
Pure evil, really. After the premiere, there’ll be a one-time only online show, where last year’s winner Bianca del Rio and “fan favorite” Alaska will re-watch the episode and provide running commentary. There’ll be “Drag Center” after each episode, a 2-minute “Sports Center” parody where they’ll go through highlights. Logo will be GIF-ing moments from the show and passing them around the Internet. And there’ll be sound clips that fans can send each other. From a statement:
Early next week, Logo will launch a Drag Race Soundboard to serve the best slang and shade from 6 seasons of Drag Race fabulousness. Want to tell a friend to ‘Eat it’ via Latrice Royale or ‘Calm down, Beyonce’ like Bianca del Rio? Fans just have to click on a phrase to hear the T from their favorite queens in Drag Race herstory.
It sounds like too much. But like sequins and eyeliner, there are thin lines when it comes to promoting a show. The social team caught on to what fans loved: the slang, the shade. And they’re serving it up to them. It may sound silly, but this is what we talk about when we talk about “social communities.” They’ve created a club, complete with its own language. Does your show have a secret code? You better find it.