Marketing Strategies to Maximize the Success of Girls

Developing and implementing effective advertisement campaign strategies for a television series can enhance the attention that your show attracts from the public and can maximize the number of viewers that the show receives from various demographics. Although television commercials, radio commercials and billboard postings were the traditional methods of advertising for television shows, the eruption of social media avenues and the immense popularity of social media platforms has enabled marketing teams to utilize these platforms for marketing and advertising campaigns. The HBO series, Girls, has achieved great levels of success in its first two seasons because HBO has executed brilliant marketing strategies and effective advertising campaigns that capitalize on the excitement of live event promotions and on the popularity of various social media platforms.

Girls first aired on HBO in 2012, and Lena Dunham is the primary creator, star, director and writer of the show. The show revolves around four twenty-something girls who are intimate friends, and the stories often concentrate on their relationships with each other and their relationships with boys who they are dating or who they had dated in the past. The show also emphasizes the financial struggles and employment difficulties that many twentysomethings experience after college as a result of the economic recession that is still challenging our society. The first two seasons of Girls have been incredibly successful, as the show has been praised for its excellent writing, compelling characters and powerfully dramatic plotlines. The show has also been revered for delivering a very accurate and realistic depiction of life for twentysomething girls who are living in New York City after graduating college. Additionally, the four girls representing the main characters exhibit different interesting personality traits and behavioral characteristics that increase the chances that viewers can relate to the personality traits of some of the characters, and this quality of the show further enhances the realistic atmosphere which the show, the characters and the storylines perpetuate.

Young people in their 20s are a primary market segment. The show is very appealing to this group, as the show effectively portrays the lives of post-graduate twentysomethings, the characters depict personalities that are recognizable and relatable to this demographic group, and the conflicts in the plotlines are problems that the group can often identify with. Thus, the HBO marketing team inevitably needed to focus a significant portion of their advertising resources towards twentysomethings and to females. However, many of the stories and characters of the show have also drawn the following of other demographics as well, for the median age of Girls viewers is 43, and surprisingly the show’s biggest demographic is males over 50 (Connor). Thus, although it was important to develop marketing strategies for young people and for girls, the HBO marketing team also had to ensure that their advertising campaigns could generate enthusiasm from adults and males as well.

Sabrina Caluori is the HBO vice president of social media and performance marketing. Caluori has been helping HBO develop and implement advertising, marketing and social media promotion strategies since 2007, and she has successfully evolved the marketing team’s strategies to always accommodate the new social media trends that are constantly changing. The exceptional social media marketing strategies executed by Caluori and her marketing team has enabled HBO to become one of the top 10 media brands on Facebook, with a total social space footprint of over 55 million fan connections. Additionally, the many effective strategies and excellent marketing achievements established by Caluori has enabled her to receive numerous marketing awards. (HBO: Best Social Media Manager).

An important strategy that Caluori and her HBO marketing team implemented to promote the series Girls was to launch several advertising campaigns on various social media outlets before the debut of the first season aired. Caluori’s emphasis on social media advertising campaigns was very effective, for the key show demographic of people who are 18-24 years old are also one of the groups that uses social media outlets with the most frequency. Thus, it was very effective for HBO to advertise extensively on Facebook before the series aired, as this campaign was able to raise awareness of the show, generate excitement regarding the new series and maximize the number of viewers who tuned in for the series debut. Additionally, the marketing team also launched a twitter feed before the show aired with the specialty hashtag “mistakegirlsmake.” These social media advertising strategies were successful, as reports indicate that an impressive 200,000 people communicated message about the show on the Sunday that the show debuted, and over the next few days Girls was the most talked about television show on Facebook and Twitter (Storey). Thus, advertising heavily on social media platforms before the show aired helped build hype around the new series, entice people to watch the debut and stimulated many discussions about the show on various social media platforms.

After the debut of Girls aired and during the remainder of the first season, Caluori and the HBO marketing team continued to utilize social media advertising strategies to sustain and increase the momentum and excitement of the show. YouTube was an important platform for the HBO’s social media advertising strategies. Over the past decade, YouTube has emerged as the primary Internet website where people can watch videos. However, as YouTube has evolved and has become owned by Google, the site featured a dramatic transformation in which the emphasis and attitude of the site has shifted its focus from video broadcasters to video watchers, and the site has tried to emulate and replicate the TV watching experience by referring to video collections as “channels.” Additionally, YouTube has developed a very tight connection between video watching and social media functions by allowing people to watch videos and instantly communicate with other fans or show members to learn more information about their favorite television programs (Dijck).

With this beneficial combination of a video watching experience and social media communication, it was a brilliant strategy for Girls to capitalize on these influential advantages by placing videos of the show on YouTube to advertise and promote the show, including videos clips containing cast interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and previously unseen scenes. However, the HBO marketing team also provided full episodes of Girls on YouTube, and this was very effective because it increased the opportunities for non-HBO subscribers to watch episodes, generated enthusiasm regarding the show and helped direct people to HBO social media pages (Gilbert). Thus, placing full episodes of Girls on YouTube enabled non-subscribers to still watch some episodes of the show and encouraged people who enjoyed the quality of the show to subscribe to HBO.

Facebook was another essential platform the marketing team utilized while the first season was airing. Facebook has also become a huge phenomenon over the past decade. Although this platform is widely accessed by young people in their 20s, the immense popularity and many advantages of Facebook has encouraged many adult demographics to also consistently use the social media platform (Dijck). Thus, it was important for Girls to utilize the platform of Facebook to rouse excitement from twentysomethings and to also attract the attention of the millions of adults who frequently explore the site. Additionally, research studies indicate a common trend of Facebook in which pages that become very popular by accumulating an abundance of “likes” and “friends” tend to continually become even more popular. This is because the popularity of the page attracts the attention of other users, encourages those users to view the page and motivates them to also “like” the page. Thus, the more supporters and contacts that a Facebook page has, the more additional supporters and contacts the page often receives (Dijck).

Critics assert that the ambitious and extensive Facebook campaigns enabled the show to generate a significant amount of hype, accumulate a good reputation and maximize the show’s supporters. For instance, reports indicate that the marketing team utilized all of the important and relevant Facebook channels that were most frequently visited by young people and by females, as well as many pages that could attract young males and adult television fanatics of all genders (Cantor). Thus, Girls successfully used the appropriate Facebook avenues to attract the attention and support of a diverse range of people representing many different demographics.

The HBO marketing team also utilized an abundance of other social media outlets to help advertise the first season of Girls. Social media marketing strategies employed by HBO included live Twitter feeds, Instagram pictures, Tumblr and Buzzfeed messages, and GetGlue applications. Additionally, Caluori utilized the innovative social media platform called HBO Connect. HBO Connect is a stand-alone platform with twitter connectivity, which enables viewers to communicate with other fans and to participate in discussions with actors, directors and producers of the show. For instance, the site conducted several question and answer sessions with creator and head writer Lena Dunham, and the site also provided a function in which HBO Connect users could view previously unseen scenes of the show by using certain hashtags (Connor). Thus, the constant social media presence and the effective social media advertising campaigns were able to generate and sustain a significant amount of enthusiasm regarding the first season of the series.

However, the marketing team of HBO also had to establish effective strategies to build excitement for the second season of Girls. Naturally there is a time gap between seasons, so in the months and weeks preceding the launch of the second season, Caluori and her marketing team were inevitably required to execute aggressive advertisement campaigns to inform the public of the impending second season and to stir enthusiasm regarding the show. There are many reasons why the second season was inherently very anticipated by the fans. The frequent discussions about Girls on the Internet, television and social media platforms ensured that the entire public as aware of the show, and the immense success of the first season achieved a revered reputation and superior credibility regarding the quality of the show. Additionally, like many television programs the first season ended with plot cliffhangers to generate suspense and to intensify the anticipation regarding what will happen next in the plotlines and to the various characters.

Like the first season, Caluori and the HBO marketing team utilized similar social media platform strategies to advertise for the second season of the show. For instance, Instagram was a very effective method employed by the HBO marketing team to advertise the approach of the second season of Girls. The HBO Girls channel on Instagram featured new pictures that were constantly being uploaded to count down to the premiere of the second season. The Instagram channel also contained several messages about the show and many quotes related to the characters of the show that were intended to humorously provoke laughter and excitement among the channel viewers (Cantor). Although this method was partly intended to solidify, excite and maintain the existing fan base, the strategy was also able to increase the fanbase by stirring curiosity about the series, by enticing new people of all demographics to watch the show and by developing more fans of the show.

However, a dramatic and ambitious new strategy implemented by the marketing team for the second season was the emphasis of live promotional events. For instance, DryBar gave free blowouts, hairstyles and other services from January 11th to January 13th to advertize and promote the second season of the show. This was a successful strategy, as the popularity of the promotion generated so much attention and such an abundance of traffic that it caused the DryBar website to temporarily crash (Wong).

Another live promotional strategy to advertise the start of the second season of Girls was held by Urban Outfitters. In the days preceding the launch of the second season, Urban Outfitters provided nail art and spin classes with themes related to Girls. Urban Outfitters also helped promote the show by providing nail art that contained codes to view unseen scenes and by conducting social media contests in which participants could win $24,000 for rent and $5,000 gift cards for the store. Additionally, many nail salons in New York and Los Angeles provided free manicures for people seeking nail polish inspired by the Girls characters. Over 100 nail salons across the country also helped Girls advertise for the second season by placing posters and promotional boards on the walls of their establishments and by playing television trailers and scenes from the show on the salon TVs (Wong).

SoulCycle also conducted live promotional events to help promote the second season of Girls. SoulCycle offered “Free Girls Rides” around the New York and LA areas, and the promotional device and the rides became so successful and popular that the organization had to extend the riding sessions from 19 classes to 29 classes, with each class including approximately 65 bikes. Additionally, the SoulCycle promotional events also featured music from the show, co-branded sweatbands and girls-themed gift bags (Wong).

The quality of advertising campaigns and marketing strategies often determines the success or failure of a new television program, which is why few shows are able to flourish and sustain a long run of success. Although Girls is often revered and celebrated because of the exceptional writing, captivating characters and compelling plotlines, the success of the show was facilitated by the exceptional marketing strategies developed and implemented by Caluori and the HBO marketing team. The social media campaign and live promotion advertising strategies executed by the marketing team solidified and enhanced the success of Girls by raising public awareness regarding the series, by generating enthusiasm for the show, and by maximizing the amount of people who watch and support the show.

Works Cited

Cantor, Julia. "What (marketing lessons) you can learn from HBO’s Girls." All Things Social. N.p., 20 Jan. 2013. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://juliahcantor.com/2013/01/22/what-marketing-lessons-you-can-learn-from-hbos-girls/.

Connor, Emily. "HBO's "Girls" Dominates Multi-Platform Social Promotion." Business 2 Community. N.p., 14 Jan. 2013. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://www.business2community.com/social-media/hbos-girls-dominates-multi-platform-social-promotion-0376868.

Dijck, JoseÌ van. The culture of connectivity: a critical history of social media. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Print.

Gilbert, Trevor. "HBO’s Distribution Strategy: It’s All About the Timing." PanoDaily. N.p., 25 June 2012. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://pandodaily.com/2012/06/25/hbos-distribution-strategy-its-all-about-the-timing/.

"HBO: Best Social Media Manager - Sabrina Caluori." Shorty Industry Awards. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://industry.shortyawards.com/category/social_media_manager/gq/hbo-best-social-media-manager-sabrina-caluori.

Storey, Kate. "Most popular 'Girls'." New York Post. N.p., 20 Apr. 2012. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://nypost.com/2012/04/20/most-popular-girls/.

Wong, Vennessa. "HBO's Girls Hits Stores With Promotions." Bloomberg Businessweek. N.p., 9 Jan. 2013. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-01-09/hbo-s-em-girls-em-still-broke-but-hits-stores-with-promotions.