Elementary

     Even if you’ve never seen the new T.V. phenomenon Sherlock, chances are you have at least heard of it.  Sherlock is the newest show in a long line of British television exports to gain recent fame in the U.S.  However, since the show was not written for, or with an American audience in mind, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) knew if they were going to energize customers about a show which is already massively popular across the pond, they would need to engage with potential viewers by establishing an online presence.  To do this, they used a variety of online formats, including blogs, audio/visual files and forums.

Benedict Cumberbatch as "Sherlock"

     The Groundswell (authored by Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff) discusses using emerging technology in new and innovative ways to form a relationship through your outreach.  The BBC’s objective: to energize viewers about a beloved Victorian English classic character brought into modern day.

           

     Groundswell says energizing current customers will not only help to ensure they remain loyal, but will translate to “word-of-mouth” marketing.  Word of mouth has been called the most honest form of marketing because of its believability (pg. 130-131).  To reach out to an entirely new generation of television viewers, the BBC took to the Internet.   But they went further than maintaining a traditional Facebook or Twitter page; they created an entire blog site that one of the main characters in the show uses, as if he were a real person.

     Dr. John Watson’s Blog chronicles the many adventures he and the main character, Sherlock Holmes, have together, complete with blog entries and comments from other characters in the show.  Not only was the character of John Watson’s blog given real life, but other major characters such as Sherlock Holmes and Molly Hooper.   Yet the BBC knew it was not enough to create websites for fictional characters for viewers to scroll through, they had to create a place for fans to converse and ask questions about these people.

     For this they went back to one of the most basic forms of social media- the forum.  Forums allow users to log in online as a member and then “post any question or comment or they can respond to questions and comments posted by others.” (Groundswell, pg. 26)  Though many companies use forum boards to help solve problems, the BBC Sherlock Fan Forum has become an online community for those who are new to the show, or who have been avid fans since the first episode.  Below are examples of some of the conversations between members.

http://sherlock.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=1114

http://sherlock.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=102

http://sherlock.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=1148

 

All of their social media efforts seem to have paid off; the Guardian.uk reports “The first episode in the 2^nd season drew 3.2m viewers, more than double the average of PBS's primetime rating.” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2012/may/18/sherlock-reichenbach-fall-live-chat) Only time will tell if these new tactics will effect long-time viewer loyalty.  But what do you think; would these new uses of available social media entice and energize you to become a Sherlock fan?