Blood Lust for True Blood

True Blood is an HBO T.V. show that has garnered enormous success since its inception. Part of the reason why True Blood is so successful is and was because of its marketing campaign. I say was because the initial marketing campaign for the show was brilliant to say the least; it drew viewers in and built an aura of mystery around the show. I say is because the marketing campaign is still on going, and the makers of the show actively work with the viewers who contribute to the show.

The initial marketing campaign focused around advertisements for a drink called True Blood. The advertisements themselves were convoluted and in my opinion looked like advertisements for alcoholic beverages. In addition to this the advertisements had “vampire” under tones. The success of the campaign is largely due in part to the fact the viewers of the ads had no idea what they were looking at. The landing page for the online ads lead to a website that contained a tentative release date and virtually no info on the True Blood drink. The ads were released a few months before the show was supposed to air, this was crucial to the campaigns success. The mysterious ads drummed up consumer attention and created a buzz on the internet. Everywhere on the internet was filled with users asking questions about True Blood, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites were inundated with questions. Some people even made a forum specifically for True Blood before it was even released just to try and figure out what is was.

 

After months of agonizing waiting and speculation HBO finally stepped out into the day light and admitted they were responsible for the advertisements. They launched a more traditional advertising campaign and let the fans know that this was in fact a show about vampires. They sent Alan Ball who was a driving force behind the show to Comic-Con so that he could discuss the show with fans and drum up additional attention.

True Bloods success is also due in part to its ongoing efforts to involve fans in the creative process. They reached out to fans and the fans reached out back to them and created an elaborate back story and universe for the show. Fans created blogs and forums to keep track of what was going on in the show and what each character was doing. By allowing the viewers to help with the creative process HBO was able accomplish two things. First they were able to give viewers what they truly wanted, writers and executives listened to the viewers comments and based the show around their feedback. Secondly they were able to create a community based around the show. Loyal viewers who created content for the show obviously kept coming back to the show and without a doubt shared their content with friends and on social media. The True Blood marketing campaign was a truly innovative idea and the employees at HBO should give themselves a pat on the back for a job well done.