Pluto TV, for better or for worse, is packed with hundreds of old shows. Some may see this as boring and outdated however, we saw it as a golden ticket to drive followers to nostalgia-packed titles. In the era of longing for the ‘good old times’, it was our mission to give these shows a second life.
Some of the goals we set ourselves to achieve were:
As our overarching goal is to drive awareness to older shows, making a deep dive on already-existing communities was imperative. We took OG fans’ perspectives to understand why these shows were once so beloved. Pluto is quite a specific niche and it can sometimes have a complex and multi-faceted audience. So, a unique audience, requires a unique approach!
For example, we undertook research that fell a bit out of the ordinary. A key one for us was Tumblr. Tumblr had its peak in the 2010s and it was the home to hundreds of fan communities, meaning that all the fan-favourite moments and characters would be spotlit here. This tool allowed the team to live and breathe the shows in a way where we not only knew the fandoms, but we were part of them. That way, we easily managed to gain new fans, as we know exactly what to display to make new followers fall in love with these shows, whilst also satisfying the already-existing loyal fanbase. Our focus when implementing this was to act like an old fan living inside of the time, as opposed to reminiscing about the past – nostalgia will speak for itself!
As previously mentioned, this account is regional to the UK, so having international shows and trying to bring them to a British audience and tone of voice was another layer of complexity. The way to make this local was difficult, but by no means impossible. We would find ways to blend OG British culture to our OG shows, bringing the sentiment we want to achieve through a local lens. This took the form of self-aware humour, where we deliberately made posts ‘overly funny’, to such an extent that the irony was evident and appreciated by our following. Ultimately, this is what set apart Pluto UK to other Pluto accounts and even other streaming services not following this approach.
