NBC respects and admires Tumblr's fan world. We honor the unique language and applaud fan content. Most of all, instead of leveraging the platform to solely promote the network's primetime programming, NBC celebrates this social platform differentiation by being an active participant in the community and integrating the network and individual show pages into the Tumblr universe, becoming one of the most reblogged networks of the year.
NBC adopted a conversation strategy organic to the platform – meaning we're fluent in Tumblr-speak. We understand tagging, and the important of referencing Beyoncé, Mean Girls and Taylor Swift whenever possible. Our content feels fan-made, and it is, because we're the biggest fans of our shows! We hop on Tumblr during live events to share our content (all hail #BAEmy Poehler) and to directly connect with fans. And when Tumblr updates the dashboard, we notice.
Notably, we've pivoted our love of Tumblr into a successful cross-promotional vehicle. Using existing and popular show pages, such as Hannibal, Saturday Night Live, and Parks and Recreation, we've brought new properties into the fold with hilarious conversations between Tumblrs. Whether we do it with puppies, dating advice, puns, or that indescribable je ne sais quoi, our strategy is one-of-a-kind. And fans noticed as they liked and reblogged our posts, adding "Whoever runs these various Tumblrs not only needs all the awards for their tags, but all the awards period."
In addition to amazing strategy across the board, NBC has executed best-in-class activations and page strategies for many show pages:
The Voice
Yes, The Voice Tumblr shines for live-blogging and real-time GIF-ing. But did you see what happened when The Voice partnered with popular Tumblr artists? The resulting GIFs – developed and released in real-time – were inspired by the performances during the live broadcast and seen both on-air and on Tumblr. During the Season 6 finale, as Christina Grimmie belted out Lorde's "Team," viewers saw animations designed by Tumblr Creators playing on screens behind Grimmie on stage while simultaneously releasing the art to The Voice's Tumblr page.
Hannibal
Fannibals – Hannibal fans - are some of the most creative and engaging users on the platform. Going into Season 2, we didn't want to maintain the incredible content that made the official Tumblr infamous – we wanted to top it with even more stellar jokes, activations, and content. We updated our look with a new custom theme for Season 2. We recognized the sensibilities of Tumblr fans, and demonstrated that we speak the language by continuing a killer tag strategy (*shimmies in the morning* *shimmies in the evening* *shimmies at supper time*) and released a Hannibal trailer that was literally, Hannibal on a trailer. We celebrated our fans and showcased their artistic abilities with the Hannibal Did This Fan Art Contest, asking users to create episode specific artwork. We binged with fans during the #13HourDevour before the Season 2 premiere. We brought the cast to the platform with the Hannibal GIF-erview, a Q&A where fans asked the questions and talent responded via GIFs. (Plus, we showed Mads Mikkelsen your fanfic.)
Our hard (but incredibly fun) work was recognized, earning us high praise across the internet as Hannibal became one of Tumblr's most reblogged TV shows of 2014.
P&R
One of most reblogged TV shows of the year, Parks and Recreation is a natural Tumblr superstar. And with more than 4M interactions on over 330 posts in 2014, it's safe to say that Tumblr loves us as much as we love the platform. P&R always has a good time on Tumblr, whether we're playing with other NBC shows, sharing our love of breakfast foods, cheering for our talent, engaging with our amazing fans, or just listing things we love.
And you can always turn to us when you need some good advice.
SNL
SNL and Tumblr are both deeply rooted in self-expression, creativity, individuality and community. They're driven by comedy, pop culture and art. Tumblr is the perfect match for extending Saturday Night Live to social, to meaningfully connect and entertain fans. This year, as we relaunched the SNL Tumblr and debuted the This Day In SNL History Tumblr, we proved that SNL + Tumblr = OTP. Both blogs were recognized as part of Tumblr's annual "Year in Review." SNL Tumblr was lauded as one of the Most Reblogged Live Action Television blogs. And This Day In SNL History was touted by Tumblr as one of the "New and Notable" blogs of 2014. As for the fans? They're enjoying the work, saying they "love whoever runs nbcsnl," insist "whoever runs nbcsnl is literally the best," and nbcsnl is "the best network blog out there."
