Image: From video – Punkee recaps The Bachelor Episode 1
I’m not cringing, you’re cringing. And not because the show is terrible but because this company is probably doing better marketing than you.
Why? Because instead of scampering to snap up ads and product placements in the most watched prime-time TV show, gen-Y online publisher Punkee is proving content can bring it success on its own channel, where it can be measured and results viewed in real-time.
For every episode of The Bachelor, Punkee tactfully pulls apart the dates and interactions the girls have with the hunk up for grabs, and blatantly pays out everything Australians love about the show: the girls’ reactions, the producer-built romantic themes, the cliqués and just about everything else.
Sounds pretty standard, right? They take the footage from the night before, they make it hilarious and they post it the next morning for all to see. And tens of thousands (you read correctly) tune in to watch it.
What’s great about this
Unlike the marketers who are handing over tonnes of cash for the chance to be seen in the ad breaks of the show, Punkee is leveraging the episodes where they can build an audience, engage meaningfully and entertain their followers – no doubt while attracting many more.
This is trend-leveraging at its best. It’s not for all brands. Some brands should be providing truly utility-style and helpful content for their customers, but the ones that have an opportunity to entertain and inspire can take a lesson from Punkee’s approach.
Align objectives with audiences
The first thing they do well is put a hilarious twist on the show that’s relevant to their audience. Punkee’s end objective is to get more people in its target market to subscribe to its media service. The marketers there know their audience well enough to take something of relevance and make it something new. And in their Bachelor wraps, they make it even more relevant by being dank as hell.
To give you a bit of an idea of what I mean, I for one, do not watch The Bachelor. I think it’s volatile for obvious reasons, but I do love ridiculous memes and making fun of reality TV, so that’s a vertical that appeals to me, and I’m their audience.
Create serial content
The second thing they’ve done here is committed to episodically releasing content in line with the show. Each morning after the show Punkee fans go to their Facebook page to search for the recaps. I’d like to know how many of your brand’s “fans” are regularly searching for the content you publish. Tell me that’s not powerful.
Marketers can take a lesson from this in creating regular, serialised content. If you’re working on a blog, video or podcast series, give your customers a chance to build a relationship with your brand. Release it the same time each week or fortnight, and make it something they’ll look forward to receiving.
Entertain or educate
I always come back to this because it’s the simplest way to add value. If you don’t know where to start with your content marketing, think about your audience and how you can educate them in an area related to your product or service, or even better, entertain them in a way that’s different and unexpected.
Punkee’s actually nailed it.
And if you’re thinking that you’ve missed an opportunity here and the ship has sailed, think again. There are many ways and places you can engage an audience. Keeping with the theme of The Bachelor, every night the #BachelorAU hashtag is trending on Twitter, meaning that thousands of people are online talking about the show. The brand that jumps on this opportunity and gets in on the conversation in a way that adds value and is hilarious will be the real winner of this terrible, terrible show that’s been made great by a media company. Thank you Punkee.
