History Channel

Background:

With a new line up of prime time series, The History Channel needed to find a creative way to reach its target audience, which was primarily made up of men between the ages of 25 and 54. In a two-phased approach, The History Channel worked with Enpocket to build a mobile community of viewers with the launch of its hit show ‘BARBARIANS’, then leveraged their audience for more interactive game play with a second round of shows, ‘Decisive Battles’ and ‘Command Decisions’.

How The History Channel used two-way mobile interaction via SMS to boost ratings and to build a Mobile Community.

Objectives:

• Create loyalty and build brand recognition
• Promote new programs
• Encourage interaction between the brand and its viewers
• Build a mobile community base for future promotional opportunities

Solution:

The History Channel worked with Enpocket to drive viewers to watch the broadcast of a new show ‘BARBARIANS’ and to build brand recognition by sending an opt-in text message to a targeted audience of men between the ages of 25 and 54. The SMS message, delivered to mobile phones the evening before the show, gave a teaser of the program content of BARBARIANS, which portrayed the life and crimes of nomadic tribes such as the Vikings, Goths, Huns and Mongols. Using the profiling and targeting capabilities of the Enpocket Engine, The History Channel was able to promote new programs directly to viewers’ mobile phones.

Several months later, following the success of Enpocket's work on the BARBARIANS program, The History Channel again worked with Enpocket to promote its two new series – Decisive Battles and Command Decisions – with viewing reminders, contests, and interactive game play, via SMS. The second promotion leveraged the solid opt-in base created during the BARBARIANS program and invited all viewers to participate by advertising a short code on air.

Decisive Battles recreated three-dimensional views of ancient battles and put viewers into the action using computer gaming technology from the video game Rome: Total War. During the show, viewers answered questions about battles on their mobile phones to win one of 50 copies of the game or the grand prize, a Panasonic Digital Home Entertainment System. For Command Decisions, participants received questions on their mobile phones and made critical decisions during historic battles to test themselves against the rest of the viewing audience.

Results:

• The History Channel used mobile to build a deeper relationship with viewers
• 40% of those impacted by the BARBARIANS campaign went on to watch The History Channel
• 88% of the recipients read the message and 12% forwarded the message or showed it to a friend
• 58% of participants in the Decisive Battles / Command Decision campaign said they were more likely to watch The History Channel as a result of the project.

“This is a great communication channel that allows us to pinpoint the demographics, geography and sex of our target audience very effectively. Enpocket has enabled us to take the promotion of The History Channel’s new programs to the next level and help us build a loyal mobile community,” said Michael Mohamad, Senior Vice President, Marketing, The History Channel.