MTV Networks’ The N The Best Years

Background

In the summer of 2007, The N, the night-time network for teens and a programming arm of MTV Networks, launched a new series, The Best Years, the network’s first college-based, one-hour drama, which airs every Friday at 8:30 p.m. (ET). The show follows orphaned and full-ride scholar, Samantha Best (Charity Shea, “Alpha Dog”) as she starts her freshman year at prestigious Charles University in Massachusetts. 

To connect with the network’s teen audience, executives turned to mobile, working with Enpocket to help raise awareness of the television program and drive viewership.

Objectives

• Build awareness of The Best Years and of The N
• Drive consumers to watch The Best Years
• Encourage visitors to The Best Years mobile Web site to sign up for text alerts

Solution

The Enpocket team worked closely with representatives from The N to ensure the creation of a compelling and multi-faceted, built-for-mobile experience while maintaining the show’s brand ‘voice.’ To drive traffic to the mobile Web site, Enpocket created mobile banner ads that are running on carrier-grade media. Consumers browsing the mobile Web can click on a banner promoting the series to experience The Best Years mobile site.

The Enpocket Platform powers the mobile Web site, which includes a number of interactive mechanics, including show alerts and a location finder.  One of the most popular and innovative facets of the site is the “Are You a Mean Girl?” personality quiz. Visitors read biographies of the main characters in one section, and in another, they are able to not only take a quiz to see which character they most resemble, but also forward the quiz on to a friend.

Results

Results of the program have been very favorable. Tens of thousands of people visited the mobile site since its launch in mid-June, making it one of the network’s highest ranking shows in history. 

• About 50 percent of the site’s visitors signed up to receive weekly text alerts for the show, enabling The N to establish an ongoing dialogue with fans and also drive tune-in
• 78 percent of site visitors used the station finder mechanic to see when and on what channel the show airs