Tayler Cresswell | Liberty842 - The Digital Content Company

September 10, 2011

Gearing up for the autumn

We’ve got that back to school feeling (in a positive sense!) at Liberty842. Alan Carr and Lee Evans’ tours are underway, Ambridge Extra starts again on BBC Radio 4 Extra next month, we’re rooting for poor Jack and Mousey in The Archers. Alan Carr: Chatty Man is gearing up for a seventh series and Gok Wan will hit our screens with The Naked Truth and Gok’s Clothes Roadshow. And IP EXPO opens its doors next month to the tech community. We’ll be busy behind the scenes helping audiences to get involved and follow the action as it happens.

We’re also looking forward to working with the inimitable Wayne Sleep!

If you want to find out more about what we do, get in touch: hello@liberty842.com

July 15, 2011

July’s been a busy month so far…

It’s been a busy month so far. Here’s a taster of what we’ve been up to…

Sam’s been busy backstage at Alan Carr: Chatty Man with new videos and pictures of Alan’s guests posted via Twitter and Facebook. She was most disappointed not to get one of Matt ‘The Doctor’ Smith. @chattyman‘s follower numbers have grown to over 150,000 and Sam’s fielding hundreds of questions every week about guests, Alan and the show.

Behind the scenes at Alan Carr: Chatty Man – Alan with Liam Gallagher and Bruce Forsyth catches up with the Kaiser Chiefs after their performance.

I’ve written a couple of new blog posts for The Archers, with a round up of listener discussions. There have been some hilarous discussions with message board folk pitching in to help organise the village fete, as well as intrigue around who the author of Mistress of the Paddocks really is…

We’re giving Gok Wan’s website a make-over and including new ways for fans to interact with Gok (coming very soon), plus we’re working on some marketing for IP EXPO 2011 (definitely worth a visit if you work in any area of technology).

There’s more, but if we told you about it, we’d have to kill you…

April 20, 2011

Proving the value of Twitter for Channel 4’s Alan Carr: Chatty Man

Broadcast magazine has just published an article about our work: Chatty Man top for Twitter interaction. It is based on research carried out by David Ellis at station10 into the effectiveness of the @chattyman Twitter activity for Channel 4’s Alan Carr: Chatty Man.

Whilst we knew that the account was popular, with over 120,000 followers and plenty of conversation around the show, we were pleasantly surprised by David’s findings – namely that @chattyman outperforms larger ratings shows such as X-Factor and Million Pound Drop in terms of proportion of followers to TV audience numbers (at 6.6%, 1% and 0.5% respectively) and also “massively outperforms” them when it comes to positive sentiment. During each show in the last series there were between 500 and 700 tweets directed to @chattyman and even more using the #chattyman hashtag – which can make for some interesting challenges when it comes to managing the conversation and answering questions!

@chattyman’s Sam gets a quick snap of Alan Carr on the sofa with Samuel L Jackson

Alan Carr: Chatty Man was our very first Liberty842 project – started back in the early-ish Twitter days of 2009. It’s been fascinating to see the changing behaviour of followers. In 2009, working closely with Channel 4 and Open Mike Productions, we would rush to get a video of Alan uploaded onto the Channel 4 website and a link tweeted before people left work on a Friday afternoon. Today, there’s as much, if not more, Twitter activity at the weekends with many more interacting via smart phones and laptops from their sofas.

Our @chattyman project has coincided with the rise and rise of “event TV” where viewers watch and interact simultaneously. We have watched time contract to the point where the watercooler moment is happening as a show airs.

During the last (5th) series, conversations would start at 9pm in the run up to transmission at 10, then continue through the 4+1 broadcast and into the next morning when people would be buzzing with comment about the guests, the one-liners or Alan’s latest jacket/shoes/cocktail from the globe!

The @chattyman Twitter account has a strong customer service ethos with Sam answering as many questions as is humanly possible as well as responding to requests for insider info and extra original content – for example, fans have had the chance to ask Alan questions and get a personal video response. We often give viewers a peek behind the scenes with Alan’s impromptu tours of the studio on video, and photos from the set and green room.

The amount of work and attention required to nurture a successful Twitter account can’t be underestimated. We have found that the conversation continues when Alan Carr: Chatty Man is off air – people tweet suggestions for guests for the next series and ask about audience tickets as well as when the show will be back on air. Whilst this means extra work during the time when production teams and broadcasters would be working on other projects, it has had massive benefits for a show that is broadcast in series format.

If you’re interested in finding out more about what we do, or about the measurement research by station10, get in touch by emailing hello@liberty842.com or contact David Ellis at station10.

April 15, 2011

Getting to grips with history through telly and Twitter

I’ve been meaning to write something about Channel 4’s The Promise since it was broadcast in February. Notwithstanding that I thought it was a fantastic, well made, well acted television programme, the added layer of discussion that was encouraged around it made for a really compelling watch.

Viewers were encouraged on air to use the #c4thepromise hashtag on Twitter and as questions began to build in my head about the background to the story – the history of Israel, Palestine, Gaza; Britain’s role in partition of Palestine; the bombing of the King David hotel in 1946… – I turned to Twitter to find others talking about all these subjects. This is a great example of interesting and new(ish) behaviour on Twitter – there are conversations springing up between people who aren’t following each other, but are following a specific hashtag. (Similar activity can be seen around #thearchers hashtag every Sunday morning when The Archers omnibus is broadcast.)

After the first and last episodes of The Promise aired, Channel 4 used live blogging software, Cover It Live, to host a Q&A; with writer and director Peter Kosminsky. This gave viewers the chance to ask questions about the programme, and also gave Kominsky the opportunity to address criticisms of the show: namely whether the programme had a pro-Palestine bias – to which he responded: “If criticism of Israel becomes entirely synonymous with anti-Semitism it becomes almost impossible to attempt any kind of reasoned analysis of what is clearly one of the saddest and most intractable conflicts facing the human race today.”

The live Q&A; sessions and The Promise’s “Twitter Tracker” represent a great archive of the conversations and thoughts of viewers. It’s a valuable resource not just for broadcasters and programme makers, but also for those watching later (ie via DVD) or interested in accessible discussions around the history behind the programme.

April 11, 2011

Community-host spotting…

I spotted this delightful image the other day – it reveals in inner mind of a community manager or host (via @temperouk). It includes their key qualities. The glasses and T-shirt are a dead give-away if you’re community-host spotting – honest.

With more and more companies investing in social media, finding the right person to manage and host conversations is all important. Getting the right fit for your brand or community is about getting the chemistry right. It means finding someone who has a passion for and deep understanding of your product, your subject or your brand. You need to find a person who understands your audience and has great listening skills; someone with the ability to craft a message that hits home and encourages an active response.

It’s more than copywriting, beyond PR, greater than customer service or research. It’s a host – a Maitre D’, if you like. A person with the ability to juggle multiple conversations simultaneously; to spot trouble brewing and head it off at the pass; to know what people want before they ask; to see trends and new behaviours in communities or audiences and feed that back into the right parts of an organisation; to make voices outside the organisation heard and understood within it. And vice versa.

When it comes to communication, it’s often the quirks that get you noticed in an increasingly crowded space. Do you need someone with a sense of humour or with a high degree of empathy and understanding? Can they craft a message that packs a punch or one that spurs people into action? Getting the tone of voice right can make all the difference between active engagement and bored indifference.

Like any other role, that of a host should be based on clear objectives. Whether it’s a message board, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or any other digital community, when you’re in a space eminently suited to conversation, spitting out bland “news” is the equivalent of talking AT people. Why would they bother to respond?

Social networks can offer fascinating insights and be hugely rewarding but don’t underestimate the skills required and the investment in time to build trust and understanding. A good host can be one of your greatest assets…

If you’re interested in finding out more, get in touch.

March 22, 2011

Meeting up with GDR Creative Intelligence

We’ve just spent an interesting hour and a bit chatting with Gemma Ball from GDR Creative Intelligence – an organisation that puts research and future trends at the heart of what they do.

Our partner David Ellis joined us and we talked about where social media is heading, its relevance for brands and importantly how to measure the value and return on investment in any engagement.

We discussed how our knowledge of consumer behaviour comes from practical experience – through talking to people in social spaces en masse. This means we can help key sectors to set benchmarks and standards for online social activity – something that is often sorely lacking in this murky “social media” world.

GDR’s Global Innovation Report sat tantalisingly on the table, like forbidden treasure! Their report helps clients to understand trends and showcases best in breed projects from around the world.

It’ll be interesting to see where this conversation takes us. We’re all fired up – watch this space…

February 6, 2011

Talking about TV’s future

TV’s always going to be worth talking about – as we found out when we heard the findings from Thinkbox’s research into the future of telly this week.

We’ve managed the Twitter feed for Alan Carr: Chatty Man since the Channel 4 series started in 2009 so we know how much conversation a TV show can generate. However, we also know that viewer behaviour is constantly evolving so we were keen to hear about what lies ahead for TV – and that’s exactly what Thinkbox told us.

Tellyporting: Travelling to TV’s Near Future looked at how British audiences are making use of latest technology and how new services might affect – and enhance – their viewing experience.

The great news is that the research found plenty to be positive about.

For instance, the TV still seems to be the preferred device for watching full-length shows where picture and audio can be experienced at their best. It also tends to be the device that people watch with family and friends.

TV’s power to inspire conversation is as strong as it’s always been, though, of course, there are now many more places than just the water cooler for people to catch up with others about what they’re watching.

Of the 3,000 interviewees in Thinkbox’s sample, 19% had shared TV or ad content on Facebook or Twitter, 18% had chatted online and 9% had joined a Facebook group about TV or ad content.

Rather than distracting viewers from what’s happening on telly, this two-screen viewing is adding to the experience of watching a show – and in many cases is encouraging audiences to watch programmes as they air so they can see them as they happen and be part of the resulting conversation.

With 37% of the sample saying they watch the TV and go online simultaneously every day, there’s huge potential to engage these people with additional content and services without losing them along the way.

Future developments in instant-response technology through the TV can only build on this, enabling broadcasters, programme makers and advertisers to connect with audiences while listening to and learning from what they have to say.

Which technologies lead the way remains to be seen so the only thing we can be sure of at this stage is that the TV’s here to stay – and it’ll continue to be a talking point for many years to come.