Showtime breaks down barriers to validate LGBTQ+ America through entertainment.
Out of the Blue's founder developed and managed the LGBTQ+ marketing launch for Showtime’s The L Word, the first TV franchise made by and for lesbian-identified women and their allies. She is credited for identifying the “L” segment in LGBTQ+ market share and crossover uptake for mainstream TV series Dexter and Weeds.
The L Word series launch strategy to LGBTQ+ America earned Showtime the TV industry’s top marketing award for multicultural audience development. MTV Networks then adopted this strategic plan for the launch of Logo, the first 24/7, advertising-supported network for LGBTQ+ America. Record tune-in for The L Word series premiere also led to record multi-season renewal.
Highlights included a hard-won CSR partnership with the Human Rights Campaign, which generated over $1M+ in nonprofit revenue, celebrity influencer alignments, and an approximate 10% increase in membership among women over its decade-long renewal. With a shared goal to reach women, the partnership centered on an annual, multi-market celebrity premiere, Sunday night screenings in hundreds of markets, a yearlong multiplatform strategy leveraging HRC’s infrastructure and Showtime’s regional distributors, and co-sponsorship of LGBTQ+ Pride events in cities nationwide.
Combined with the HRC partnership, we designed several strategic partnerships and guerilla tactics, and led a national grassroots and grasstops effort to engage millions of women and their allies. Through the strength of these efforts, cable and satellite distributors came along. We worked with F500 employee resource groups, small businesses, and hundreds of community nonprofits across every part of life.
A key strategy highlight included conceiving, securing celebrity buy-in, and building Showtime’s inaugural email marketing channel for The L Word through a celebrity sweepstakes program with Melissa Etheridge. This meaningful concept generated approximately 40% of Showtime's list for this new, priority consumer segment within the first four weeks of implementation. Responsibilities also included traditional marketing tactics for the series and return seasons, including advising on paid media strategy, managing asset development, and designing an analysis tool for measuring ROI used for internal CBS audits.
Showtime Networks Inc., now a subsidiary of Paramount Global, is an American entertainment company that oversees the company's premium cable TV channels, including its flagship service Showtime. As of Q4 2022, the streaming service reported 46 million subscribers, double its base since the launch of The L Word, which identified and established a consumer segment for the brand and its products.
Challenge:
Reach and engage every lesbian-identified woman in America to raise awareness for the first television series made by and for them. Deliver enough new subscriptions as well as measurable awareness and demand to renew the series.
Out of the Blue Solution:
Employ a cause-related approach to a consumer marketing effort, from partnerships to dialogue to messaging. Strengthen existing community platforms. Take risks to be authentic and earn loyalty. Leverage brand trust. Use insider, grassroots channels and lead with an army of she to get the job done.