Before the series premiere of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. we wrote up a mission briefing encouraging fans to get out and spread the word about the show to everyone they encounter.
Custom Made S.H.I.E.L.D. Logo Case
I normally live in a less populated area but over the past couple of weeks I have been visiting Los Angeles and at times have been wearing my Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. “Coulson Lives” SDCC T-shirt or carrying my “briefcase” with a S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on it and half a dozen or so times random people have commented and asked if that was from that new TV show. I’d reply with an enthusiastic “Yes!” and follow up with “Have you been watching?” Every time, the answer was along the lines of, “I want to but haven’t got around to it yet.” This tells me two things. 1. ABC, Marvel and fans have been doing a wonderful job raising awareness of the show, and 2. There is still more work to do!
Given all the promotion we have been flooded with over the past months it is easy to assume that everyone who is interested is already watching but based on what I have observed by actually talking to people out on the street, that is not the case. Many heard about the show and seem to be interested, that’s the first step, but now we need to make people want to tune in NOW and watch live rather than when they “get around to it.”
The easiest way to do that may be to do what I’ve been doing these past two weeks, grab yourself a S.H.I.E.L.D. shirt or phone cover, or bag, or take a mug to work, and when people mention the show to you simply tell them how great it is and suggest they tune in on Tuesday.
If you don’t have a S.H.I.E.L.D. shirt, find other ways to bring it up in conversation, encourage people to take that step from “interested” to “watching”.
If just a couple of the people we reach happen to be from Nielsen households (yes, they really do exist, I’ve met two!) that then go home and watch the episodes live, we can have a significant impact on the ratings!
We would love to hear how your mission is going so let us know on Twitter ( @SHIELDtv ) or post in the comments below!
In addition to going out into the field you can take an approach more in line with what Skye would have done in the past. Get yourself on social media, especially on Tuesdays and talk about the show, remember to always use the hashtag #AgentsofSHIELD. Nielsen has teamed up with Twitter (starting this week) and will be monitoring tweets for references to TV shows. This is going to become a significant tool for networks to draw in advertisers so we can not express how important this is and as a viewer and a fan it is such a simple thing for you to do!
