Did you know that this great show is premiering again in May? I’m pretty excited about it because it’s really only a few weeks away. The show is exactly like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, re-born to soar the skies again — Arrested Development.
Arrested Development was aired for three seasons on Fox and was cancelled in 2006. They made a huge mistake…
Critics praised the show in 2007, TIME listed it as the magazine’s “100 Best Shows of All-TIME.” and the show’s following is in fact, huge. Arrested Development is the phoenix re-born and besides being fantastically funny, the marketing is just as epic. It’s half machine and a (marketing) monster.
So what makes it hook you in?
1. Its Content Withstands The Test Of Time
One of the biggest things that Arrested Development has down pat is its huge, loyal audience. I’m not talking about Beliebers screaming their heads off and going nuts over that sweet sweet voice kind of huge, loyal auidence. It’s something way more because of the actual production that came out of the shows. The fans of the show have watched and re-watched episodes because after the show cancelled there obviously weren’t anymore new episodes to watch. Arrested Development grew even bigger after its death almost 10 years ago, showing how timeless its humor really is.
Your content should build upon itself, especially at its beginning stages. Maybe short, pithy pieces are valuable to you right now; however, the more permanent, timeless pieces will endure the test of time. Maybe the technology changes or your company pivots, the basic fundamentals of your marketing and content strategy should remain constant, regardless.
2. Impactful, Shareable Visuals
While I was mindlessly scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed waiting for something to take me out of my listlessness, my subconcious prayers were answered when I had to reverse the direction of my scrolling.
There in all of it’s glory, I spotted it in the pool of pictures taken over the weekend and announcements of new people getting engaged, an Arrested Development visual. It pictured all of the cast that I have grown to love and the best part was that I didn’t just stop at one picture. I clicked through to the page to see so many more.
Visuals in any marketing or content marketing are absolutely essential because they inevitably drive engagement. 40% of people will respond better to visual information than plain-text. Although, the text is what hopefully your users will read, the visuals will have an impact in order to drive through your marketing.
3. Quotable
There’s “no touching” Arrested Development with their belly-bursting, laughable quotes that arise from just about every episode. Maybe your team hasn’t seen a chicken before or is filled with burning cornballers, having some kind of takeaway that can be acknowledged back to you will improve your marketing dramatically.
From stats, interviews, and tweetable figures, you want your audience to easily share what you have projected because marketing is an engaging force. Having quotable material is a way to help your content spread. Remember, “there’s always money in the banana stand,” so don’t blue yourself. (I probably can go on — I’ll stop myself)
Maybe you haven’t seen Arrested Development or maybe your an obsessive fan like me, either way clearly the show has some unstoppable marketing efforts that be easily squeezed into your own tactics.
4. It’s huge, loyal audience
Is there anyone who hasn’t watched Arrested Development? Ok maybe there are some individuals, but it’s something that can be easily fixed. Start watching now.
The fan base and audience size for Arrested Development is huge. On Facebook, the Arrested Development page has over 1.8 million likes and the Twitter account has over 63,000 followers with tweets getting a multitude of retweets and favorites.
Much like Vincent van Gogh becoming famous after he died, Arrested Development developed much of its following after it was cancelled in 2006. The loyal audience stuck around and grew to advocate for Arrested Development’s return. Look where it is now — back on May 26th.
Your audience may already be there for you to cultivate and it may be large as well too. Maybe they are watching for you to move or maybe they need a little nudge. However, using your audience to your advantage will leverage the engagement you need.
5. Recognizable Faces
“I watched the first season because I wanted to see baby Michael Cera.” (Quoted from one of our developers, Jon, during our weekly meeting). From Michael Cera to Will Arnett, the actors behind the some of the distinct characters like George Michael or G.O.B all have easily recognizable faces back to Arrested Development.
Granted, it sprung from the show, so I’m not suggesting you have to start an award winning show to secure recognizable face. However, this translates well into having one solid voice for your brand or company and/or in a company starting up it’s also a good to have a central face associated with your brand because people like corresponding with people…not brands. Like MailChimp has Freddie or the familiar face from SEOmoz is Rand Fishkin, taking note from Arrested Development with the recognizable faces solidifies your marketing onto the unstoppable path.
6. Engaging
Arrested Development has me pretty engaged then again it’s because I’m an avid fan and I think it’s hilarious — I’m biased.
But, beyond the show being particularly engaging there are a few outlets that drum up the engagement, especially for the season 4 premiere. First, the Arrested Development Twitter and Facebook accounts are very active. An awesome example of this engagement on the Facebook page is how there are multiple examples of encouragement for the fans to engage with the content published. From voting on the best tagline for the premiere poster to photographs of “Never Nude” fans, Arrested Development has done a remarkable job of using their loyal audience to their advantage. They ask questions or give their audience a number of opportunities to respond in a comment, with a like or a submission of a fan photo. Did you know posts with a question receive more comments than average posts?
7. Product Doing The Work
One of my favorite pieces that I reference a lot is 5 Ways to Get Your App to Sell Itself and it emphasizes knowing your customer base so well with your marketing that the product sells itself.
Aligning with Arrested Development, the show with its quotes, evergreen content, and recognizable faces, it doesn’t really have to work so much to amplify its standings. A few of my friends experienced the unfortunate circumstance of not watching the show yet, but every time one of them has started watching the show they have been instantly hooked. Arrested Development knows it fan base and utilizes it all-around comedy to help engulf other fans, which also encourages people to share their love of the show as well too. The product, Arrested Development, is in fact selling itself.
With that I leave you with the season 4 trailer…