CMT Brings Thousands To The Party: Using Twilio To Connect Fans With The Cast of Party Down South
Time to read: 2 minutes
March 30, 2015
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When season three of Party Down South premiered on CMT, it ranked among the top five programs in its time slot with millennials and ranked in the top 10 programs tweeted about in prime time. The reality show profiles a crew of rowdy southerners all living in one house together for a summer. As you can imagine, things get a little crazy, and fans have really come to love this family as their own.
Party Down South is CMT’s highest-rated series to date. To connect die-hard fans with the cast of season three in a new and personable way, they turned to Twilio.
Three weeks prior to the launch of season three, CMT hunted for new ways they could get fans to tune in. Party Down South fans are extremely active on Facebook and Twitter, but CMT wanted to give them a more personalized experience. They wanted to do something that would really connect the cast with the fans – so they let fans speak directly with two cast members from the show.
When CMT offered fans the opportunity to call the beloved duo, Walt and Tiffany, before the season premiere, the phone rang off the hook. Obviously, CMT couldn’t give hundreds of thousands of fans Walt and Tiffany’s personal cell phone numbers. So, they used Twilio to protect their privacy and to scale for the number of calls coming in.
“It worked really, really well. Fans got through and were very excited,” says John Monson, Sr. Manager of Social Marketing at CMT. The team assembled CMT’s Twilio line without any prior training in coding. They took a look at the Twilio docs and got a number together in minutes.
When fans dialed CMT’s Twilio number during the days leading up to the premiere, they heard a pre-recorded message from the entire cast at the Party Down South house, telling them to tune in. When they dialed on the day of the premiere, they were connected directly to Walt and Tiffany (pictured right). Fans who did not get through heard the pre-recorded message. Prior to premiere day, the number logged 16,000 calls. During the cast call, that number jumped to 21,000.
“Some people were in shock and clammed up when they got through,” says Monson. “Others were freaking out and talked non-stop.”
It seems like fans are still freaking out about Party Down South. The show is in the middle of its third season, pulling great ratings. For the next premiere, CMT might have to buy a few more Twilio numbers for an ever-growing Party Down South fan base.
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