The X Factor
The X Factor is one of the country's biggest talent shows so it is only to be expected that it would have a strong multi platform presence as it is essential to keep momentum going.
The key element of The X Factor's multiplatform programming is their mobile app which features a range of behind the scenes footage, providing fans with an insight into what goes into making the show, what the contestants go through, and allows fans to learn more about their favourite contestant. There were videos of the performances and judges comments for people who missed the live show, backstage videos showing makeup and singing tutorials, interviews sponsored by Talk Talk in which fans could interact and send in their own questions, backstage photos, footage from the Xtra Factor for people who missed that show, exclusive messages from the contestants, insights into what goes into the styling of the contestants and interviews with them about their style. The App also allowed for fans to have their say about what they thought, with regular live votes throughout the show about who was the best dressed judge and if judges were right in their opinion. Throughout the week there were more votes for fans to take part in to keep them entertained and interested whilst the show wasn’t on, on things such as, who was their favourite judge and if the right person went home that week.
Another one of
the App’s unique selling points was the ‘Tap to Clap’ game in which fans,
whilst a contestant is performing, can access the app and vote whether they are
enjoying the performance by either repeatedly pressing a “Boo” or a “Clap”
button, the more they press this, the further along the scale their vote goes,
to whatever end they want, either the red zone meaning they hate it, or the
green zone meaning they loved it.
With the polls
for fans and the ‘Tap to Clap’, fans were able to see what other people were
voting as the app allowed for fans to login via Facebook so they could see what
their friends were voting for, and so they could share what they thought with
their Facebook friends.
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The App also
allowed you to login via twitter to get an update on all of the contestants
twitter accounts that you follow.
I found that the app allowed for fans to keep interacting with the show throughout the week when the show wasn't on, which kept them interested till the weekend as you could track contestant's progress. In today's world, audiences tend to be fickle with shows they watch and get bored and switch off easily so it is extremely important for fans to stay gripped.
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Fans could
also use the official X Factor Facebook and Twitter pages to interact with the
show. Nowadays it is
vital for all major shows to have official social media pages as it has become
a key marketing technique to drum up attention for a show. Also fans like to
feel like they can directly contact the show with their thoughts and opinions
and feel like they are cared about. During the
live shows, the Facebook page posted backstage pictures of the judges and
contestants and asked fans to comment on their views of that particular
performance, making fans feel like their opinions mattered. The official
‘X Factor’ Facebook page had a link to a ‘Talk Talk’ page in which they
regularly had webcahts with different contestants enabling fans to send in
their questions to their favourite contestant.The official
‘X Factor’ Twitter page often asked for fans to tweet in requests for certain
contestants to say hi to them via an ‘X Factor’ sign which was a photo of a
contestant with a written piece of paper saying hi to that twitter user and
then their autograph. For fans to get this, they often had to be the fastest
tweeter in reply to the ‘X Factor’s tweet asking for the next line of lyrics
from a song. For fans being asked by their favourite show to interact with them is a great honour to them and they feel like they are worth something. If fans feel they are important to the show's success, they will keep tuning in week after week. The great success of the show's social netowrking sites is shown in numbers, with the Facebook page having over 6.5 MILLION likes and the twitter having over 2.8 million followers.
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After the
success of X Factor UK’s attempt at being multiplatform, it was only natural
for the American version of the show to take this on for fans of the American
show.
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This was shown
to be successful as they won 3 awards in the 2012 Social TV Awards: ‘Best TV
Show Specific Social TV Award’, ‘Best Social TV Integration of Twitter’ and
‘Best of Show’ – all for the X Factor Cross Platform Experience.
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Don Fox, Vice
President of Brand Entertainment for Fox stated that “Digital became a high
priority for us – much more than in the past” and “the buzz was undeniable”
with the show regularly being in the top 5 most talked about shows over social
media
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Sponsors set
up their own social media efforts, asking fans to interact with the show more,
for example, ‘Pepsi Choice Performance’ where fans could vote on a contestant’s
song choice, wardrobe style, dance and set style. ‘Verizon’ used touch
voting where customers with Android
phones could vote by just touching a contestant’s photo
I really enjoyed researching into the X Factor's multiplatform services as I use them myself and find them entertaining. I was shocked to find out just how successful they were and this proves that making a popular show multiplatform on a range of devices that also allow audience participation and gives exclusive content anywhere and anytime is crucial in the success of a show.
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