TGIT (Thank God It's Thursday)

The phrase, “It’s Shonda’s world and we’re just living in it” has become all too relevant this week. In case you don’t turn on your TV on Thursday nights, that phrase refers to TV show producer, Shonda Rhimes’ three shows that monopolize Thursday night television. Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder have won the hearts of many around the U.S and the night even has its own hashtag #TGIT, which stands for "Thank God It's Thursday". This week the first promo video was released and it was all about September 24^th. That is the day when viewers everywhere begin the Thursday night tradition of sitting on the couch with a large glass of red wine for three straight hours of television.

This tactic by ABC was incredibly strategic from a marketing perspective. Last week, I saw an Instagram that depicted a 12 second clip of a new promo video for #TGIT and I proceeded to go to the twitter page to find a link that would direct me to the actual promo video. In the span of 10 seconds, I accessed three social media sites just to watch a promo video for one night of television that won’t be occurring for three more weeks. ABC drives viewers to their Thursday night shows mostly through social media. They have created a social media party through one simple hashtag #TGIT. The content of the three shows are filled with intense drama that captures audience attention immediately, but also makes viewers want to take to social media with their thoughts and predictions for the next episode. It gets viewers talking. It connects them in a unique way. Each viewer feels as if they have a voice and as if their opinion matters. Even if you are sitting on your couch on a Thursday night by yourself watching TV, you still feel a camaraderie with all of the other viewers.

According to statistics by Nielsen Social Ratings, “a total of 738,000 tweets were sent by 192,000 people” during the January 2015 premier of ABC Thursday television. To add to the social media conversation, the shows’ actors will host a “live tweet” session during the episode. This furthers that connection with viewers by uniting them with those characters that they idolize every Thursday. In my opinion, the TGIT campaign exemplifies social media marketing to its greatest potential. Are you participating in the conversation? If not, how are you voicing your opinions and predictions?

Watch the promo video for yourself! And then take a look a little farther down to see just how fans took to social media about their excitement for the upcoming September 24^th season premier.

#TGIT Promo Video

The incredible ladies of Grey's Anatomy, How To Get Away With Murder, and Scandal 

Sarah Drew, also known as April Kepner on Grey's Anatomy, generated extra excitement after the promo release through her Instagram

Fans took to Twitter after the promo release to hashtag #TGIT and express their excitement about September 24th 

 

Sources:

http://www.adweek.com/lostremote/tgit-is-back-and-abc-is-making-sure-you-tweet-about-it/49947

http://variety.com/2015/data/ratings/ratings-scandal-anchors-strong-tgit-return-for-abc-parenthood-ends-with-surge-1201419486/