MTV is taking a social approach to promoting the second season of the horror comedy series, Scream . . . and it’s making a killing.
Yesterday, the company took to Facebook Live to showcase a new teaser from the series and an exclusive clip, along with a quick Q&A with cast member Tom Maden, who is a favorite on the show. The event turned out to be a huge hit, with thousands tuning in to get a glimpse of what’s coming next and perhaps find out who was likely to die next.
But this was just the beginning of MTV’s promotion, as it also had a unique event the following week on social media, on Friday the 13th. With Scream LIVE!, fans not only got a peek at seven minutes of new footage from the premiere, but also took part in what was labeled a “15-minute murder spree,” with members of the audience vanishing and fake blood being spilled on-screen as fans interacted in real time across both Facebook and Periscope.
Of course, it was all in fun—no one died—but it matches the scary atmosphere of the show, and kept fans truly involved.
Speaking with Mashable, director of digital strategy and fan engagement, Matt McDonough, and supervising producer of video/digital production Kim Thai went into more detail regarding the social integration, and how fans enjoyed being involved with something happening in real time.
“Last season, our whole promo campaign was centered around killing all of the MTV celebrities, and the idea of killing MTV as you know it,” noted McDonough. “This campaign theme is more along the lines of ‘You can’t trust anybody, even our own marketing.’ We wanted the audience…we wanted to trick them everywhere they go. We want to be able to make them question who they can trust on air, when they see ads on the side of buses, and when they log into their Twitter and Facebook accounts.”
Thai added, “From a visual culture perspective, we’re always trying to look for that thing to engage with our audience. We wanted to play with them, we wanted to trick them a little bit, and it was all us leaning into knowing the user behavior and knowing the specifics that came from that actual fan base.”
Maden was thrilled with the promotion as well. “I love what they’re doing, they’re trying to be different,” he said. “They’re trying to have interaction with people, which is where I think the future of TV and movies is.”
On top of that, the interaction took a turn when the actors began taking cues based on the comments from users. “[The other actors] had some funny moments, and they wouldn’t have said those things if they hadn’t read what people were writing. A team of writers can sit down for three months and nail all those different moments eventually, but because there’s a live interaction, these are new ideas from totally different people.”
With the success of these livestream sessions, don’t be surprised if MTV continues to promote new series with similar methods, although they probably won’t be as bloody.
Scream Season 2 premieres on May 30 on MTV.
