IT’S NOT TV. IT’S SOCIAL. DUH.
Brand social is tough. Especially when you hold some of the most beloved shows and characters of all time in your metaphorical hands. But over the last few years, we channeled our inner Daenerys and did we we had to do—burned it all to the ground. Just kidding. We defined the brand voice, made millions of new friends, and became a leader in social within the entertainment space. And believe it or not, we actually got people to watch TV. Super hard. But we did it.
Twitter is a lot like Westworld — it can be an entertaining place full of surprises or an inescapable hell hole that sucks you in and never lets you go. We decided to try to be the former. It’s working out for us.
Cultural impact:
— HBO (@HBO) October 13, 2019
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Cousin Greg Every Other
Greg, Ever
It’s now officially the year that Game of Thrones comes back.
— HBO (@HBO) January 1, 2019
Happy #Pride, “friends.” pic.twitter.com/YtnIXvGJUm
— HBO (@HBO) June 1, 2019
Your favorite show but make it emojis. #WorldEmojiDay
— HBO (@HBO) July 17, 2019
Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeit
— HBO (@HBO) May 30, 2019
One of these two has served hard time in prison and it isn't Barry. pic.twitter.com/EoqmmBSNOF
— HBO (@HBO) March 26, 2019
RIP Ser Pounce
— HBO (@HBO) February 11, 2019
What’s most powerful?
— HBO (@HBO) August 8, 2019
⚪️ money
⚪️ success
🔘 Olivia Colman’s performance in The Favourite
Succession = 1% Milk
— HBO (@HBO) June 20, 2019
The Leftovers = 2% Milk
The Wire = GOAT Milk
Barry = Oat Milk
Big Little Lies = Almond Milk
Ballers = Muscle Milk
Six Feet Under = Expired Milk
Game of Thrones = Giant’s Milk
High Maintenance = Hemp Milk
Sharp Objects = Poisoned Milk
Los Espookys = Soy Milk
The hill I'll die on.
— HBO (@HBO) June 7, 2019
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/ \
/ Amy Adams is a \
/ great actress and \
/ a national treasure \
Forever Creeping #InternationalKissingDay pic.twitter.com/cNYmTDsBmT
— HBO (@HBO) July 6, 2019
Putting this A+ lie in my back pocket for a later date. pic.twitter.com/FJTQfdW8Ft
— HBO (@HBO) October 9, 2019
This is a Regina King fan account now.
— HBO (@HBO) October 21, 2019
When I start a show
— HBO (@HBO) June 19, 2019
When I watching a show
When I’m done with a show pic.twitter.com/S1HAqte9RB
ARIES: Euphoria
— HBO (@HBO) June 13, 2019
TAURUS: Westworld
GEMINI: Game of Thrones
CANCER: Sharp Objects
LEO: Insecure
VIRGO: Big Little Lies
LIBRA: Veep
SCORPIO: True Blood
SAGITTARIUS: Random Acts of Flyness
CAPRICORN: Gentleman Jack
AQUARIUS: Chernobyl
PISCES: The Leftovers
Show me the last text you sent and I’ll tell you which #BigLittleLies queen you are.
— HBO (@HBO) June 23, 2019
I’m assembling a heist team in order to steal Cate Blanchett’s heart. Who’s in?
— HBO (@HBO) January 12, 2019
Submit applications below. pic.twitter.com/Oy29PX5B6p
Good Morning, Happy Arya Day. #NotToday
— HBO (@HBO) April 29, 2019
SOPRANOS NICKNAMES
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Sopranos, we sent out a single tweet offering Soprano-worthy mob nicknames for whoever wanted one. Over 24,000 people replied, including Roger Federer, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Emily Nussbaum, Blake Griffin, Macaulay Culkin, and a big chunk of brands on Twitter.
We wrote, designed, and posted over 100 nicknames in real-time, creating one of the great Twitter threads of the year.
To quote the nice people at Fast Company: “Look, Brand Twitter rightfully gets a lot of flack. It tries too hard. It’s too gimmicky. It’s manufactured human interaction. But this? THIS. This was goooood.”
In honor of the 20th anniversary of The Sopranos, I’m handing out Soprano nicknames today. Who wants one? FYI if you tell me your first name, this is way easier for me.
— HBO (@HBO) January 10, 2019
Click the tweet to scroll at your leisure or check out some of the responses below.
Prfect https://t.co/we7DpoRLne
— jackie no edits (@jack) January 10, 2019
HBO-mg. LOVE IT.
— hulu (@hulu) January 10, 2019
brb making this my twitter bio 💕
— GIPHY (@GIPHY) January 10, 2019
👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/9Uwl2SKxfT
— Television Academy (@TelevisionAcad) January 10, 2019
La Familigia (bread)sticks together. 🥖 https://t.co/OzHtDH50jh
— Olive Garden (@olivegarden) January 10, 2019
Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in. https://t.co/cYugCNSE6C
— Ben Schwartz (@rejectedjokes) January 10, 2019
Perfection. Square Patty gets the job done because she never cuts corners.
— Wendy's (@Wendys) January 10, 2019
No, you're pic.twitter.com/c4Ofh1ZBjj
— HBO (@HBO) January 10, 2019
— HBO (@HBO) January 10, 2019
— Laura Dern (@LauraDern) January 10, 2019
— TCM (@tcm) January 10, 2019
My Sopranos nickname! https://t.co/s9nM3d7Avk
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 10, 2019
🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 https://t.co/afiyPxgATL
— D'Arcy Carden (@DarcyCarden) January 10, 2019
— HBO (@HBO) January 10, 2019
Even the press had some really nice things to say.
RECOMMENDED BY HUMANS
The first HBO brand campaign to entirely feature fans, Recommended by Humans showcases the intense love people have for HBO programming and the power of real recommendations from real people who really love TV. Sure, an algorithm can suggest something you might like, but it can’t look you in the eye and say, “Holy s***, this show is so f***ing good!” That’s passion that can only come from another person.
The result was viral social conversation, a noticeable spike in featured program streaming, and a healthy discussion about where and how we find our favorite shows.
What's your #humanreco for greatest show of all time? HBO answers only. pic.twitter.com/z4LarP937v
— HBO (@HBO) August 6, 2019
Tweets
Throughout the campaign, we encouraged fans to spark social conversations between each other - not just replies to the brand. Using #humanreco, fans went deep into recommendation mode, passionately pleading their case for their favorite shows, characters and even theme songs.
Top 3 HBO characters of all time. Aaaaand go. #humanreco
— HBO (@HBO) September 17, 2019
Favorite HBO...
— HBO (@HBO) August 15, 2019
Cast:
Villain:
Theme Song:
Couple:#humanreco
You could swap lives with any HBO character. Who and why? #humanreco
— HBO (@HBO) September 10, 2019
Recommend an HBO show in 3 words.
— HBO (@HBO) August 27, 2019
I'll start: The Leftovers = Completely Life Changing#humanreco
HBO show you would want to live in:
— HBO (@HBO) September 3, 2019
HBO show you would not want to live in:#humanreco
Recommend an HBO show in 3 words.
— HBO (@HBO) August 27, 2019
I'll start: The Leftovers = Completely Life Changing#humanreco
Press
#HumanReco Tool
Looking for something to watch? Look no further than humanreco.com. Not only does the constantly-updating tool give you hundreds of real recommendations from real people, but lets you watch the first episode of every single recommended show - completely free.
YOUR FATE AWAITS
The final season of Game of Thrones brought us the fates of dozens of characters we had grown to love and/or hate over the years. So we decided to do a 1:1 Twitter activation to help make the fans feel like they’re part of the game.
You don’t yet know who will win the Game of Thrones, but I know it won’t be you. Tell me your greatest strength, and I’ll reveal your fate in Westeros. #YourFateAwaits
— HBO (@HBO) April 11, 2019
OH NOOOO pic.twitter.com/LvEZ3FWhwc
— HBO (@HBO) April 11, 2019
— HBO (@HBO) April 11, 2019
— HBO (@HBO) April 11, 2019
Time for crowdfunding pic.twitter.com/f06blzG4Aj
— HBO (@HBO) April 11, 2019
— HBO (@HBO) April 12, 2019
— HBO (@HBO) April 11, 2019
Your opponent cracked under pressure. pic.twitter.com/ItjDkNBEdp
— HBO (@HBO) April 11, 2019
Your true strength is actually our friendship pic.twitter.com/NW0rq1d0K6
— HBO (@HBO) April 11, 2019
RAISE YOUR BANNERS
On the night of the premiere for the final season of Game of Thrones, we wanted to do something to get the whole HBO family involved. So we used Twitter to assemble our army of show handles to prepare for battle.
Behold, the banner of House Box Office.
— HBO (@HBO) April 14, 2019
Fellow HBO brethren, now is the time to raise your banners and declare your house words. pic.twitter.com/d8uw3wWby8
It’s in the details for House 01010111. pic.twitter.com/fBqSJ7d50L
— Westworld (@WestworldHBO) April 14, 2019
Our House dares to ship in uncharted waters. pic.twitter.com/lBHtmnvBuu
— HBO Asia (@HBOAsia) April 15, 2019
House Truth only concerns itself with reality. We’ll leave fantasy to the other great Houses of the realm. pic.twitter.com/GHE2oUeNxe
— HBO Documentaries (@HBODocs) April 14, 2019
The level of incompetence in this House is staggering.
— Veep (@VeepHBO) April 14, 2019
Just the way we like it. pic.twitter.com/y7hxMnrjI6
House Piper may have been just a small start-up House, but we aspire to rule the lands of Silicon with brute force and middle-out compression. pic.twitter.com/7G824qGKeJ
— Silicon Valley (@SiliconHBO) April 14, 2019
This isn’t just a great House. It’s a lifestyle, baby.😎 pic.twitter.com/nHBOmkOHsf
— Ballers (@BallersHBO) April 15, 2019
We’re out here making the House rules!
— InsecureHBO (@insecurehbo) April 14, 2019
Rule #1: What Issa says goes.
Rule #2: Maybe consult with Molly before doing what Issa says. pic.twitter.com/SblNQFHdym
The dopest House in all the realm, y’all! pic.twitter.com/jdTzNrjJSq
— 2 Dope Queens Podcast (@2DopeQueens) April 14, 2019
Hi. I made this on my phone so it’s a little rough, but I’M SO READY FOR GOT. pic.twitter.com/jMPzKCRfXd
— hulu (@hulu) April 15, 2019
Instagram is a great place to show off what you got. And when you got the best talent in the game, it’s not hard. We used the platform to become super fans of talent... and sometimes legal let us make memes.
INSTAGRAM STORIES
Instagram Stories can be a wasteland of quotidian garbage... or it can be a useful tool. Need help deciding what to watch? Need a game to play to pass some time? Need a little background on a major historical event that served as the basis for a groundbreaking miniseries? We got you.