“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” has been on the air since 1999, but until recently, fans have mostly experienced a “one-way” relationship with the show. For the 25th anniversary of “SVU” this year, NBC flipped the script and leaned into events to give back to the fandom and provide new avenues for connecting with the legacy IP.
In March, the network transformed New York City’s Rockefeller Center into “Olivia Benson Plaza” for two days, paying homage to the iconic character portrayed by Mariska Hargitay (who made an appearance at the pop-up) and providing an experiential playground for superfans. Then in October, NBC activated a continuation of the program in Boston, this time inviting fans to enter a two-story mock train terminal dubbed “Law & Order Station.”
Across the programs, attendees were treated to everything from limited-edition, “SVU”-themed friendship bracelets crafted by Little Words Project, to free cups of coffee featuring latte art in the shape of characters, to commemorative MetroCards, to custom-embroidered apparel with phrases like “Elite Squad,” to train turnstiles that played the show’s famous “dun-dun” sound, to show-themed donuts. And with 1 billion impressions generated from Olivia Benson Plaza alone, NBC recognizes that its event strategy is both serving the fandom and making an impact on the business.
“It really is an iconic franchise and we wanted to provide our fanbase with something tangible to experience while also celebrating with one another something that they have grown to love,” says Margaret Walker, svp-brand strategy and audience growth at NBCUniversal. “So it’s about building community, connection and fandom off of the screen because we know that ultimately reinforces brand loyalty.”
To find out how NBC successfully took “SVU” from the screen to the streets, we asked Walker for her top campaign tips and insights. Agency: NVE Experience Agency.
Stay Current on Pop Culture
The “SVU” events attracted a demographic that skewed younger, and that made it important for NBC to understand current pop culture trends. That’s where touchpoints like the custom friendship bracelets (a megatrend born from Taylor Swift fans) came in. The items were particularly on-point in Boston, where attendees could get “WWOBD” (What Would Olivia Benson Do) bracelets, a phrase known to superfans.
“We stay current on what’s trending week to week, just in social and in the zeitgeist,” says Walker. “And marrying that with the pulse of our fandom is the way that I think we keep it really current and fresh.”
Maintain Brand Consistency
Just because NBC taps into the zeitgeist doesn’t mean it’ll hop on any trend that pops up. As Walker points out, latching onto something for the sake of being in vogue won’t do the franchise any favors, and fans are quick to call out brands for discrepancies.
“Ultimately, the brand is consistent throughout,” she says. “It’s: how are you applying that brand to this situation? Is it applicable? There are some things that we would never participate in from a trend perspective.”
See Olivia Benson Plaza in Action:
Hone Your Social Listening Strategy
To deliver fans exactly what they want, NBC listens to them very closely. Not only does the brand directly ask fans IRL and online what they’d like to see more of at events, it mines social media comments to determine the top requests.
“We’re looking at positive and negative verbatims,” says Walker. “Again, we want to stay as current as possible, so we’re asking folks, ‘What would you like to see?’ And funnily enough, the way that we came up with some of the merch that we had at both activations was we’re constantly looking at social sentiment and engagement metrics, but also comments… Customizing merch is something that we continue to hear from the fandom.”
Understand Your Attendee Base
For some “SVU” fans, “watching justice unfold” every week is all they need to stay engaged, Walker says. For others, particularly younger audiences, it’s more important to connect with the show through different mediums, like events. And that makes it essential for brands to understand exactly who is attending their activations, and act accordingly.
“The fandom is broad and deep. We have heard, anecdotally, at these events that there are people who ‘just started watching,’ if you can even believe it,” she says. “Typically we know that [events] draw a younger demographic. So this is our way of serving the totality of the fandom.”
Include Fans at Home
Only a slice of “SVU” superfans could feasibly make it to the live events, so NBC ensured its social coverage of the activations was robust to make sure fans at home felt included.
“We want to make sure on social that we are capturing the experience and representing it to our fans so that they can experience it, even if it’s just a taste of it,” Walker says. “That’s part of it, is to show fans that you can experience this brand that has been so ‘one-way’ for you for so long, and have a ‘two-way experience’ with it.”
Photo credit: Kadeem Olijah for NBC
