So, I probably shouldn’t be admitting this, but I spent a pretty decent amount of Wednesday and Thursday glued to the Live Coco Cam. If you’re not familiar, Conan O’Brien gave fans a live, 24-hour voyeuristic look into the mayhem at his LA offices, as a way to plug his upcoming TBS show, which starts on Nov. 8.
As a Conan fan, I just thought it was masterfully done. Including zombies, a dancing Taco, a competitive eating competition, special guests and bears dressed in 80s garb doing aerobics, the feed was everything I would expect from a team as irreverent as Conan’s.
And, it seems to have paid off. The term #LiveCocoCam was trending in full force on Twitter (where it was also a promoted trend) as viewers live tweeted their thoughts or recommendations for what they wanted to see on the feed. Facebook fans were also encouraged to like Team Coco’s page in order to have access to the live stream, edging the page closer to 200,000 fans (not bad considering the page only launched less than two months ago). In addition, Team Coco’s YouTube channel now boasts nearly 8 million views. Most importantly, the stunt has re-energized a good number of Conan’s fans – who last saw him on NBC in January – in advance of the TBS premier.
This is just one of the many stunts from Team Conan in an obvious attempt to engage younger viewers, who for so long have comprised O’Brien’s core fan base – and who are a highly desirable demographic for advertisers.
For the last three weeks, an orange blimp boasting “CONAN – TBS” has circulated around East Coast cities allowing eagle-eyed residents who spot the blimp to check in on Foursquare to receive a special badge (I’m still bitter that I missed its visit to Baltimore). To further increase its exposure, the blimp has made special appearances at the baseball playoff games (some of which conveniently air on TBS). The obvious outcome is that the nearly 9,000 blimp check-ins then circulate around Twitter and Facebook, spreading the message that Conan is finally back.
In addition, Team Coco has also launched an online poll, allowing viewers to vote on who should be the first guest on the new show. With nearly 4,000 votes, Jack Nicholson is currently in the lead, though I wouldn’t yet count out Pope Benedict XVI, REO Speedwagon, the entire cast of the 2004 live-action “Fat Albert” movie, or Tom from MySpace.
Add to this a bunch of humorous videos – including the most recent where Conan trashes his head writer’s car – and you have a well thought-out and well executed campaign that works perfectly for Conan, given the type of humor he is known for and the group of viewers he is looking to reach.
With only 17 days left until the premier of the new show (I know this because of the countdown widget on Team Coco’s site), I’m eagerly awaiting the next thing on the promotional docket. I hope it’s personal visits to people who write blog posts about Conan’s marketing campaign.
