Jericho: Hey Nielsen

I had high hopes for Hey Nielsen when it first arrived on the scene. It was fun and I thought it could only help Jericho. Unfortunately, my opinion has changed.

In September Rich at Copywrite Ink posted,"How can you accurately gauge fan buzz on the Internet if you are dangling “fame” in front of the people scoring the system? It adds the same kind of superficial buzz measures that are overshadowing Web metrics."

"I've been meaning to follow up with the progress being made by Hey!Nielsen since I first wrote about them in Sept.," says Rich. "And I keep putting it off because something tells me that there isn't any."

I would ask how you can accurately gauge anything when you have people abusing the system? How does Hey Nielsen rate anything accurately when some users create multiple identities and converge on one topic with the express purpose of voting down someone or some show they don't like?

There will always be people who abuse any system and it seems to be no different at Hey Nielsen. What are they doing about it and how do they adjust rankings to reflect the fact that some opinions are made by the obviously mentally challenged among us?

At this point in time I no longer use Hey Nielsen as the rankings show me nothing. It is being used by some to gain revenge or to discredit a person or show. I cannot see that it will have any usefulness to Jericho fans. I hope changes are made so abusive users can be removed quickly before their rantings are allowed to influence others and spread dissension further.

In the meantime I no longer consider this vehicle as any promotional tool I want to use. I'd rather promote where there's actually a chance of success.

The Jericho Wave

"I was asked to post the ideas I had expressed in the chat for promoting season 2 so people could reference them and those that could not attend could see them. So here they are. - schumi


First, there are a lot of great initiative that people are doing to promote season 2. None are any better than the rest - all have value and we need everyone's effort, no matter how large or small. I've decided to focus my personal efforts in 3 stages or waves that are simple, cheap and everyone can do if they wish.


Wave one - Online (Now)

It takes time to build serious buzz online sometimes between now and the beginning of January, we need to get Jericho back up in the internet topic searches, seek out casual fans and new fans in places other than the traditional Jericho sites, and find those that left away from the CBS board for one reason or another. The current effort to mine the CBS board for old (potentially gone) posters is a great effort in this area. And we need to find not only our lost rangers but new ones as well. If these people choose to step up and help promote the show - great - but that's not why we need them. We need them talking about the show, aware that its back, and come February tuning in. So I'm not out to hype promotion to them - just pass along basic information about Jericho's return (or what Jericho is to new fans) and hope they pass it along to their friends.

* Social Networking sites - myspace, facebook, livejournal, yahoo groups, etc...
* Blogs
* Diggs
* Internet searches
* Commenting on online articles as they begin to appear.
* Help as you can tame the problems in the CBS Jericho chat room. Don't antagonize people, but also don't feed the flames of those seeking attention by causing trouble.

Obviously the online wave needs to continue through the new season - particularly in the social networking areas.


Wave two - Traditional media (right after xmas / new years)

There is already an effort to get a press release out. This is fantastic. I'm going to focus on helping individuals make contact with their local media: outreach, talking points, etc.... Most entertainment and lifestyle sections plan stories like those we want about a month in advance (leaving a few holes in the section for breaking news). Right now these editors are focused mostly on holiday stories, but as soon as the holidays are over and before the "spring" themed stories are prepped they will be looking for those local interest pieces and there we have a good opportunity.

It'd be great to get as many local stories about Jericho as possible the week and particularly the weekend before the premiere airs. These editors will be looking for the local angle. Example - the Pittsburgh paper wanted to talk to Clarke and hear Clarke's Jericho story because Clarke is from Pittsburgh. They love the local angle. Of course if there is enough copy space or time in the segment they will expand to the Jericho and Jericho Ranger story with more broad information but they want to start with the local first.


Wave three - Flyers and other direct contact with potential viewers (week and weekend before the premiere - prep time now though)

People have short attention spans these days. They probably aren't going to remember the info on a flyer more than 3-4 days.

Flyers should be simple, clear and to the point. Example: Jericho Season 2 premieres Tuesday 2/12 on CBS at 10pm

If your area only has 1 CBS station and everyone knows the station # - include it.

Include the day as well as the date. Many people will more easily remember "Tuesday" or "This Tuesday" than be bothered to figure out what day of the week 2/12 is."

A Monster Fan Interview: Callisto925

I had never met Calli until she posted about September being Promote Jericho Month. She has impressed me ever since. You can find her at Jericho Rally Point and she's always full of good ideas.

This interview went so well and there was so much more to cover that Calli kindly agreed to do a Part 2. That's coming later.




1. Tell everybody about Jericho Promotion Month.

September 2007 is Promote Jericho Month. CBS has not been promoting Jericho's return or the DVDs as much as we had hoped so fans need to pick up some of that slack to reach as many people as they can. With the new TV season starting, we want people to make sure they know Jericho will be back on the grid. It is a challenge because we do not know when that will happen and there is a likelihood that people will be caught up in other shows and storylines in the meantime and not watch Jericho because they do not know it will be back better than ever.

The purpose of Promote Jericho Month is threefold. One is, of course, to promote Jericho and let CBS know that we are still here, we have not gone anywhere and we are incredibly stoked about the new episodes. Two is to reach all those people out there who do not know Jericho is returning. It is shocking there are still a lot of people out there who do not know. We also need to get those new viewers we so desperately need to for the show to continue. I have it on good advice (from someone in the TV biz) that Jericho's ratings will likely need to be at the very least 10+ million in order for CBS to even consider more episodes. (And even so, that is in no way a guarantee) Jericho's season one finale had 7 million viewers... Therefore, we have some work to do. Third is to get people working together again toward a common goal: We want Jericho back on the air to stay!!!


2. How much time per week do you spend promoting Jericho?

I think and easier question would be how many hours a week don't I spend promoting Jericho. The answer to that is easy... Lately it is any time I am sleeping or at the office doing actual work and not spending office hours online pretending to be (deeply) immersed in my job.


3. Johnston Green died in Season 1. Will someone die in Season 2? Why or why not? Who?


I wish I had a crystal ball for this question. Yes, someone will die. These 7 episodes where condensed form a 22 episode plot outline, so in all odds over those 22 episodes someone did die and they have probably written that into the 7 episodes somewhere. It is inevitable that someone will die. The death (or disappearance/departure) of a character leaves room for change and growth. This is necessary in order for a plot and other characters to move forward. As for whom... I cannot even begin to guess, but I hope it is not a main character as I am attached to them all even if I don’t like them very much.


4. Tell us about Skippy.

Operation: SKIPPY. It started as a joke at first when I made an off hand comment after someone mentioned sending CBS a small packet of nuts on the JRP board. I tend to be sarcastic a lot, (yeah, who knew?) and said that maybe I would send them the label off my peanut butter jar... and it caught on! That is when Operation: SKIPPY was born. What we are asking everyone to do is send CBS a message by mailing in the label from their peanut butter jars. Since no one can eat enough peanut butter to possibly make a huge impact in a short time, we want people to photocopy or scan and print their labels. It's gentle reminder to CBS that we are still here promoting Jericho and that we are not going anywhere nor are we taking anything lightly. Today its jar labels... tomorrow...? Who knows? Jericho fans have proven they are willing and capable of anything.


5. What else can we be doing now to promote Jericho?

We can be doing so many things while waiting for the new episodes to air that it is impossible to list them all here. However, a few examples are; loan out your DVDs or buy extra sets to give out as gifts if you can afford it. Hit the Internet and chat with as many people as you can on other non-Jericho sites to keep them informed and up to date on what is happening with the show. Visit all the entertainment news sites and blogs and leave comments and Diggs, share the articles you find with everyone on (and off) the boards so they can do the same. Get out there, talk to people in your life about the show, and let them see your enthusiasm. Urge them to try it either on DVD or on Innertube (for those in the US) and explain importance of the quick and simple process of leaving feedback at the CBS site. There were so many great ideas shared during the NUTS! Campaign and we need to look at those ideas and see how we can use them to continue promoting the show.

The main thing is to get Jericho on everyone’s minds again; it is simply not enough to promote Jericho amongst ourselves and reminding CBS that we are here. My new mantra has become: we need to put butts in the seats. If we are ever going to get more Jericho beyond the seven episodes we need those ratings and to do that we need more viewers that are NEW.


6. What attracted you to Jericho?

I think what attracted me to Jericho was the uniqueness of it. Its not a forensic who-done-it-how drama, not a cop show and doesn't revolve around a hospital full of doctors with exceedingly dysfunctional personal lives. It is something new and different with a note of plausibility. The sociological aspect of the foundation is intelligent, well conceived, and brilliantly executed. Before it even hit the air, I was completely hooked on the story and the characters.


7. How can we attract new viewers to Jericho?

Quite simply actually, spread the word. We did it once before, we can do it again. With the DVD release in a little over two weeks, we have an amazing tool at our disposal to get those new viewers hooked. We did not have that instrument before to reach people who are not Internet savvy or do not own computers. In addition, because the airing of the seven new episodes might be a ways off we have that extra time to tell people about the show. That is the positive side of the situation. There is more to the show than the hype it has created since May 16 and people need to see that. The show itself has what it takes to attract people. The story and the cast are amazing on their own, but if people do not know about it, they will not watch.

The online presence of the Jericho communities has attracted numerous, but many more are not online. The only way to get them is to talk to them, write them, and wave it in their faces. Only through the drive of fans will that happen. Jericho fans are a very motivated group with more chutzpah than any fandom I have ever been a part of to keep a show on the air. We need to make that work for us and we need to do it now.


8. What do you most like to do besides anything involving Jericho?

I'm not one to sit idle. I love to read. I have an enormous book collection and it is ever growing. Once I start a book, I can never put it down until it is finished. Other than that, I love to shop. Yes, I am a shopaholic, shopping for shoes in particular. My shoe collection is second only to my book collection. I also love to spend time in my yard which attracts a lot of wildlife so I like spending the time to be sure that all critters can call my yard home ensuring everyone has something they like. I have other passions that I try to curb because if I indulged in them it wouldn’t be good for anybody. LOL I also love to cook but I don’t because then I have to eat it all. I love wine and I live in one of the best wine producing areas in the world so it is abundant. So you can see why it’s not in my best interests to pursue those two passions too actively.

When I'm not doing those things or Jericho related activates I like to learn. Whenever I hear about something interesting that I don't know much about I will try to learn as much as I can about it online or by reading. Learning is life. Once we stop learning what is the point of living.


Any comments?

The past four moths have been incredible. The people I have met and the passion they have shown is truly something unique and not likely to occur again. I am honored and proud to have the opportunity to be a part of all this and to have had the chance to work with everyone and get to know them. I hope that as we travel further in our quest I will get to know more of the wonderful people that make up the Jericho fandom.

Peace