... from a business perspective.
"If you want me ... Earn me!"
ABC's Scandal, a night time drama set in modern day Washington, DC, has a following to die for. I have watched shows that have been popular nationally before, but I have never since the Cosby Show in the 1980s, watched a show that so many of my friends are addicted to. My daughter watches it. Her friends do, too. My friends and their friends (female and male friends, mind you) watch Scandal and then we talk about it throughout the week, waiting for the next episode. Heck, we often make plans around the time it comes on. If we can't watch it with friends, we tape it and the discussion boards light up after every show.
What is the phenomenon that makes a show gain in popularity, bringing fans back week after week? Is it the marketing of the show, its content, its actors, that make a show successful? Is there something, we as entrepreneurs can learn and use in our efforts to bring repeat clients? I thought this as I had dinner with more than a dozen people last night where in the midst of talking about business and every day scandals, from the political to the fabulously wealthily, we turned to the Scandal, including the fact that we were missing it for the time being. I think maybe there was one, maybe two people that didn't watch Scandal, but everyone there knew about it. Some of us admitted that we were hooked to the point of obsession, taping it so that we could watch it when we got home. Everybody there had something that they particularly loved about the show, especially the Gladiators. But, there were things that they love to "hate." This week's episode sizzled with the current scandal brewing between the President, his wife, and his mistress, but all in all, that is not what makes it a phenomenon. Adultery has been done before, so has scandalous action, including murder. So, I'm back to the question. What's the phenomenon?
It is so simple that I don't know why I didn't grasp it right off. There are hooks for the show, time-proven methods that include good writing, great acting, and story lines that keep you on the edge of your seat. But, what makes it best-watched show? Simply, a commitment to excellence. It's writing gets better ... It's acting is flawless .... and the storyline beckons the watcher to come back the following week. Yes, that's simple, but what is great about the show is a line uttered by Olivia Pope to the President of the United States. "If you want me ... Earn me!" What makes Scandal worth our while is that Shonda Rhimes set out to earn us. And she does - each and every week.
Shonda Rhimes doesn't just earn us, she earns her actors' loyalty, her sponsors' support and she does it by not scrimping on marketing, or hiring the best crew, or having a willingness to evaluate her day-by-day commitment to excellence. Not good part of the time, but each and every episode. That is why she earns the big bucks. In earning us as an audience she has earned the right to reap the benefits. Now that's a phenomena I don't mind creating.
Shonda Rhimes doesn't just earn us, she earns her actors' loyalty, her sponsors' support and she does it by not scrimping on marketing, or hiring the best crew, or having a willingness to evaluate her day-by-day commitment to excellence. Not good part of the time, but each and every episode. That is why she earns the big bucks. In earning us as an audience she has earned the right to reap the benefits. Now that's a phenomena I don't mind creating.
