Client: FX Networks
You’re the Worst is a relatable show. It explores friendships, love and relationships in a cynical, caustic way that manifests in all of its characters. In short, it’s a window into the lovably dysfunctional lives of people finding their way in LA.
I produced the show’s social campaign which included a variety of creative content, a microsite, in-season live tweeting and a one-of-a-kind Facebook Live video.
Since this was the show’s 4th season, we had to make sure that we provided a fresh take for the core fan base but also focused on relatable themes to hook general audiences that might have been unfamiliar.
The campaign was divided into 3 main phases, each with unique goals:
Pre-Season: re-activate the core fan base by posting new content on existing platforms.
Premiere: hype the season 4 premiere with high impact creative and FB live stunt.
In-Season: engage with fans on a weekly basis and generate content that highlights the most talked about moments from each episode.
Jimmy and Gretchen (the show’s protagonists) have a roller-coaster of a relationship. In the season 3 finale, there is a marriage proposal that ends with Jimmy getting cold feet and leaving Gretchen stranded on a mountain-top where he popped the question.
Heading into season 4, our main focus was to develop social content highlighting their impending breakup and all of the baggage that comes along with it.
These pieces were rolled out on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. They capture the tone of the show and set up audiences for what’s to come.
With the show focusing so heavily on Jimmy and Gretchen’s break-up, FX deemed the show’s premiere date as “Day of the Dumped”. 2 weeks out, we launched DayOfTheDumped.com - a microsite housing original content, promos and more.
The coup de grâce of the premiere phase took the form of an extremely unique Facebook Live titled You’re The Worst Turtle Edition.
The idea was a 15 minute broadcast that featured baby turtles reenacting the show’s most memorable scenes from seasons 1-3. Fans of the show could relive their favorite moments while new audiences could get familiar with the show’s characters, vibe, etc. the program included live voting components and community management where the team could interact with and respond to fans in the comments section.
Why turtles though?
After witnessing the success of Facebook Live by outlets such as Buzzfeed and Super Deluxe, we felt this medium suited our target audience. While brainstorming further around this concept, our team recognized the internet’s obsession with baby animals and decided that focusing the program around baby turtles would be a low-barrier hook to get people to tune-in.
I spearheaded all aspects of production, helping to develop the idea with the team, sell it through to the client, work out a scope + production schedule, coordinate the live shoot (complete with turtle wrangler), book all crew + art department, manage development of graphics + post production and finally, oversee QA + launch.
Once the show premiered, it was our job to keep our finger on the pulse of everything that the community liked. We engaged with fans with weekly episodic live tweets that accompanied the airing of the show and leveraged learnings from fan comments into bespoke pieces of creative content. This took the form of static + video quote pieces and custom one-off illustrations and GIFs.
Turtles
Performing any sort of production with live animals is definitely a challenge. While we did have an amazing reptile specialist on hand, the turtles did pretty much what they wanted to do, when they wanted to do it. We captured what was needed though and made sure to abide by humane society protocol to ensure animal safety.
In-Season Timeline
Developing reactive creative can be super effective in staying relevant to fans but doing so doesn’t allow you much time to produce materials. Creating custom weekly content over a 13-week season was a grind but we established a regimented workflow with FX that enabled us to move through approvals quickly and get the content to the people!
Assets
Unit photography was pretty much non-existent, especially during pre-season. We had to rely on creating a lot of assets from scratch and even when we made episodic content, we usually didn’t get the footage until a week or so beforehand.
This campaign was incredibly fun, especially given the relatable subject matter. At the end of the campaign the show was renewed for a 5th season, confirming that audiences were engaged as ever and tuning in consistently from week to week. The Turtles FB Live was a particular success, garnering 100k+ views in 24 hours and winning a Silver Distinction for Facebook Live in the 2018 Shorty Awards.
Credits
Agency: Watson DG
Executive Creative Director: Fernando Ramirez
Associate Creative Director: Ryan Shelton
Strategist: Arin Delaney
Art Directors: Brandon Moats, Yuri Lence
Designers: Lucas Martinez, Jessica Kim
Illustrator: Ivonna Buenrostro
Animator: Johnny Mabie
Developer: William Chen
Copywriter: Molly Douglas
Social Media Manager: Alexis Strobin
Community Manager: Jessica Lee
Shoot Director: Chris Buongiorno
Shoot PA: Sarah Kelly
Turtle Wrangler: Jules Sylvester
Producer: Greg Meltzer