Case Study: Rise of “The Tudors”

Outrider and Showtime experience reign of success with Yahoo! Sponsored Search campaign

Who: Search Marketing agency, Outrider and its client,
Showtime Networks.
Objective: To drive awareness, viewership and network subscriptions, and create engagement around the launch of The Tudors, a series about the young and powerful Henry VIII.
Product Used: Sponsored Search.
Results: The campaign experienced a Yahoo! click-through rate 250% higher than previous series launch campaigns.

Company background
Outrider, a leading global search marketing consultancy, helps clients experience marketing relevance with search campaigns that are integrated with advertisers’ cross-channel media planning. Understanding the dynamic effect search and consumer-driven media can have on a business, Outrider helps clients engage in dialogue with consumers, offering them meaningful content and delivering relevant experiences that build valuable relationships.

Showtime Networks Inc., a subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates premium television networks such as Showtime, The Movie Channel and Flix.

A search campaign fit for a king
In the increasingly fragmented and competitive media landscape, Showtime Networks faced a challenge in building the audience for The Tudors. Outrider’s strategy was to develop a campaign that created multiple engagement opportunities and reached consumers at the right time and the right place. This included a campaign that built on the hype around The Tudors star, Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers, as well as the topics relevant to the show’s general subject matter and setting—such as the Tudors, English history, the royal family, and more.

In addition to aligning with Showtime’s other advertising and marketing programs, Outrider decided to coordinate its search marketing with publicity efforts. For example, when Meyers was scheduled to appear on The Tonight Show, Outrider adjusted its keyword list to ensure that The Tudors and Meyers were ranked at the top of Yahoo! Search results immediately after his appearance. With help from Yahoo! Sponsored Search, Outrider built a list of more than 2,000 keywords and executed an innovative search marketing strategy.

Royal results reviewed
In the first two months, the comprehensive search marketing campaign for the new series launch generated almost 25 million impressions—an increase of 126% to 825% over other launch campaigns. The aggressive, integrated search strategy, along with series-related and cast-specific keywords, resulted in improved campaign performance on Yahoo!, delivering a click-through rate increase up to 250%. Lead generation and subscriptions were also up, surpassing those generated for each of the three previous new series launches.