Case Studies
Mean Girls Book Club: You Can Learn With Us — Virtually
Turning the page on Summer 2020 with listening and learning.
Challenge
Mean Girls is an entertainment brand integrated into current pop culture. As the digital agency of record, we’ve continually found ways to put a “fetch” spin on the latest social trends. Mean Girls can still serve snappy memes, while also joining larger, thoughtful conversations.
Following the national conversation surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement, Mean Girls sought to maintain its mission to comment on the world around us by focusing on ways to create an impact and being action-oriented.
What We Did
Community Management
Online Video
Virtual Events
Solution
We concepted and executed an hour-long virtual discussion around the #1 New York Times bestseller, The Hate U Give, featuring author Angie Thomas, Mean Girls book writer Tina Fey, and members of the Broadway and National Tour casts. The stream featured questions curated internally, as well as those sourced from our fans, who had been encouraged to read along with us.
When we announced the series along with the first book on social, Mean Girls encouraged fans to RSVP to the Facebook Event created for the discussion. In the weeks leading up to the event, we drove fans to participate through book giveaways courtesy of Tina Fey and original Broadway Cady, Erika Henningsen. Following the giveaway, Mean Girls encouraged fans to purchase their own copy from independent, Black-owned bookstores by providing resources with state-by-state locations.
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As the event drew closer, we kept building momentum and anticipation. Fan questions were sourced via Instagram Stories with a Question sticker, and reminders were released on social media in the form of brief videos from Broadway and National Tour cast members sharing their own impressions of the book so far. As a final push for participation, social posts and a callout in a reminder newsletter encouraged fans who may not have found time to read along to watch the 2018 feature film.
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The group discussion featuring nine panelists was recorded in advance via Zoom and released the following week on the Facebook Event page. Following the stream, fans were directed to continue the discussion on Instagram Live, where two members of the Mean Girls cast hosted a live Q&A.
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Results
The launch of the Mean Girls Summer Reading and Discussion series with Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give, perfectly bridged the brand and the moment. By selecting books that focus on the ongoing fight for racial justice in America, Mean Girls found a way to both speak directly to our young audience and to the national, cultural moment. The involvement of the cast and writers Angie Thomas and Tina Fey brought more participation while adding cachet to the event.
Following the success of the inaugural Summer Reading and Discussion virtual event, the series has announced its second book, Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, and the author has already signed on to participate in the accompanying event. Building on this foundation, we will be able to use our platform long-term to inspire important conversations and ongoing action.