The Campaign

Broadcast media operations in the Philippines are self-regulated by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), the foremost broadcast media organization in the country. It is composed of owners and operators of radio and television stations (Regular Members) and of which ABS-CBN Corporation is a member. In compliance with the KBP Broadcast Code, all of ABS-CBN’s shows, specifically for Quiz Shows, Contests, Public Participation Programs and Promotions, are “conducted with fairness and shall comply with all pertinent government laws, rules and regulations and the provisions of this Code.” Moreover, “Public or audience participation programs shall not ridicule, diminish or demean the dignity of an individual participating in such programs.” ABS-CBN is currently the industry leader in providing entertainment content and reality TV in the country, including franchises of international shows such as Big Brother by Endemol. With the company dominating overall TV ratings nationwide, it has the unparalleled reach and loyal viewership that no other TV network enjoys. Big Brother is a reality show created by Endemol that has reinvented reality television in 1999. Since its much-anticipated adaptation to the Philippines in 2005 by ABS-CBN, Filipinos now demand a new, more engaging experience with the show.

Results

Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) is a primetime reality game show where housemates must face challenges inside a house with 24/7 cameras. The housemate who best exemplifies the journey of self-discovery and gets the most viewer-votes wins grand prizes. In a developing country like the Philippines, PBB has become a symbol of hope for Filipinos who dream of a better life. This season, 40,000 auditioned for the show. But only 18 made it through. So how do we reach out to these thousands of disheartened dreamers and keep their hope alive? How do we keep them interested in a show they weren’t able to join? Since 93% of Filipino netizens spend time on Facebook the most, we decided to give them a second chance. A second house. We created the The Pinoy Big Brother House Online Facebook app. Through the app, we gave Filipino netizens the chance to experience being a housemate, using challenging tasks that test their knowledge of the TV show and personal dares that reveal their true selves. Throughout the day, we asked them to answer questions, share photos, or upload videos. We rewarded them points for each task they completed and shared with friends. And to encourage engagement, we gave them the power to vote for fellow housemates who are truly being themselves (“Wow”) or simply faking it (“Weh”). The app also integrates with ABS-CBN’s digital assets through the PBB Microsite.

The campaign was promoted through spiels in Pinoy Big Brother’s (PBB) feeder program Uber shown before the primetime slot of the main show, together with PBB’s social media accounts and on ABS-CBN’s video-on-demand site iWantv and other digital properties. Challenges within the app also incorporated the latest events inside the actual PBB house to test the online housemate’s knowledge about the show. To further draw and encourage engagement, each completed task within the app could also be shared and voted on by the online housemates themselves—and we rewarded them points for each task they completed and shared with friends.

We expanded our reach by getting 31,281 online housemates, converting 3,399 of them into daily active users on average. And with a 14%-36% active usage and 96% user retention rate, we activated them into highly-engaged online housemates. Cumulatively, the campaign got 47,939 completed tasks, 23,725 of which were original photo and video content that told their personal stories. The user-generated content were then housed inside the app for online housemates to watch, share, and vote on. They also made the campaign scale with 64,051 shares, 186,462 up (“wows”) and down (“wehs”) votes. Ultimately, the campaign generated for the show Php 9.4 million (US$ 217,000) in earned digital media value, or a 2,242% ROI—all with no paid media. Specifically contributing to client’s business objectives, the campaign successfully expanded the PBB experience to people online, helping to add 74,197 new fans to the page—a 43% fan growth. This ensured a captive group of users that the app could engage with for further phases of the campaign. Moreover, a large majority (79.5%) of them were also returning users, proving the campaign’s success in keeping fans engaged with the show through the app.