“It ain’t nothing but a party,” the J. Geils Band sang several decades ago. But for some TV shows, parties can boost word of mouth, Website visits, and ratings.
Irvington, NY-based House Party works with TV networks—along with record companies and videogame manufacturers—to recruit hosts for viewing or listening parties nationwide. Its most recent collaboration, in September, with NBC's “The Biggest Loser” resulted in 900 simultaneous parties attracting 10,800 attendees. Another 372,000 potential viewers were reached by secondary word of mouth and aggregation strategies like e-mail blasts, banner ads and TV spots. "If 30,000 people attend parties, we found that is can translate into million of impressions on the Internet," says House Party cofounder Parker Reilly. "We've found that each attendee tells an average of 20 people about their experience with the show, whether it's through word of mouth, Websites, or the blogosphere.”
For “The Biggest Loser,” NBC ran 10-second spots in similar shows beginning Aug. 8 to draw prospects to a Website set up by House Party. NBC won’t release the number of people who signed up to host a Sept. 10 party, but House Party screened all volunteers. Hosts were also recruited via e-mail blasts and Web banner ads.
The chosen hosts received a DVD featuring an advance screening of “The Biggest Loser” season premiere, which was shown at the party. Hosts were chosen based on their passion for the brand, their ability to spread the word, and their “party quotient.”
The hosts in turn sent e-mail invites to people they felt would be interested in attending and were fans of the show. They were also given access to the Website, where they spread the word through its blogs, podcasts, and posts on message boards. In some cases, Reilly says, hosts began their own weight loss programs in anticipation for the show or had big "last meals' as part of their party to stay along the show's theme.
Between Aug. 24 and Sept. 19, “The Biggest Loser” House Party Website recorded:
- 21,709 total sessions/visitors
- 822,567 total pages viewed by visitors
- 1,980,200 total files requested
- 587 average sessions/visitors per day
- 22,232 average pages viewed per day
- 37.89 average page views per session
- 0:09:37 average session length
“The Biggest Loser” was House Party’s first stab at an adult audience. A house party held in June for the premiere of the Nickelodeon cartoon “Avatar” had similar results. In all, 2,223 “Avatar” hosts generated 25,000 partygoers, 1,560 parties, more than 2,000 photos and videos shared online, and thousands of reviews, polls, surveys, blog entries, invitations, cards, party favors, and scrapbooks.
