Fox's 'Empire' returns with big pushes on Snapchat and Kik
Nicole Greiner is a research analyst at VAST MEDIA, a media research and consulting company based in Berlin that provides international television industry leaders with qualitative competitive market analysis of digital entertainment and content marketing.
FOX’s music drama “Empire” returned for its much-anticipated spring premiere on March 30th. To engage fans and promote the return, the network teamed up with Snapchat and instant messaging platform Kik to release series-themed content within the apps.
On Snapchat, FOX offered a sponsored “Empire” filter which users in the U.S. could add to their images and videos throughout the whole day. The filter featured music props such as headphones and a mic as well as the “Empire” logo and airtime.
For the instant messenger Kik, FOX released a set of “Empire”-themed smileys that are available from March 23 through April 14 in the app’s Smiley Shop. The smileys include the main characters of the show: Cookie, Lucious, Andre, Jamal and Hakeem.
In addition, there is a bonus feature: when Kik users send or receive an “Empire” smiley and tap on it, they can watch the season 2 trailer of the show.
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