The FRIENDS 30th campaign was specially designed to honor the iconic series and the legacy it’s left behind in the hearts of millions across the world. Aiming to bring a sense of nostalgia to our fans as we celebrate the hilarious and heartwarming moments of one of the most successful television programs in history, we built out a social campaign this summer comprised of collaborations with top tier media and streamers, never-before-seen flashback footage of the cast, a partnership with Food Network to pay tribute to some unforgettable FRIENDS recipes, an anniversary fan event with Street Food Cinema, several rounds of series trivia, fashion breakdowns of the cast, “funniest” or “most heartwarming” moment-type compilations, and so much more. Our goal? Prove the love our fans have for the series is stronger than ever, even all these decades later.
In an attempt to capture the magic that FRIENDS fans across the world experienced the first time they sat down to enjoy the series, the Warner Bros. TV social team compiled a multi-faceted campaign across multiple platforms including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Threads, YouTube, and Giphy to tap into our target demographic, grow our channels/overall engagement, and re-energize FRIENDS fans across the globe with fresh and exciting content. The campaign included, but was not limited to, the below:
- Flashback BTS Footage of Cast- Juxtaposing never-before-seen cast interviews from season 1 with interviews from season 10, fans are able to see truly how much FRIENDS meant to the core six cast members and how it grew to be so much more than they all could have ever imagined. (HERE)
- Food Network Partnership - In an exclusive social partnership with the iconic Food Network brand, we offered fans a unique, three-part series intended to entice the FRIENDS foodie community with Food Network Kitchen’s creative takes on unforgettable dishes from the TV series such as Rachel’s Thanksgiving Trifle, the floor cheesecake, and a “Joey special." (HERE, HERE, & HERE)
- Street Food Cinema Fan Event - Partnering up with mobile cinema and dining event organizer Street Food Cinema, Warner Bros. TV brought FRIENDS fans from around the U.S. together to screen favorite episodes, reminisce on unforgettable moments, and build new friendships with FRIENDS fans alike. (HERE, HERE, HERE, & HERE)
- Top Tier Trade Media Collaborations - For the first time, FRIENDS partnered with top tier trade media Variety and The Hollywood Reporter for social and editorial coverage focused on the 30th anniversary to bring even more eyes and legitimacy to the campaign, along with providing our fans with fresh material. (HERE, HERE, & HERE)
- Ultimate FRIENDS Trivia Rounds - Designed to stump even the most die-hard FRIENDS fans, we put together four rounds of series trivia to really put their knowledge to the test. (HERE, HERE, HERE, & HERE)
- Cast Fashion Breakdowns - To highlight some of the more iconic styling throughout the series, we broke out each of the core six main cast and some of their best looks throughout each season in carousel-style social posts. (HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, & HERE)
- GIPHY 30 Sticker Uploads - On theme with the anniversary, we uploaded 30 new GIPHY stickers of the cast that fans can utilize on their socials. (HERE)
- Fan Votes - We invited fans to “vote” on several posts throughout the campaign through comments. Whether we were asking what was their favorite season, their funniest or most unexpected moment, ways dating has changed since the 90’s, or which monkey is the true Marcel, fans showed up in droves to let us know their opinions. (HERE, HERE, HERE, & HERE)
- Consistent Branding - To build out a cohesive 30th anniversary style, all of our content uploaded in the two month window before our 9/22 anniversary included a “#Friends30” hashtag in the copy in addition to a 30th anniversary logo/bug on all assets. (HERE)
The response we received from our passionate fan base was nothing short of fantastic. Fans were thrilled to relive these heartwarming moments, experience never-before-seen footage, and have the opportunity to engage with other die-hard fans proving that the FRIENDS legacy is still alive and well.
A few key statistics from the campaign (4/30 - 9/24) include:
- 134.3M GIPHY sticker views
- 316.7M impressions across IG, FB, TikTok (up 29.4% from the same period last year)
