Short Story
Super Deluxe
Or: what could we do with a block of “dead air” on TBS?
Ah, what should have been.
I could talk for hours about this project alone. Super Deluxe was an innovation project, an idea sold by four ‘intra-penuers’ (me being one of them) thru corporate channels; funded to the tune of $22m over 2 years; designed, built, content programmed, and run with all dedicated internal staff. It combined user-generated content with original programming (skewed heavily toward the latter, because, well, Turner had money to spend on content).
Turner Broadcasting had a block of air on TBS where, from 1 A.M. to 5 A.M., a black screen would neither earn nor lose money compared to the programming currently occupying that expensive, under-utilized time slot. What could we do with it that was interesting and compelling? The answer was Super Deluxe, Turner’s first network of original content not attached to a cable channel. The big idea: our original content was supported by a custom-built social network that enabled interaction, discussion, engagement. Users could upload their created content and have it placed next to our more professional artists. Success stories from Super Deluxe would "cross the chasm" to appear on-air, a dream finally realized when Super Deluxer Brad Neely’s "China, IL" debuted on Adult Swim.
It was ahead of its time, beating competitors from VH1 and Funny or Die to the punch, in both timeliness and quality of content. We built a brand from absolutely nothing to 2m uniques a month, before getting merged into Adult Swim (the stronger brand, commanding more ad dollars from the coveted 18-24 male demo). But I learned a ton about content marketing, product design, and what it actually takes to build a brand. Hey, you don't get to be tagged with “Super Deluxe Becomes The Internet’s Arrested Development” by Gawker (read: critical success, commercial failure) for not trying!
My role: Director of User Experience and Community. I led the UX side, designed Super Deluxe's suite of functionality, kept tabs on the community for both behavior and content submission, threw parties and artist events, and iterated on the offering over time.
