eBrandgelize Digital’s Nicole Hansen and Debi Bailey led a post-screening Facebook Live Q&A with actor, John Corbett sponsored by our client, Affirm Films at Sony Pictures Studios, upon the opening of their faith-based film, All Saints.
eBrandgelize offers specialized social media set-up and consultations.
Do you or someone you know want to learn social media?
Interact with fans and raise your online profile with our fast and easy service.
Our social media package includes setting up Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and a 1-hour consultation with one of our social media experts.
After we help set up your sites, consult with eBrandgelize on tips and techniques for social media platforms and best practices. Our consultants help clients on all platforms develop and establish their brands and grow their followers.
Images from HTSABO
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — eBrandgelize Digital, a boutique digital marketing agency, has brought on Debra Bailey to consult on fan engagement for eBrandgelize’s family and faith-centered entertainment clients. Debra is co-founder and manager of the grassroots Facebook group Fans of Hallmark’s When Calls the Heart, Hallmark Channel’s highly successful series, starring Erin Krakow, Daniel Lissing, and Jack Wagner. She also serves as Director of the nonprofit Hearties International. eBrandgelize Digital was founded by actress and producer Nicole Hansen as a turn-key web branding provider for the entertainment industry. eBrandgelize’s clients include MPCA/Brad Krevoy Television, Digital Cinema Distribution Coalition, executives from Crown Media Family Networks (parent company of Hallmark Channels) and AMBI Entertainment Group.
eBrandgelize has successfully helped clients engage fans in live Twitter chats during film and television premieres to trend and boost social ratings. Previously, eBrandgelize executive produced the location-based app game BattleKasters with Artifact Technologies and Alane Adams Studios and has designed websites for MPCA, DCDC, and Brilliant Consulting Group. They’ve also worked with fans to launch the Hearties Family Reunion fan convention.
Debra Bailey consulted with eBrandgelize during Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas programming season on fan engagement, to promote the client’s Christmas films. She represented eBrandgelize at the second Hearties Family Reunion, held in Vancouver in early December and will now be part of the social media and business development team just as MPCA’s When Calls the Heart Christmas special premieres on Hallmark Channel this Christmas Day.
“I became acquainted with Nicole Hansen through When Calls the Heart,” explained Debra Bailey “Meeting in person at the first Hearties Family Reunion, I was intrigued by her company, and how she was connecting TV shows and movies with viewers. It was powerful. The synergy between eBrandgelize Digital and their social media clients is far above any that I’ve seen, and I’m thrilled to be a part of this growing team.”
“When I began working with the Hearties, I was drawn to Debra because of her inherent knowledge of fans drawn to faith and family-friendly entertainment,” said Nicole Hansen. “As the primary admin for the Hearties Facebook page, she’s an influencer of independent women with traditional values, who are eager to have an online community to support programming they can watch with their families. I’ve sought her advice and enlisted her often in rallying fans to support various clients’ film and television content. I know that Debra will be a great asset to our company.”
About eBrandgelize Digital
eBrandgelize Digital is a boutique digital marketing and production company, integrating brands across multiple platforms through transmedia entertainment, digital content and PR. We help individuals and businesses raise their profiles through strategic alliances and sustainably promote our clients through website design, content management, online branding, product placement, publishing and engaging social media. We develop and package specialized events, feature films, TV, online content and mobile games.
About The Hearties
Hearties are devoted fans of the Hallmark Channel original series When Calls The Heart, inspired by the Canadian West book series from Janette Oke. Executive Produced by Believe Pictures and MPCA/Brad Krevoy Television, the series airs on Hallmark Channel. In January of 2016, with the support of the producers, the Hearties created and organized the “Hearties Family Reunion”, a fan convention for the members of the private Facebook group Fans of Hallmark Channel’s When Calls the Heart.
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ebrandgelize-digital-enlists-faith-and-family-entertainment-influencer-debra-bailey-of-the-hearties-300382480.html
eBrandgelize Digital assisted in promoting two new movies in October and November as Hallmark Channel burst to a record-breaking start for its popular “Countdown to Christmas” holiday event. Our team promoted the new, original movie premiere of MPCA/Brad Krevoy Television‘s production of A Wish for Christmas (Saturday, October 29) on MPCA’s Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages as well as other channels and live tweeted the premiere which became the highest-rated and most-watched “Countdown to Christmas” debut since the holiday franchise launched in 2009, among households, total viewers, and adults 25-54.
Key Nielsen Highlights (L+SD)
eBrandgelize’s team also helped to propel social ratings for Hallmark Channel’s original holiday movie premiere of MPCA/Brad Krevoy Television’s, Every Christmas Has a Story (Saturday, November 12).
Key Nielsen Highlights (L+SD) for Hallmark Channel
Sources: Crown Media Press; Nielsen, October 24-31, November 7-13 2016; Nielsen Social Content Ratings; Twitter Analytics
Whenever I set up Facebook pages for my clients, there was always one constant to every post: “Alan Hansen liked this” or “Alan Hansen shared this.” Many of my clients took notice and asked, “Do you know him? Is he your dad or something? He likes EVERYTHING.” Yes, he was my dad, and it was true: He never missed a chance to like every post I made and be the first to do it too.
Dad’s last share from a client page
Those clients were often colleagues a few years ago, when fellow producers started noticing how I was an effective online cheerleader in the entertainment industry. They enlisted me to set up, brand and manage their social media promotions. As a single mom with two kids with special needs, it became a great way to stay home and still make a living.
This summer, my oldest son went off to college, and just as I planned to devote more time building my digital marketing business, my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. He was living in Denver, Colorado, and facing the end of his life alone. With my brother residing in Russia, I did what any daughter would do, and asked him to live with me in Los Angeles.
My brother and I flew to Denver, moved him from his home, and took him to see the Grand Canyon on our drive to L.A. Not one to let down my clients, I would log in to their social pages on my phone and tweet their recent news and previews for upcoming events or premieres. I don’t think any were even aware that I was on the road, and if they were, it was only through photos from my Instagram feed. Even as my dad sat in the front seat, often so weak he could barely stay awake, somehow he was still the first to like everything I posted, traveling along Historic Route 66.
While I enjoyed the leisurely pace we took to accommodate the rest stops for my dad, I was anxious to be home by a certain time to live-tweet a TV premiere for multiple clients. But as we rolled into Los Angeles, my dad’s health worsened, and we had to take him straight to the hospital. I called on one of my social media managers to help cover the event, which would air in the next few minutes, but unfortunately she was unable to log in to one account. So as I sat there with my father for two hours, doing what I could to support him, I was also conducting a live Twitter chat but could not even watch what I was tweeting about. Surprisingly, that client was monitoring my posts, and halfway through the program, he emailed me to commend the fine job I was doing. I sighed in relief. If only he only knew.
When my dad finally came home, his hospice nurses got hooked on the shows I covered, and were amazed that I could tend to my dying father and still make a living by engaging with fans online. Sometimes we would have two TVs on at once as I switched between shows and clients. Dad would often listen in as I was negotiating fees or advising clients on what to do with their LinkedIn profiles. Afterwards, he would tell me how he proud he was that I had made a business from something that didn’t even exist ten years ago. He himself had been an online retail pioneer in the 90s and reminded me how he used to work on holidays, much like I had to work weekends. He even got a call from Steve Jobs on Christmas Day to special order an item from his company, DesignStore.com.
On Labor Day weekend, I had numerous TV and film festival premieres that I was constantly posting about. That Saturday, dad liked everything I posted. But on Sunday, he didn’t like anything. Dread set in. I was busier than ever, not only online, but in the real world too, administering his drugs and picking him up off the floor when he fell. I worked on my devices and I stayed close by, as he grew weaker. After numerous small strokes, a nurse told me he was stabilized, and I took the time to take do some chores outside. Suddenly I had the realization that he could die any moment and ran back inside and grasped his hand and held it as he passed away.
Facebook Life Event in lieu of an obituary
Two days later, my brother and I had to deal with my father’s digital life at an end. We posted his passing on Facebook as a life event on his behalf, by writing the stories he shared with us on our road trip together. We shared this to our own networks as well, and in these days of being virtually connected more than necessary for work, our professional contacts could see it as well. Even a Hallmark Channel fan group I work with who call themselves Hearties posted their condolences. That night, I pulled myself together and headed out to a red carpet event for a client. I photographed her and posted some tweets, but she was surprised I had showed up at all and embraced me. She had read about my dad’s passing on Facebook and told me to go home and be with my family in mourning. But I was keeping in mind my dad’s drive to work every day I could and explained, “He would have wanted me to be here.”
After the event, one of my social media colleagues commented how odd it was that Alan Hansen was no longer liking every post we made, and how she missed him. The next day, I charged up my dad’s phone, and the screen lit up. There were push notifications of every recent post I had made for every one of my clients in the past few days. So now I knew, this was how he was always the first to respond to every post I made. Even when my dad lived 1,000 miles away, he watched over everything I did, and with every like, comment or share, he supported my work. While I will miss those constant reminders of his pride in me, it means even more that I can carry on his spirit. It is embodied by the answer he gave to Steve Jobs as to why he answered his phone on Christmas Day: “It’s my business, and the Internet never sleeps.”
Written by Nicole Hansen founder of eBrandgelize Digital and President of Green Galaxy Enterprises
“Crown for Christmas’ with Danica McKellar
Viewers of the Hallmark Channel and its sibling Hallmark Movies & Mysteries have achieved “fandemonium” status. This deep bond between fans, networks and stars alike also has a digital age Frank Capra-esque unity about it…
Fans understand that in a time dominated by cynicism and despair, the Hallmark universe offers shelter from a dark storm. Hallmark reminds us all of something that doesn’t get the press it used to…our humanity.
Many viewers chat daily about Hallmark via social media. They watch together. It’s like a giant, welcoming club where the only membership fee is goodwill. They also talk to enthusiastic stars of Hallmark movies and series this way as well. And the connection doesn’t stop there…
If Hallmark is the “Heart of TV”, they seem to understand that the “heart of Hallmark” is the viewer. Bill Abbott, President & CEO Hallmark Channel/Hallmark Movie; Michelle Vicary, Executive Vice President Programming & Network Publicity, and Pam Slay, Senior Vice President TV also regularly communicate with fans across social media. Unusual? Yes. Valued? You bet.
A Perfect Christmas – part of Christmas Keepsake Week Preview Viewers of the Hallmark Channel and its sibling Hallmark Movies & Mysteries have achieved
Source: Hallmark Channel/Hallmark Movie “FANDEMONIUM” | LA-Story.com
Viewers also took to Twitter last Sunday as When Calls the Heart became the most engaging series premiering a new episode for the week across cable and broadcast, boasting an average 67 Tweets per person. Additionally, the finale attracted the most unique authors of any series on the network, becoming Hallmark Channel’s most social original series episode.
eBrandgelize Digital’s team tweeted on behalf of multiple client accounts throughout the season. Pictured Twitter account: @MPCA_Film
The third season of the series made a strong impression on social media overall, averaging more unique authors and Tweets than the preceding two seasons. Compared to season 1 and 2, the third season average of When Calls the Heart was up 45% and 46% among unique authors and 631% and 175% among Tweets, respectively. Across cable and broadcast television,When Calls the Heart became the most engaging series premiering a new episode for the entire season. Moreover, during Sunday Total Day, it was the 2nd most Tweeted series airing a new episode for the season with the exception of last weekend’s debut, which became the #1 Tweeted original drama series on cable for the week.
Source: Nielsen, April 4-10, 2016; Nielsen SocialGuide Twitter TV Ratings, 2/21-4/10/16.
Additionally, eBrandgelize headed up a social media campaign to urge Netflix and Amazon to pick up the show for international audiences at the request of the international sales agent, Lionsgate Television.
Upon seeing this tweet on the @MPCA_Film Twitter profile, #Hearties took up the cause and created their own tweets targeted at overseas profiles for Netflix and Amazon.
By Nicole Hansen, President, GGE and Founder of eBrandgelize Digital
Hearties admins visit the set of When Calls the Heart
Last June, while setting up branded social media pages for our newest web design and online branding client, MPCA/Brad Krevoy Television, I checked to see if anyone was tweeting about one of its produced shows that was airing that night called When Calls the Heart. I noticed something I had never seen before from clients who had live events happening on Twitter: people were not only tweeting about the show, but they were having conversations. These fans calling themselves #Hearties were so actively working to get the show to trend that I made a point to mention it to Brad Krevoy the next time we spoke. He credited the #Hearties with getting the show a second season. He also tasked me with getting to know them and to find a way to give back.
Over the following months, I worked on behalf of Brad Krevoy with Brian Bird, the show’s executive producer and fan ambassador, as he brought me up to speed on how the fans were creating their own #HeartiesParties. He explained that a group of Hearties were creating a Heartie-Con, a fan convention for a hundred or so of the 31,000 members of the private Facebook group “Fans of Hallmark Chanel’s When Calls the Heart.” When Brian announced the event to the group, I saw that a single email address was given for people to register — not an easy way to manage an event. Brian connected me with the organizers and we suggested setting up an EventBrite page, courtesy of MPCA. The advantages included e-tickets, mass messaging of guests, and an easy to manage registration process.
During the planning process, I was blown away by the planning committee’s resourcefulness. The event sold out in an hour at $100/ticket. The ladies on the event committee made gift bags and swag by hand, using the show as inspiration. I shouldn’t have been surprised; I was tasked by Brian and Brad to transport fan-made woven blankets and personalized doilies to deliver to the stars on the set from one amazing fan. It seems many of these ladies, aged 16-75, were inspired by the show to produce their own 1910’s-era arts and crafts, so the homemade swag were definitely on-brand for this event. On MPCA/BKTV’s behalf, GGE created more tech-driven goodies, including Hallmark Channel-Hearties-branded flash drives, loaded with deleted scenes, family-friendly coloring pages commissioned from a popular #HeartieArt creator, Brie Schmida, and 10 social media marketing action items that the fans can do to bring in new viewers for season 3.
Periscope stats and broadcasts of WCTH’s author Janette Oke and executive producer, Brian Bird. Photo by Audra Morse
Leading up to the event, many fans voiced their desire for MPCA/BKTV to run a Periscope live stream for them. After weeks of promising that @MPCA_Film would be periscoping from #HFR2016, I had to out myself as the person who would be hosting the broadcasts. When I got to the first event in Vancouver, the Hycroft House High Tea, I did a brief introduction on my own Periscope of walking into Hycroft as a fellow Heartie (yes, I’ve been converted) and meeting the Hearties admins and event planners in person for the first time. Viewers then stayed tuned to @MPCA_Film for more periscopes of the event. Whenever I streamed stars meeting and speaking to the fans and on the broadcasts, you could hear the chirps, as attending Hearties were notified that MPCA/BKTV was streaming. We watched the hearts (likes) grow from only 1 to over 55,000 by the end of the weekend.
Hearties Fan Site, upgraded by GGE
Before the event, we were tasked with lending technical and design support to the developer of the #Hearties fan website, to help make the site mobile-ready from the outset, with more social network integration for all things #Hearties. At the event, it was so gratifying to receive hugs and thanks for both the website upgrade and our online Twitter conversations with Hearties. They were also grateful for likes and retweets of fans’ posts, and especially for the Periscope streaming. Their Hearties friends who could not attend were thrilled to be meeting the attendees via the broadcasts! It was pure love for MPCA/BKTV to be supporting and appreciating their fans and meant the world to us. We also conducted video interviews of fans and produced a video interview (in collaboration with Edify Media) of the executive producers as assets for future stories in the press and on social media.
#Hearties Facebook Admin, Debi Watson-Bailey, GGE’s Nicole Hansen, actress Kristina Wagner and #HFR2016 planner, Kim Ferguson
All in all, the entire event was like attending a real family reunion. People I was introduced to from a distance, over digital media, came to the event from all over. It was like being surrounded by distant relatives from all around the world: my cousins, aunts, uncles and even a family representing with 3 generations from infants to grandparents. Spending time with the matriarch of all things Hearties, best-selling author Janette Oke, who wrote the books that inspired the series When Calls the Heart, reminded me why I loved my own churchgoing, humble and hard-working grandmother so much. They were all just good people coming together and supporting family-friendly entertainment, which in a world of violence and superheroes on TV put me right back to be a little girl watching Little House on the Prairie and then pretending I was Laura Ingalls Wilder. These fans just wanted to go back to a simpler time, and did it by supporting their show and connecting both online and at this amazing event.
From June 15-26th GGE’s awareness campaign helped Aunjanue Ellis’ twitter impressions to skyrocket.
With less than two weeks before ballots were to be cast for for the 2015 Emmy Awards Nominations, Mainstage PR’s Craig Bankey contacted Nicole Hansen of GGE to help his client Aunjanue Ellis with her social media. Ms. Ellis had starred in the BET limited series, The Book of Negroes. She had already been nominated for a People’s Choice Award and was now a contender for a nomination for an Emmy for Best Actress in a Limited Series alongside the likes of actresses Jessica Lang, Frances McDormand and Emma Thompson.
This Tweet posted to @bookofnegroes by Nicole Hansen to promote client, @aunjanuejlt became the top tweet for #FYC campaigns for an entire day.
Ms. Ellis’ Twitter page was unrecognizable as herself since her profile and background photos were of flowers and her bio had no description of her work. GGE set out to “brand” her page so as to be recognizable to her fans. We also set up a facebook page, curated followers, content, retweets and shares. We were thrilled to have the “Top Tweet” three days in a row for our #FYC #EmmyAwards campaign on behalf of our client, Aunjanue Ellis and Book of Negroes limited series on BET and eOne TV.
Our team consulted with Ms. Ellis on continuing to post her social activism thoughts and when her Op-Ed was published by TIME magazine about the tragedy that occurred in Charleston, SC we made sure it was published and shared on social media immediately. Proudly, Ms. Ellis’ twitter profile blossomed in the two weeks we worked with her and we even reached the goal of getting a coveted “VERIFIED” blue check mark. It was a wonderful and exhilarating opportunity and we look forward to seeing Aunjanue this fall when she stars in ABC’s Quanitco.
The Sustainable Business Council Awards reception and ceremony spotlights Southern California companies working daily to create sustainably-focused products and services that reduce ecological impact. We were honored to be made a finalist for the Sustainable Small Business Award, recognizing our sustainable business practices in online marketing, PR and production services. But we noticed something quite unfamiliar to us in the social media world: the sound of silence. For us these days, that just doesn’t happen: How can a great event like this not be promoted?
That’s when GGE’s Nicole Hansen, who served on the SBC Awards Event Steering Committee for its first 3 years, called to ask why. It turns out that the Sustainable Business Council Award had become very popular. With so many entries and high-profile honorees, including Jessica Alba’s The Honest Company as Pioneers in Sustainability and Participant Media for Lifetime Achievement in Sustainability, the all-volunteer organization SBC was too overwhelmed to do social media. Nicole offered her staff to stand-in and give Twitter shout-outs on the @SustainableB account to finalists and sponsors. With dozens upon dozens of companies to mention, we researched each one and added photos from past events to make the Twitter posts more eye-catching. We also spruced up the SBC Twitter profile with a high-res profile logo and background photo, where there had been none. With only 3 days until the evening of the Earth Day event, we just managed to get every name mentioned before the awards.
The night of the ceremony, the GGE technology and social media team went into action. We set up a GGE-sponsored Tweetwall on a big TV screen, so that every guest who tweeted with the hashtag #SBCAwards became part of a live twitter stream. We roamed the event live-tweeting for @SustainableB, taking photos of each sponsor’s booth, featuring their food and wares and tagging them in each post. The sponsors were grateful to be getting some extra social media PR that showed up online and on the Tweetwall. And we were grateful to highlight everyone that was involved in making sustainability a priority for their work.
I would like to send the Green Galaxy Enterprises team a standing ovation for your tremendous support and participation with the 4th Annual SBC Industry Achievement Awards! It was an extreme honor to work with you and I can’t possibly thank you enough for the twitter support and twitter feed during the event! Your team did the most amazing job! You are a major reason the event was such an amazing success!
Executive Director
