First they decide on the objective of the survey. What do they want to know and what do they intend to do with it? Usually something triggers it and in this case, it was likely the loud complaints by normally excited fans that was co-signed by the television critics. I mentioned before that they have strong analytics and they know what percentage of fans subscribe and unsubscribe and when. Maybe they saw a change (in the wrong direction) in this case. They monitor social media so they get the gist of what’s going on.
My guess is they most certainly targeted a certain demographic (Female, age, strong viewer and problematic subscriber) but it is hard for them to get at some people because they need the email address. They have it for direct subscribers but for Comcast users or Amazon viewers, they would have to pay for that list. And even then, if the subscription is in the husband’s name, for example, then they might not know if there is a female viewer.
I may ask my friend in Market Research who is also an Outlander fan what she thinks.
Some of the questions seem pretty straight forward but it’s interesting that the areas they covered include characters and how you rate them for books that have been around for 20 years. Not only did they ask book changes but whether you liked them.
But some are the next level down and surprised me a bit
Acting ability-was that the real problem? Or just one problem that was highlighted because they got rid of the spirit of the book and didn’t focus on J/C story. Do you mean to tell me that we’re the only ones who think Sophie’s delivery is monotone?
My hope is that Sam is not hanging around LA just for MPC launch but that he (and Cait) are actually pushing for some changes and gathering more info to support that. For a company that prides itself on analytics, data speaks.
If they get consistent feedback that Jamie and Claire should be the center and stop trying to create a false equivalence with Roger and Bree, then that is yet another co-sign to the critics and social media feedback. If they hear how show Roger is even more unlikable than book Roger and they propped up a toxic relationship, they make some adjustments. Or if people point out that small book changes are good, and sometimes very good (Murtagh), but wasting whole episodes on Frank and Laoghaire and a priest not only do not add value, they take away value.
And I hope they hear in bold how dropping the birth scene with J/C and Bree and leaving no space for Jamie and Bree to really talk was downright criminal and IMO, the worst script decision made in four seasons.
There’s a metric that many companies use called NPS. (Net Promoter Score). You have likely participated in a quick survey in your daily lives that says would you recommend this product or service to someone else? (This is different than when you are asked if that customer service rep answered your problem. That is called transactional NPS, the bigger question is situational NPS.) And while they may not be asking this exact question, I bet they can extrapolate by the social media activity.
I’m glad they are doing it. Somebody cares about what happened in Season 4 and methinks it might be two new producers.
Tori