You don’t need to be chronically online to have your social media feeds overtaken by TV’s Heated Rivalry. My 21-year-old niece, multiple work Teams chats, Donatella Versace, hetero hockey podcasters, Helen Hunt, the NYC mayor’s Snow Day counsel, the Olympic torch relay committee and Naomi Fry in The New Yorker have all declared their intention to “come to the cottage.”
As a gay Canadian who never fully got into hockey but has devoured more than two dozen (mainly hockey-based) MM romances (receipts in my Goodreads), my excitement began with the first announcement last year. (Full disclosure: I attended the same Montreal high school as the show’s writer/director, Jacob Tierney, though our paths since our star turns in a senior production of Fiddler on the Roof have diverged significantly.)
The show’s virality is staggering. Across Youtube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, there have been more than 6,000 dedicated videos uploaded between Nov 15 and Jan 12 averaging 80,000 views each, with more than 6,200 engagements, according to research from the Weber Shandwick Analytics & Insights team using Tubular. A New York Times headline calls the “popularity of ‘Heated Rivalry’ a surprise even to TV executives.” Hits like these also often surprise marketers, who are left flat-footed. Case in point: no one at Harlequin Books foresaw the uptick in demand for Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novels, which are still frustratingly backordered on Amazon until the end of January.
It can be tempting to dismiss such cultural phenomena as flukes, but marketers have much to learn from successes like Heated Rivalry. Here are eight key lessons:
1. Community insights over trends
“What is the point of IP if you’re not respecting the people that made the IP valuable, which is the fans?” – Jacob Tierney (Writer/Director)
To say Heated Rivalry came out of nowhere is to ignore its foundation: a devoted fanbase. The six-novel series sold 650,000 copies before the show premiered, bolstered by active message boards, online reviews, and fan fiction. Tierney, who DMed author Rachel Reid directly to acquire the rights, recognized not just the quality of the material but the fervor of its fans. Marketers too often chase trends instead of tapping into communities with deep engagement. Niche stories can ignite mainstream excitement when handled with care. Heated Rivalry fans have been rewarded for their loyalty, creating a cycle of excitement between long-time readers and new viewers.
2. Passions, not demographics
“You’d never think it, but the baked-in audience for this is women. It’s wine moms. They love this stuff.” – Jacob Tierney
Streaming minutes for Heated Rivalry exploded from 30 million at launch to 327 million during its finale. This growth was driven by cisgender heterosexual women, who make up two-thirds of its audience. This shouldn’t be shocking. Female readers have always dominated the male/male (MM) romance book genre, citing its ability to equalize relationship dynamics and remove patriarchal tropes. Marketers often assume audiences must see themselves in characters. Instead, we must focus on connecting with their values, passions, and interests — not just gender or demographics.
