VICE launched its VICELAND TV channel in the US in 2016 and was planning to launch in the UK/Ireland on Sky in September 2016. To inform its UK marketing and content strategy, VICE used Brandwatch to analyze social media data on how its core millennial audience in the US engaged with the VICELAND launch. The research found that VICELAND audiences skewed male and creative industries, were less interested in intellectual content than core VICE readers, and shows like "Gaycation" generated the most discussion. This informed VICE's decision to promote hosts more and focus on music/sports content for the UK launch.

1. © Brandwatch.com
Case Study/
VICE
Using Market Insights
to Launch VICELAND TV
V I C E
LAND

2. VICE/ Case Study 02
FOUNDED
1994
CORPORATE
HEADQUARTERS
NewYork
About VICE
VICE is the world’s preeminent youth media company and content
creation studio. Launched in 1994, VICE now operates in over 30
countries and distributes its programming to viewers across digital,
linear, mobile, film and socials. VICE includes an international network
of digital channels; a weekly and daily news programming partnership
with HBO; a television and feature film production studio; a magazine;
a record label; an in-house creative services agency; and a newly
launched TV network, VICELAND.
ABOUT VICELAND
VICELAND is an international television network owned and
programmed by global youth brand, VICE Media. Launched in the US
and Canada in February 2016 under the direction of Academy Award-
winning writer/director Spike Jonze, the channel has since confirmed
it’s plans to launch into 51 new territories throughout 2016 and 2017.
To date, VICELAND channels are broadcast in the U.S., Canada, U.K.,
Ireland, France, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia.
The VICELAND network extends to both linear and digital platforms,
creating high quality, original programming produced in-house, as
well as commissioned globally and locally. Everything at VICELAND
has a reason to exist and a strong perspective. Boasting Emmy
Award-nominated shows, the channel has built a reputation for
housing culturally relevant content for young people, with strong
international perspectives covering music, food, news, technology,
sex, fashion and more.
VICELAND’s current programming includes Gaycation with Ellen
Page; Black Market with Michael K. Williams; Fuck That’s Delicious
with Action Bronson; Woman with Gloria Steinem; and Eddie Huang’s
Huang’s World.

3. VICE/ Case Study 03
Following the success of the VICELAND TV launch in the U.S in March 2016, VICE announced that it would
launch its VICELAND TV channel in partnership with Sky in the UK and Ireland.
Ahead of the September 2016 launch, VICE was seeking to better understand how its core audience of
millennials watched TV and engaged with TV show content.
Working with Brandwatch, VICE made use of social data to research and evaluate the reaction to the launch
of the channel in the US earlier in the year. The findings of this research would be used to inform the tone
and content of the marketing plan for the UK launch, potentially impacting editorial strategy, and could be
utilized by commercial teams in conversations with advertisers.
While VICE has an established editorial strategy, launching a new TV channel was always going to be a
different proposition.
How do its current audience interact with TV? Do they watch live TV or VOD (video on demand)? Do VICE
readers have a dual-screening habit? What kind of programs did they watch? These were just some of the
questions VICE wanted to answer.
One of the main goals VICE had was to find out how its audiences interacted online when watching TV.
Were there specific shows that resonated best at a specific time? Could VICE uncover some data from
listening, which potentially influenced its scheduling? These were all end goals that could potentially
influence the overall launch of the channel.
Using data from Twitter would allow VICE to identify how users view TV, first and foremost whether they
watch it live, or using VOD services.
Twitter was the first source of data for VICE, because of how the platform works alongside TV. VICE knew
that to conduct this research project on Twitter would require the assistance of a powerful social intelligence
platform. VICE turned to Brandwatch to help with this research.
VICE and Brandwatch

4. VICE/ Case Study 04
Brandwatch doesn’t just have an amazingly powerful platform for accessing and analyzing social data,
but also has a dedicated team of specialist analysts ready to conduct bespoke research and provide
insightful reporting.
The Brandwatch research services team worked with VICE to create a brief that met the key objectives.
This approach would provide VICE with the most streamlined and actionable report possible.
The data parameters for the report would be:
Period measured:
1st June – 31st May 2016
Markets/languages:
Posts and engagements from within the UK and US.
Author panels were created using Brandwatch Audiences, as well as Query creation to segment:
• UK Authors self-identifying as millennials (e.g. “as a millennial I feel…”), mentioning their age (e.g. “It’s
my 19th birthday”) or describing a life event commonly associated with individual within the millennial
age bracket (“e.g. Studying at university....”).
• Two lists of UK and US Authors that had shared VICE content/articles within the analyzed time period.
• US authors engaging with VICELAND and its programmes
• General UK authors for comparisons.
Any similarities/differences between the conversations of existing audiences and the millennial targets
would be the source of actionable insight for shaping marketing/content strategy and potentially some
editorial content.
The Research Methodology

5. VICE/ Case Study 05
VICE UK Reader Profiling
The results of the report identified the following characteristics around the VICE UK reader.
• Likely to be male and from the older end of the millennial segment (25-34 year-olds).
• Interested in current political affairs and cultural hobbies such as books, fine arts and technology.
• Works within the creative industries overall, and more skewed towards professions in software or
journalism than millennials.
• The profile ‘likely to be male and from within the millennial segment’ was very accurate and compared
with VICE’s own internal personas.
“This research effectively matched our own internal insights and traffic data
exactly, which set the tone of the report.”
TIM GRIMES, PLATFORM MANAGER, VICE.
The Potential Viewer of VICELAND
The results of the report identified the following characteristics around the viewer of VICELAND:
• Strongly skewed towards towards males.
• More likely to work in creative industries.
• Shows less interest in hobbies that could be perceived as more intellectual, as compared with the
core VICE reader, and be more interested in topics such as music, sports, health, fitness and gaming.
• UK VICELAND readers more likely than US VICELAND readers to be students.
Understanding how the Author Demographics, (general population, millennial and VICE readers) chose their
TV viewing was important for VICE.
Overall, the patterns of genre preference between the three author demographics were fairly similar,
however, VICE readers were less likely to discuss reality shows than both millennials and the general
population and more likely to discuss drama shows. This effectively allowed VICE to tailor its strategies to
focus on driving conversation around specific shows broadcast at specific times.
The Results

6. VICE/ Case Study 06
From a channel perspective the report established VICE readers were most likely to engage with Comedy
Central and Dave, which could ultimately help VICE in a future targeting methods, from an organic and
paid perspective.
•MTV •ITV2 •E4 •DISNEY •DAVE •COMEDY CENTRAL
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
GENERAL
MILLENNIALS
VICE READERS
MOST DISCUSSED TV CHANNELS
47% 30% 9% 6%
41% 36% 10% 8%
33% 40% 15% 5%
4% 4%
3% 4%
2% 3%
•GAME OF THRONES •MATCH OF THE DAY •THE WALKING DEAD •BIG BROTHER •HOLLYOAKS
•THE FLASH •THE ONLY WAY IS ESSEX •GOGGLEBOX •HOUSE OF CARDS •OTHER
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
GENERAL
MILLENNIALS
VICE READERS
MOST DISCUSSED TV SHOWS
31% 7% 6% 6%
22% 8% 7% 6% 7%
21% 13%
14%
14%
10% 7% 6% 5% 5%
4% 3%3%
4%
4%
11%
11%
14%
3%
These two charts provide a breakdown of the most discussed TV shows and channels for the three
audience groups. TV shows with low overall conversation volumes have been greyed out in the respective
chart. Overall, share of voice for TV shows and channels tended to see millennials positioned somewhere
between the general public and VICE readers in preference.
Identifying the Key Channels where VICE
could Explore Established Audiences.
Amongst the three audience groups, Brandwatch allowed VICE to identify the most frequently discussed
TV shows and channels. Channel 4’s Gogglebox for example, over indexed versus the general population
for both millennials and VICE readers, suggesting that these viewers could be both potential and future
viewers of VICELAND.

7. VICE/ Case Study 07
Memorable Hashtags
Hashtags are one of the most important factors when it comes to driving conversations online. The report
allowed VICE to identify the largest naturally occurring topics within the TV show conversation.
It became apparent amongst all three groups that having a short and memorable hashtag helped group
conversations together and drive audience members to interact with each other, for example specifically
with CBB (Celebrity Big Brother) and MOTD (Match of the Day).
Since the report, VICE has introduced similar hashtags for shows, such as “King of the Road”, or #KOTR.
VICE READERS MILLENNIALS GENERAL
GAMEOFTHRONES
SEASON 6
SEASON 6
SEASON 5
GOT ATLANTIC
CHANCE TO WIN
MOTD2
TONIGHT AT 10PM
LEICESTER
PREMIER LEAGUE
FIRST MOTD
CBBMOTD RUNNING ORDER
WATCH
NEXT SEASON
FINALLY
10PMLEFT
SERIES
WEEK
PEOPLEMISS
PRETTY
GUYS
TV
NEXT
9PM
FIND GOOD
LOVETIME
WATCHING
MOMENT
SHOW
FAV
TOMORROW
GAME OF THRONES SEASON 6 PLAY
TWD
COMING
HOUSEGREATEST
LOT
PREMIER LEAGUE BITS
TONIGHT
CBB
WARNING BBC FOOTBALL
VIDEO
EPISODELCFC
SEASON 6
MOTD2
READY TEAM
NEW SERIES
FANS
LCFCTONIGHT
SHOW
PLAYVIDEO
WATCH
SPECIAL
E4
FORGET
10PM
ARROW
NEXT
LIVERPOOL
WATCHINGTODAYGREAT LEGEND
GOALPOINTS
MOTD2
TWDHATE
LOVE
SEASON FINALE
MOMENT
TIME REMEMBER
LONG
DAYPREMIERTRAILER
EPISODE
GOT SEASON 6
BBCFOOTBALL
TRIB
9PM
FLASH
HYPOCRISY
CATCH
GOT ATLANTIC
LCFC
WAITING
JON SNOWCBB
SERIESCOMING
GIVE
The topics clouds above reflect the largest naturally occurring topics for the general public, millennials and
VICE readers within retweets of TV show conversation.

8. VICE/ Case Study 08
Share of Voice
Before the launch of the UK channel, VICELAND had been broadcasting for over six months in the US. Using
Brandwatch allowed VICE to take learnings from an already established audience, specifically on how users
were mentioning and discussing shows which would be broadcast within the UK.
It became apparent that “Gaycation” with Ellen Page was the most discussed show, allowing VICE to shift
some editorial focus to this specific show.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
POST-LAUNCH
PRE-LAUNCH
OVERALL
BREAKDOWN OF CONVERSATION AROUND VICELAND PROGRAMMES
•WOMAN
•KING OF THE ROAD
•FLOPHOUSE
•HUANG'S WORLD
•VICE WORLD
OF SPORTS
•BALLS DEEP
•STATES OF UNDRESS
•CYBERWAR
•VICE GUIDE TO FILM
•DEAD SET ON LIFE
•BLACK MARKET
•VICE DOES AMERICA
•GAYCATION
•FUCK THAT'S
DELICIOUS
•NOISEY
•WEEDIQUETTE
25% 12% 10%
21% 5% 9% 5%
25% 12%
13%
15%
13% 10% 5%
4% 4%4%
4% 4%4%
4% 4%3%
17%
29%
15%
The chart above shows the a breakdown of conversation around the VICELAND programmes overall, and
before and after the channel launch. Approximately 57% of of all VICELAND mentions included mentions of
the channel’s programs.

9. VICE/ Case Study 09
Hosts
Analyzing VICELAND conversation in the US highlighted that the show hosts were able to influence
huge volumes of mentions, with key peaks in overall volume following that of the program, suggesting
that encouraging host discussions and interactions would help VICE’s TV launch reach new audiences.
Ellen Page, Michael K Williams and Action Bronson are just some of the key influencers.
TREND OVER TIME FOR VICELAND US HOSTS
0
GAYCATION LAUNCH
FUCK THAT’S DELICIOUS
LAUNCH
WEEDIQUETTE
LAUNCH
ANCIENT ALIENS
•ACTION BRONSON •EDDIE HUANG •ELLEN PAGE •GLORIA STEINEM
•IAN DANIEL •KRISHNA AND AVOLU •THOMAS MORTON
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
JUN 2016MAY 2016APR 2016MAR 2016FEB 2016JAN 2016
%MENTIONS
The chart above shows how conversation around the most talked-about program hosts peaked over the
time period studied.

10. VICE/ Case Study 10
Overall the research report identified insightful audience analysis for VICE. The summary of the key findings
and overall targeting strategy for the potential VICELAND viewer were;
• Utilize and collaborate with hosts on Twitter, as these were a key driver of conversation for
VICELAND US.
• Areas of broader interest for potential VICELAND viewers are music, sports, gaming and fitness.
• Target VICE readers in the UK further than was undertaken for the US launch, in order to convert a
higher percentage of this highly engaged authors. Avoid alienating the core VICE audience by limiting
content on this channel to the more intellectual/cultural shows. If sharing content about some of the
more light hearted shows consider using phrases such as “guilty pleasure”.
• Consider specific targeting of students interested in VICE on Twitter for some of the less intellectual/
serious programmes, as this is a larger potential audience for the UK than the US.
Social listening is traditionally used within the marketing department at VICE, but the findings of the report
were shared across the editorial teams and senior management within VICE andVICELAND. This highlights
how social data can have relevance and promenance and value to be shared across an organization.
Results and Reactions

11. VICE/ Case Study 11
Brandwatch
Brandwatch is the world’s leading social
intelligence company. Brandwatch Analytics
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millions of online conversations every day and
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The Brandwatch platform is used by over 1,200
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Increasing its worldwide presence, the company
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brandwatch.com
Brandwatch. Now You Know.
VICE
VICE is the world’s preeminent youth media
company and content creation studio. Launched
in 1994, VICE now operates in over 30 countries
and distributes its programming to viewers
across digital, linear, mobile, film and socials.
VICE includes an international network of digital
channels; a weekly and daily news programming
partnership with HBO; a television and feature film
production studio; a magazine; a record label; an
in-house creative services agency; and a newly
launched TV network, VICELAND.
vice.com | viceland.com
About

12. www.brandwatch.com | @Brandwatch | press office | contact
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