Looking at NBC’s ‘Create a Hero’ Tool

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Maybe NBC is expecting the writer’s strike to last a while longer.

This week the network launched its new “Create a Hero” tool on nbc.com. The tool allows fans of the show “Heroes” to select and vote on a new hero that will ultimately be written into the show.

Each week fans vote on different hero attributes. This week, the first of the contest, voters are selecting the most basic attributes of a male and female hero - Place of Birth, Appearance, and Body Type. So far the results seem to reflect the fantasies of fanboys (and fangirls) everywhere - the leading male hero is from the Americas, has a large body and a rugged appearance; the leading female hero is from Europe, with a medium build and an exotic look. These early voting results should be welcome news to NBC - they bear out the tastes and inclinations of “Heroes” viewers.

In many ways, the “Create a Hero” tool ratchets up the stakes for Web 2.0 marketing, allowing the show’s already tight-knit community of viewers to directly impact a nationally broadcast television show.

The tool itself is designed simply. Using a Flash interface, a few comic-booky graphics are laid out for each attribute - users simply click the attribute to choose the one they want. As the weeks progress and votes are tallied, the hero attributes will grow more refined. Two buttons below the attribute selection field allow users to submit their votes and view the current voting results. NBC does not post the total number of votes submitted, only the percentage of votes each attribute receives. Users can also access a mobile version of the tool on web-enabled cell phones and portable devices (”Create a Hero” is sponsored by Sprint). Users can submit an unlimited number of votes.

“Create a Hero” achieves a few key Web 2.0 marketing objectives thanks to its simple design. By providing a rotating and increasingly specific selection of hero attributes, “Create a Hero” promises to keep users coming back week after week. It’s also essential that NBC posts live voting results - the more aware fans are made of vote totals, the more likely they are to try to impact those totals by increased voting. Increased voting, of course, means heightened buzz/interest in “Create a Hero” and in the show itself. Most importantly, the Create a Hero tool provides substantive benefits to the show’s fans - it allows them to directly impact the creative direction of the show (every fan’s dream) and provides another forum for (indirect) fan interaction.

Still, there are key elements that the Create a Hero tool lacks - namely an Email a Friend function or a live RSS feed. Why doesn’t NBC provide these relatively basic features? I’m not sure. But think, for instance, of the extra interest that might be generated if NBC provided an RSS feed of the voting results - fans could post the feed on blogs and in discussion forums, monitor the results and create greater buzz as voting trends emerge. This would not be a bad thing.

It’s important to remember that Web 2.0 marketing campaigns should always enhance the interaction with a product, service, artist, etc. It should be easy for fans to share information about “Create a Hero” without necessarily having to go directly to NBC’s website. After all, the objective is to increase awareness of the show, not increase web hits.