Unfortunately (for networks), these viewers’ media savviness is a double-edged sword. These kinds of viewers have allegiance to the story and characters vs. the brand, and are understandably not so forgiving when they feel they have been manipulated and/or used.

The same fandom power that is drawn to and will avidly promote a show because it represents and empowers underserved demographics will, of course, leave that show if that very element of the plot is downsized or eliminated altogether. That’s the reason they’re watching it in the first place. And, if they feel they have been lied to by The Powers That Be, their enthusiasm used as free promotion, then they will probably be mad about it.

Tapping into the market value of fandom

Variety recently published an article called “Why Understanding Fans is the New Superpower.” In it, guest columnist Susan Kresnicka, a team leader at media branding agency Troika (her team, Research & Insights specializes in understanding fandom), discusses this commercial shift toward creating more fan-driven content:

Over the last two years running the Research and Insights team at Troika, I’ve watched many of our clients come to similar conclusions about the importance – and value – of fans and fandom. Many of them have shifted their language, now targeting ‘fans’ instead of ‘viewers’ or ‘audiences.’ Marketing strategies are increasingly crafted to drive not just breadth but depth of engagement. And the conversation has in large part moved from how to ‘manage’ fans to how to ‘relate’ to fans, even learn from them.

Networks are implementing this belief that viewer engagement can matter over audience size in tangible ways. Working with Troika, Starz recently rebranded itself as “Starz: Obsessable,” a soft relaunch the network seems to hope will make it a home for fandoms — like the sizable one around the book-turned-show Outlander— to form. In an official press release, Starz explains:

Fandom is exploding as a cultural phenomenon. Starz partnered with Hollywood-based branding and marketing agency Troika, whose Research & Insights department specializes in understanding fans and fandom. In a recent quantitative study conducted by Troika, 85% of adults consider themselves to be fans of something and 70% identify as fans of a TV series.

Yep, fandom has market power, and major corporate entities are just starting to embrace that fact. Both in the context of a show like Outlander,which refreshingly pairs literary romantic conventions with prestige drama, and in the context of mainstream pop culture in general, commercial creators are starting to accept that women watch nerdy stuff, too. More than that, they are the ones who are talking about it the most within fandom circles. Victoria McNally outlines it in her MTV article “Why 2016 Is The Year We Need to Stop Pretending Women Aren’t Geeks,” writing: