#arrow marketing

[jbuffyangel]

Every so often this show is promoted correctly and we must rejoice in the small victories.

[jbuffyangel]

Arrow Season 5 Marketing

Well... you voted friends! My Marketing Poll had the third highest respondent rate ever, so that tells me this is a subject matter you are very interested in. It was an overwhelming YES as well (86%). So... now I have to write this thing. HA! I apologize to the 14% who voted "No."  AVERT YOUR EYES!

In all seriousness, I know Arrow's Season 5 marketing is a hot button issue. I've heard arguments from both sides. I agree and disagree with both sides. I will try to be fair, but at the end of the day, this is just my opinion. I am certainly not telling anyone what to think or do. Just adding my two cents to the conversation, sending it out into the Internet abyss to you good people, and having some fun with gifs.

Let’s dig in...

How Did We Get Here?

There's a lot of angry and frustrated Olicity fans right now, but before we get into that I want to discuss how we got here. 

In the beginning, Olicity was the "no chance in hell" ship. Felicity Smoak was a guest starring character used for "comic relief only" or so the other side said. More importantly, she was not comic canon and Oliver was absolutely going to end up with his comic book long time love the Black Canary (aka Laurel Lance).

But the Olicity fandom trucked along. We celebrated every look Stephen Amell tossed Emily Bett Rickard's way. We rejoiced in their electric chemistry.  We championed and promoted our ship online.

When the Season 2 finale aired it was an answer to a long time question. 

No. We were not imagining anything. The writers were as invested in Olicity as we were. They picked a lane and it was our lane! By doing so, they chucked "comic canon" out the window. It was a bold move and they pissed a lot of comic book fans off. But us? We were thrilled.

The Arrow Season 2 finale was a bit... confusing. Mostly because Arrow pulled a fast one. 

Mostly because, if you were anything like me, you didn't know the title of the episode was “Unthinkable.” You didn't know that handing Felicity over to Slade was Oliver's "unthinkable act." 

Or at least you didn't know that until Guggie confirmed it on Twitter. Stephen Amell was blitzing the press very soon after the finale and reassuring fans that Oliver didn't lie.

Season 3 SDCC was Olicity's coming out party. It was a mega PR blitz. The cast and writers were finally able to talk about this amazing relationship as the core love story of Arrow. 

Stephen Amell was able to gush with abandon, even KRESIBERG was spiraling. IT. WAS. GLORIOUS. The fandom felt heard. The fandom felt reaffirmed. We were deliriously happy.

However, Oliver and Felicity spent nearly all of Season 3 apart. 

They ran away together at the end of the season. So when the Season 4 promos aired... we were flipping out. OLIVER WAS PULLING OUT A RING. 

This was it. Our season to finally see Olicity together romantically as a functioning and happy couple saving the world. Arrow was throwing typical TV conventions to the wind. They were doing the unexpected and marrying their fan favorite couple IN THE FOURTH SEASON. And why? Because this is Arrow. This is Olicity. The entire relationship was built on the unexpected.

We got seven episodes. Well... eight. I'll count 4x09. Eight freaking episodes of "happy" before Arrow threw a bomb in the works . Oliver lied to Felicity about the existence of his son.  And no, the seven additional episodes it took for Felicity to find out and for Olicity to break up don't count. They were done the minute Oliver lied in the 4x08 crossover and we all knew it.

Fans were furious. Including yours truly. We've discussed the Baby Mama storyline ad nauseum and I'm not going to do it again here. However, no matter how hard Arrow tried to sell this storyline (seriously, Oliver had a different reason for lying to Felicity like every week) the fans weren't buying it. It was an inorganic storyline shoehorned into an organic couple.  In other words, the Baby Mama storyline was a hot mess and grinded Season 4 to a painful stall.

Even though Arrow built reunion beats into the story, they failed to reconcile Olicity by the Season 4 finale. The finale was a fairly ho hum (in my opinion) "pause." Arrow wanted to carry over most of the character's S4 storylines into Season 5, including Olicity's, so they left most of the characters unresolved. Including Olicity.

Compared to the Season 3 and Season 4 marketing, the Season 5 marketing for Olicity has been subdued at best or flat out negative to some. Wendy Mericle and the cast have stuck very firmly to the word "ambiguous" to describe Olicity in Season 5 and even went as far as saying Arrow was "writing away from romance" in some articles.

It  left some in the Olicity fandom very confused and angry. Why aren't they giving fans any hope? Is it because there is no hope to be had? Is Arrow no longer invested in Olicity? Are they downplaying Olicity to market to the angry comic book fans and ignoring us? Don't they care about the Olicity fandom anymore? To put it bluntly, it's left many wondering..

The Point of Marketing

Many in the fandom have said the Season 5 marketing isn't giving the fandom any hope. Many have said the Season 5 marketing is depressing and dragging us down. I absolutely understand why people  say that and it may very well be true.

However, for someone who has studied marketing and built a career in the field, this is like nails on a chalk board to me. The point of marketing isn't to “give hope” or to “build a fandom up.” The point of marketing it to SELL and there are a myriad of ways to do that. Not all of those ways will be “happy” approaches. That doesn't mean, however, that Arrow isn't marketing to the Olicity fandom.

The Decision Makers

First things first. Who decides how Arrow should be marketed? It's a good question. I don't necessarily know the answer. However, I'm going to take an educated guess.

Marc Guggenheim has repeatedly said he and Wendy Mericle don't control Arrow's promotion. Many of us assume this is in reference to Arrow's promos. However, I believe it's a broader spectrum than just episode promos.

Every year there is a synchronized marketing campaign to promote Arrow's new season. There are three primary avenues in which Arrow is marketed: television ads, interviews/articles and social media. Across the board the message is the same. 

Therefore, I believe there is a top down approach to Arrow's marketing. Meaning, it's the CW network that decides how Arrow will be marketed for that year. Wendy and Marc may provide input, but my bet is the network is calling the shots. The network determines the approach and approves the talking points (or spoilers). Then it's up to the cast and crew to sell it.

The CW is a corporation no different than Coca Cola or Nike. In fact, they are part of a much larger media conglomerate. Their product is television. Arrow is simply one product in a long time of products to choose from – no different than any other corporation.

Most corporations have marketing departments that determine the sales approach. Then, the sales representatives go out and sell the product using that approach. Wendy and Marc play an integral role in creating Arrow, but when they are promoting Arrow, I view them more like sales reps. Their primary goal in an interview is to sell Arrow.

However, that doesn't mean they crafted the message, or at least they may not be the primary driving force behind it. This feels the most logical to me. Arrow is simply a wheel in a much bigger cog. Controlling the marketing allows the network to control how their products are sold. It also allows them to streamline their products in a cohesive approach to maintain the CW brand.

Who's the target?

What I wouldn't give for a peek at the CW market research, but since that's never going to happen, we'll just have to make do. The number one rule of marketing is: Know your audience.

When we are examining the marketing for Arrow we have to ask, “Who they are marketing to?” Are they marketing to the Olicity fandom? Well... I'm going give you an answer that sounds like a non answer, but I have an answer for my non answer.

Yes and no.

A Whole Lotta “No”

The CW network is a bit of a strange bird when compared to the other television networks. I've always found their business model a little fascinating, so I've done a fair amount of research. The key demographic most networks target are adults somewhere between the ages of 18-49. This group tends to have more disposable income. Therefore, they are more desirable to advertisers.

The CW built a very strong base with women in the 18-49 demo with high concept genre shows like The Vampire Diaries and Gossip Girl. However, growth in this demo became more stagnate as these types of shows went off air and aged. I believe the network determined that the demo with the most growth potential would be men 18-49 years old. After all, they are the other half of the population. Man, those marketing execs at the CW are geniuses!

Enter Arrow. The CW kept the high concept genre approach, but redesigned their TV lineup around superhero shows, which are typically popular with men... cause comics. I guess. I seem to recall watching a whole bunch of Batman in my youth, but apparently I am a statistical anomaly. 

Arrow launched The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl bringing in an entirely new audience to the network.

The marketing for Arrow has always been a bit of a head scratcher for me. Every time I think Arrow should market a certain way... they never do. Sigh.

However, when I look at it through the lens of the 18-49 male demo it makes a lot more sense. For example, Oliver and Felicity could spend 40 minutes talking about their feelings and the CW will still build a promo around the five minutes Oliver is kicking ass.

Arrow was sold into syndication this year. It was bought by a male dominated network – TNT. This could explain some of what's going on with the Arrow Season 5 marketing. 

If The CW is smart (which is debatable) they should use TNT to draw viewers to the current season of Arrow. Hence the “Back to Basics" campaign. The network clearly connected Arrow Season 5 to Arrow Season 1, making it easy for viewers to make the jump with minimal confusion. Arrow even went as far as repeating scenes from the pilot in their Season 5 premiere. 

Subtle guys.  It was the marketing equivalent of Connect The Dots.

The explanation for the toned down approach to the Olicity romance is simple – they weren't targeting us. Again, I don't have access to all that fancy marketing research, but I'm willing to bet Olicity is popular with women. It's not that men don't like the romance, but most men probably focus on the action/villains/Oliver Queen kicking ass aspects of the show.

Side note: it wouldn't be total madness to ramp up the romance in the promos, oh CW Marketing Exec. Word on the street is sex sells. Any male I've met finds the topic fascinating. It's always in the top five on their Life Priorities List. Have you seen Emily Bett Rickard's legs? Those legs can sell a whole bunch of stuff. So why don't you slap up a sexy Arrow ad and see if the boys (and probably a fair amount of girls) pay attention?  I bet they do. Call it a hunch.

This season is a bit of an anomaly.  The CW has been targeting the male 18-49 demo for several years. Arrow is five years old. The audience is the audience. Marketing is not necessarily about growth anymore, but retention. However, the syndication deal at TNT gave The CW a unique opportunity to draw in new viewers. Hence, the emphasis on action and de-emphasis on romance when compared to S3 or S4. 

This does not mean the network or the executive producers are targeting the comic f*ckboys who spew hate. I'm not a big fan of generalization (even though I just had to make a bunch of them due to lack of access. All I need is one little peak at the data CW! Please!)  But I digress. The CW has a much bigger target than just Arrow fans on the internet. Not all comic book fans are haters. Not all men are either. I think what Arrow is going after is viewers like my husband. Nick enjoys Olicity, but he wasn't exactly disappointed Arrow was refocusing on the action.

I don’t have a problem with The CW going after the male demographic, but maybe just don’t piss off your female demographic while you do it.

Wait! There's "Yes" Too!

That's not to say Arrow/The CW are ignoring the Olicity fandom. We can have both – action and romance. Arrow is simply targeting different market segments via different mediums. As I said there are three main forums where the network markets Arrow: promos, interviews and social media. 

The internet is the Olicity domain. I've noticed a much stronger Olicity focus in interviews and social media versus promos. Olicity is one of the primary focuses, if not the focus, of most online articles and interviews. Some may call it click bait and certainly there are websites that do that. However, when E!Online, Entertainment Weekly, TVLine, Hollywood Reporter, BuzzFeed, Variety and TV Guide are all focusing on Olicity it's because they recognize there is an audience for it. The network realizes it too because it's pushing Olicity as a focus in these mediums.

The “White Noise” Effect

So, if they are marketing to us then WHAT IS UP WITH THE MARKETING? Yes, an extremely fair question because...

I'm willing to stipulate that the Arrow marketing for Season 5 falls short of puppies and rainbows. I'm not quite as willing to categorize it as “negative” as some. I'm more comfortable with “vague.” However, let's just say it is negative. Why on earth would the CW go this route?

As I said, there are a myriad of marketing approaches and not all of them are happy. Look at any episode promo of Grey's Anatomy. They are constantly playing the “Who will survive?” card. Could we construe that as negative? Sure! Somebody is going to die. However, ABC is trying to create suspense with that approach. They are trying create curiosity. They are even trying to create worry. They want to create a question that only the show can answer. It's the “I need to know” effect. Think Walking Dead and Neagan's bat. 

They are trying to get people to watch the friggin show.

The CW is no different than any other network. They are trying to get people to watch the friggin show. The marketing needs to tease the show without telling the audience what's going to happen. For some reason, networks believe if people know what's going to happen they won't watch. They're silly like that.

Enter spoilers. I think the network works with the executive producers on the storylines for the season and then crafts the marketing message. This determines what information they will or won't release to the public. What they are releasing to the public are the tidbits they feel will create interest.

However, the spoilers can't spoil too much. They need to peak the audience's curiosity without satisfying it. This is the “information” they hand out to TVLine, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, etc. These media outlets then use said information to draw traffic to their websites.

Spoilers give the audience information, but they also create disinformation. In other words, while the spoilers may be true, they are often misleading. It's sort of like Arrow is waving something shiny here, so we don't notice what's going on over there. This is how the show and the network protect the element of surprise.

Let's look at Season 3's marketing. Stephen Amell discussed the “one woman” in Oliver Queen's life and he wasn't going rouge for a change. These were approved talking points at SDCC (the debut party for the show's promotional plan). We weren't imagining things. This wasn't the fandom making a big deal out of nothing. We were on the damn docket y'all. 

The cast and crew promoted the Olicity date. They were going for Italian! 

The promo spoiled the kiss. PUPPIES AND RAINBOWS EVERYWHERE.

However, Stephen and the executive producers made sure to include “qualifiers” such as... “Olicity is going on a date, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are going to be together.”

The spoilers did their job. While we were all focused on heart eyes, kisses and pretty red dresses, Arrow was able to keep “the twist” a surprise: 

Olicity breaks up before they even get started in 3x01 

and Sara dies. Then, we embarked on basically 21 episodes of pure Olicity misery.

Let's look at Season 4's marketing. 

After spending nearly an entire season apart, Arrow slapped Olicity together in the S3 finale and gave us a two minute happy ending with Oliver and Felicity running away together. 

At SDCC, they promoted a “lighter tone,” and a “domesticated Olicity.” We got vacation photos, omelets, morning sex and... HOLY FREAKING CRAP IS THAT A RING???? 

After a banner year as Oliver's primary love interest in S3, Emily Bett Rickards was treated like the female lead she actually is at SDCC. PUKING PUPPIES AND RAINDOWS.

However, Stephen and the executive producers made sure to include qualifiers. For example, "They’re gonna be very happy at the start of season four, and what we really want to do this season is explore what it’s like to try to have a relationship in the Arrow cave, and outside.” 

While we were all celebrating an impending wedding, Arrow had already written the episode where Oliver lies to Felicity about his son. 

While we were all looking at shiny rings... 

Oliver and Felicity were already over.

And thus, the CW and Arrow successfully create what I like to call the “White Noise” effect. Meaning the spoilers disorient the fans enough that we don't see what's coming down the line (or at least most of us don't). The spoilers are truthful, but misleading. The “White Noise” peaks curiosity without satisfying it.

Then, there are times when cast and executive producers flat out lie to keep surprises in the show a secret as well. We only need to point to “Who's in the grave?” and Stephen, Marc and Wendy's flat out denial that they didn't know who it was. It could be Diggle. It could be FELICITY. 

So much “white noise” it was like was being in a fucking blizzard.

I know it sounds counter intuitive, but EPs lie/mislead all the time. If they told us the truth they know we wouldn't be as invested because the story would already have been told. (thanks to my soul sister Jenn for this genius statement).

The Crack Down

Normally, someone (either the EPs or the cast) spoils a little more than the approved talking points. At some point, someone always goes rogue, but not this year.  The cast and EPs have been almost religious in sticking to their "ambiguous" message save for a few moments.

I think one of the reasons why Arrow isn't giving up the goods on Olicity this year is because too much has spoiled in the past. They spoiled the first kiss and the engagement in the promo. Then, there's all the stuff that leaked online last year - the proposal, Felicity's wheelchair and who's in the grave. There was pretty much nothing Arrow was able to keep under wraps.

So, I think the absolute rigidity in their promotion reflects a desire to crack down on leaks. They are batting down the hatches so to speak in order to maintain some of the season's surprises.

So Why Aren't You Mad Jen?

Personally, I don't think Arrow is talking about Olicity any less. They are still the primary focus of nearly every article or at least the first topic addressed. However, the cast and executive producers have stuck firmly to the “ambiguous” tagline. Seriously, they've said it a thousand times. At this point, I think Marc and Wendy are using a thesaurus for “ambiguous” synonyms.  In fact, I think that's what lands Wendy into trouble most of the time. She's trying to say the same thing 50 different ways, so statements are occasionally poorly phrased. A lot poorly phrased.

There were no major goodies in the promos, except for Felicity kissing an unidentified male. Oh and by the way... Felicity's got a boyfriend, so there stands a high probability she's not kissing Oliver.

They've promoted episode 5 as a big Olicity episode. The talking point? “It will give the audience clarity.” Whoa. Settle down there. I can't handle the excitement.

Overall, it's a fairly muted approach. We got fiery and vibrant scarlet red in the S3 & S4 promotion. Season 5 is more like merlot.  It's the same color family, it is still red, but it lacks punch.

That said, the cast and executive producers have used those trusty qualifiers again. Every statement has the get out of jail free cards like “not necessarily, “maybe,” “we'll have to wait and see,” etc. It keeps the spoilers vague. It also keeps them true.

For example, Wendy & Marc didn't say Oliver and Felicity would stay happy in Season 4. They said Olicity would TRY. If they stayed happy then their statement is true. However, if they were unhappy then their statement is also true.

Stephen said Olicity "wouldn't necessarily” be together in Season 3. If Olicity was together in Season 3, Stephen's statement is still true. If Olicity broke up in 3x01, Stephen's statement is still true. Aren't qualifiers neat?

So, no. I'm not mad because I don't see any difference between Arrow's Season 5 marketing approach when compared to Season 3 and Season 4. Why on earth would the CW change their approach? It's worked successfully for the last four years. It's simple. They wouldn't.

These are all spoilers that contain truth, but are misleading enough to confuse viewers. When I read what Marc and Wendy are saying to TV Guide, TVLine, Entertainment Weekly, etc... all I see is snow. It's the same “White Noise” as every other year.

If you really want to know what promotional campaign pissed me off the most it wouldn't be Season 5. In retrospect, it would be Season 4. The CW used that ring in the promo to pull Olicity fans to the show, when the show had absolutely ZERO intention of marrying their fan favorite couple that year. No hope in the promotion sucks, but false hope is way worse. I'm pointing the finger at The CW just as much as the writers, if not more, because I think the network has a whole lot to do with Arrow still hammering the “while they/won't they” approach to Olicity.

I'm trying to learn from past mistakes when it comes to Arrow's marketing. Instead of getting excited about what shiny distractions Arrow is waving over here, I'm trying to keep my eye on what's going on over THERE. I'm not focusing on what marketing is telling me. I'm focusing on what Arrow is showing me in the episode.

Here's why: the primary driving force in the marketing approach is the STORY. If Arrow is trying to keep a negative Olicity twist a surprise, then they go positive. We have TWO YEARS worth of evidence of this very fact.

So, it stands to reason that if Arrow is trying to keep a positive twist a surprise then they would go negative. I've taken my lumps in the story before and, quite frankly, I'm fine taking them in TVLine articles this time around if it means the outcome in the show might be different.

The Spoiler Problem

Here's the problem: the general viewing audience and fandom tend to take spoilers extremely literally. In other words, they view spoilers as the Bible. Spoilers aren't teases. They are absolute certainty.

So, when Arrow promos an Olicity kiss or an engagement ring, the audience is thrilled and happily tunes in. When Arrow says Olicity might not necessarily reunite this season... the TV goes off. Most viewers don't put that much thought into it. So, while the approach is the same, the vague/negative spoilers had an adverse effect that I don't believe the network/EPs anticipated.

The Story Problem

The spoiler problem has simply compounded the source of the real problem – the story. The Baby Mama storyline was a hot mess and vehemently disliked by most of the Arrow audience and critics. Yes, if the intent was to break Olicity up, then “lie” was the least messy of all the options. However, that doesn't make it a good story.

Arrow swerved hard in Season 4 and it left many fans angry and upset. The S5 promotion hasn't given them enough of a reason to come back to the show. It's simply compounds their primary issue, which is that Arrow should have never broken Oliver and Felicity up in the first place.

The Ratings

Season 5 premiered to record low ratings. They dropped slightly again in the 5x03. Is this because Olicity fans aren't tuning in? Possibly.

Fandoms are always quick to claim credit for ratings drop. The L*uriver/LL fandom is trumpeting their power because Arrow killed LL. The Olicity fandom is trumpeting our power because Olicity is broken up and Arrow hammered the “ambiguous” nail too hard. Hurricanes, presidential debates, Major League Baseball games, affiliates dropping the CW in cities like, oh say, CHICAGO, are just “excuses.”

Here’s the problem with ratings. They don’t tell you why people are watching. It could be all of the factors listed above, it could be none of them. We don’t know.

However, the online fandom is but a percentage of Arrow’s overall audience. I would imagine the number of Nielsen families who are also part of the online fandom is even smaller. If you didn’t watch Arrow because of a lack of Olicity promotion or Laurel Lance’s death - that’s fine. However, unless you are a Nielsen family that choice isn’t reflected in the ratings. It’s an archaic system, but it’s the one we got!

As for the potential non fandom factors - I don't think they are excuses. They may have played a role in the ratings drop. Nearly every show on television has had a ratings drop. I also think there aren't as many people watching live television.

However, I'm not discounting the Olicity factor. This is one of Arrow's most popular, if not the most popular, elements. I think Arrow and the network grossly underestimated the dislike for the S4 Baby Mama storyline and they didn't give fans enough of a reason to come back via promotion. Not to mention, the driving force in the majority of their promotional mediums (interviews/articles and  social media) is OLICITY (minus episode promos). 

Could it be LL related? Sure. Do I think it is? 

Marc has repeatedly said they can't market to only comic book fans, because there simply isn't enough of them to support a globally televised show. LL was a fan favorite character by a much smaller segment of fans. I simply don't believe there is enough of them out there, not even in the general viewing audience, to impact the ratings significantly. But that’s just me.

Am I biased? Yes. Do I have any statistical analysis to support any of these opinions? No. Am I going to get any statistical analysis to support this opinion? No. I'm going with my gut instinct here and, ya know, I'm really okay with that.

Does the ratings drop mean Arrow will be canceled? NO. I cannot stress how much no. 

Unfortunately, people apply the business principles of ABC or CBS to the CW and they shouldn't. The CW has an entirely different business model than the other networks.

Mark Pedowitz has repeatedly said he doesn’t care that much about ratings. When the Big Four is scoring 10 million plus viewers and 3.2 demo… those are numbers the CW just can’t compete with. So they don’t even bother. 

The CW is focused on high concept genre series they can market to younger demos. They want complete series (for syndication) that they can sell internationally and through digital distribution companies like Netflix.

Reign, who's ratings are in the tank, scored another season because the CW wants a complete series to sell to Netflix. It was also close to the minimum 88 episode threshold for syndication. So uh... yeah. Bring on Season 4 Reign. 

Sweet mother of Zeus Beauty and the Beasts went four seasons. Their ratings were so low I think Nielson stopped tracking them. (Kidding) And yet... the CW gave them a summer slot! 

The Vampire Diaries and The Originals are also wonderful examples of sucktastic ratings and continued survival.

Despite Arrow's drop in the ratings it is still one of the network's strongest rated series. It is also the anchor for Berlanti's superhero universe. Arrow will go on for as long as Stephen Amell wants to do it and he's signed to a seven year contract.

If Stephen wants out, and the CW doesn't want to release him, he has to buy out his contract. I'm sure he's doing fine with cons and wine, but homeboy isn't doing that great. If the CW wants to end Arrow prior to 7 years, then they'd release the stars from their contracts, but those ratings come nowhere CLOSE to cancellation zone for the CW (re: see above).

So for those fearing (or championing) Arrow’s cancellation you can stop. It's not going anywhere.

Access versus Control

I am continually amazed by is the access the fandom has to the cast, EPs and writers. Back in the day, there would be the occasional TV Guide or Entertainment Weekly article. Otherwise, you just watched the show. There was no real way to communicate with show creators or cast.

The internet changed all of that and now I would say there’s an overabundance of riches. Fans have so much access to creators it almost feels like we can control the story, but we can’t. We are simply here to receive the story.

A common argument from those that dislike Olicity is that it’s “fan service.” Meaning, the writers simply created it because the fans demanded it. The actual definition of fan service is when writers use an element to titillate fans, but it has zero impact on the story. 

Obviously, Olicity has significant impact on the story. The Arrow EPs have explained numerous times that Olicity was born from the chemistry between Stephen Amell and Emily Bett Rickards. They saw it and wrote towards it. The fans simply reacted in kind. As we watched Oliver smile at Felicity in 1x03, the writers had already asked Emily Bett Rickards back to film more episodes.

However, I fear some are beginning to believe we can control the outcome of Arrow by sheer force of will. 

We can't.

Arrow films seven or eight episodes ahead of what’s airing. It already banked nearly five episodes by the time 5x01 aired. Written, locked and filmed. So, while many think that screaming at EPs via social media will get the shift in story they desire here’s the actual fact - when we see Oliver and Felicity finding their way back to one another in 5x02, 5x03, 5x04 and so on… it’s not because fans demanded it on Twitter. It’s because Marc Guggenheim, Wendy Mericle & the Arrow writers had already written it that way. They are controlling the story. Not us.

So nothing we do matters?

Uh... no. I'm not saying that. All I'm saying is, unless you are a Nielson family, your rage isn't tracked in the ratings. That doesn't mean you don't have any impact. I don't think the fandom anger has gone unnoticed by either the network or the executive producers nor has the ratings.

It’s a symbiotic process between audience and writers. Fans react to a show as it's created. Show runners can use social media for a barometer of fan reaction, but they cannot craft the story based on fan reaction. They are simply writing too far ahead for that to be possible.

But we can absolutely have impact. We just need to be effective.

I think fans have a right to be angry. There are also fans who are not angry. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. From my standpoint, there is no one right answer because this fandom is filled with a variety of people, cultures and opinions. The fandom isn't going to agree all the time nor does it have to.

Personally, when I'm as angry at a show as some are at Arrow, that's when I tap out. 

I'm generally a pretty happy person and television is supposed to be entertaining. If I'm not getting joy out of the process then I'm out. Granted, when I'm emotionally invested in a show I give them a long leash. I still watch The Vampire Diaries y'all. The Vampire Diaries. But that's because, shockingly enough, I am still being entertained by it.

Don’t worry. I am as surprised as you are.

Some angry viewers choose to stick around. That's absolutely fine.  However, there are more effective ways of communicating that anger than others. Personally, I don't agree with hate tweeting the executive producers, crew or cast or participating in negative trends. Marc has unequivocally stated they don't listen to those kind of responses.  So, all it really does is anger the EPs.

My concern is if the vitriol gets to a certain point then the access will go away. The EPs and cast withdraw from social media. They tune out the fandom and do what they want. This "hate" approach didn't work for the LL fandom and it won't work for us.

Imagine you go to work and every time you make a mistake or do something someone doesn’t like, you are screamed at and told what a crappy job you are doing. Not exactly a motivator right? For the life of me, I cannot understand why some believe tweeting nasty things to show creators is going to elicit the response they desire. I would not be very motivated to make a fandom happy if they are constantly being cruel to me.

Arrow is locked until at least episode 10. They aren't going to rewrite and refilm scenes based on fandom reaction. Season 5 is what it is, but for the sake of argument let's say the writers and producers are slaves to fandom power.  At best we're looking at an Olicity reunion post mid season finale. Quite frankly, this is probably only a few episodes sooner than what the show already has planned. Is all of that negative energy, and potential damage it's doing, really worth a few measly episodes? Eh. Not for me.

And if Olicity doesn't reunite at all? Well... that sort of proves my point. Arrow is going to do what Arrow is going to do regardless of fan reaction. 

I cannot imagine they anticipated the Olicity fandom being happy about the break up. However, the entire reason Olicity exists in the first place is because the writers aren't afraid to tick off a fandom every once and awhile. That willingness isn't always going to work in our favor.

That said, I see no issue with polite and constructive criticism. I think the EPs are receptive to feedback and have acknowledged areas they've made mistakes in the past. Marc recently admitted they broke Olicity up too fast in Season 4, so those who are making polite criticisms are being heard.

The CW doesn’t track whether or not our tweets are positive or negative. They are tracking “buzz.” The minute we tweet something about Arrow, good or bad, the network gets to hit their “buzz-o-meter.” Negative buzz isn’t the death knell of television. SILENCE IS. If we don’t like something, I think the better option is to keep quiet or better yet change the channel.  It’ll have a much bigger impact that tweeting the EPs nasty messages.

I've always loved what @smoakandarrow​ has said: Talk about what you love. Stay silent about what you don't. We can fervently campaign for Olicity without sending the EPs an onslaught of negative messages. I think it'll probably have more impact too.

The Clear Favorite

A lot of fans are pointing to KC's guest star contract, and the "pandering" to the LL fandom as evidence that the hate approach does work. It worked for the LL fandom. Hmm... did it though? 

From my standpoint, Wendy and Marc are trolling the LL fandom just as hard if not harder with terms like "alive and well." They have absolutely no intention of bringing LL back to life.  They are trying to draw viewers to the show via false hope.  Sorry. Been there. Done that. This tactic is all yours LL/L*uriver fandom.

Many are saying Arrow is rewarding the haters by bringing KC back. Listen, I don't love the character, but I also don't think every LL fan is a horrible internet fan tweeting hate. There may be a few nice ones in the general viewing population. 

So, while the haters are benefiting from KC's return it doesn't mean the EPs are kowtowing to their demands like some hostage negotiator. There could also be other factors, outside of audience reaction, for Arrow making this deal with KC.  What those are we may never know.

The same could be said of the Olicity fandom. Are the writers rewarding "haters" when they reunite Olicity? Or are they simply benefiting from a storyline decision? How do we know it's the haters the writers have listened to and not the polite fans? How do we know audience feedback is a factor in any storyline decision? It’s simple. We don't. 

The retconning of LL isn't to appease that side of the aisle either.  Retconning LL is nothing new. Arrow has always illogically written the character. There is absolutely no reason it should change now that she's dead. When I said that Arrow was going to kill LL I also said they would turn her into an almost saint like example for Oliver to follow. Arrow wasn't going to actually support this evolution with real story. They didn't want to give the character that kind of time in the script because THEY WEREN'T INVESTED IN HER ANYMORE.

However, they need “angelic” LL to push Oliver to be the same. No different than Tommy. Why is it always death? I don’t know. Ask the Greeks. Probably because nothing makes you think about life more than death. While we may not like LL, the other characters did love her. She did have an impact on their lives.

The more Arrow talks about the angelic LL the happier I get.  Why? Because Laurel dead is more meaningful to the story than Laurel alive. Her death propels Oliver's hero's journey forward. The more they hammer away at the impact of her death the more I'm convinced she's never coming back to life. None of this means, however, that Arrow is servicing the haters. They are servicing the story and, like it or not, Laurel's death has purpose.

We have two diametrically opposed sides (Olicity and Lauriver/LL). If the show gives the LL fandom something to be happy about that’s sure to irk the Olicity fandom and vice versa. 

Both groups are audience members. The show has to service both sides. That said, I think there is a CLEAR favorite in that battle. Both Oliver and Felicity are still alive.

The Push/Pull

I think the “cooled off” approach in marketing Olicity has very little to do with any backlash. If the Arrow writers were concerned about “backlash” from the comic book fans they never would have written towards Olicity in the first place. 

I think they are writing a TV show. “Ambiguous” does accurately describe where Olicity is at right now. Whether we like it or not television shows require pacing and that’s not an exact science. Sometimes Arrow is going to burn through story and other times they are going to slow down. I think they slowed down on Olicity because they have X amount of story and X amount of time to tell it. Arrow will probably go longer than the intended five years, so they pumped the breaks on Olicity a bit. In fact, this is exactly what Marc told me.

I know many will say, “Well then Arrow should just be done in five years.” I don’t feel that way. I don’t need the show to END just so I get my way sooner. From my standpoint, Arrow still has plenty of gas in the tank and I’m okay if they push “happy & together” for Olicity out a little farther. They will get there eventually and hopefully in the meantime, Arrow can craft some interesting stories.

Most TV shows put their main couples together one of two ways 1) The finale episode of the series or 2) In the fifth or sixth season. I know we all want Olicity together and happy. We want Arrow to blaze a trail and be the first show that keeps their main couple together forever the minute they finally put them together. We’re not opposed to drama, but no break ups.

This is the push/pull between audience and the writers/network.  I don’t really know what it’ll take for networks to realize that the audience will watch if the couple stays together. Maybe the networks know something I don’t, but I think the “Moonlighting Curse” is more an imaginary fear rather than reality.

Sadly, Arrow didn’t blaze the trail in this regard. They went a more traditional route. However, if this is the reason I change the channel then there’s a whole bunch of other shows I need to switch off too. Personally,  I’m not going to hold Arrow to some standard I’ve never held any other show to. That said, Arrow has blazed many a trail, especially with Olicity, so I guess I’m willing to accept this one time they didn’t.

Many aren’t and that’s absolutely valid. However, I find there can be this demand for Arrow to only be focused on artistic endeavors and not business ones. The same standards are not applied to any other TV show. Arrow, while a creative business, is still a business. There are simply other factors at play. Does that always result in perfect storytelling? Nope, but I have yet to find a show that is perfect.

Perhaps this slowdown resulted in an inorganic break up, but Arrow has never been perfect. Nor do I think the writers pretend they are writing a perfect show. There have been misfires since Season 1… as there are in every single television show ever written. Writing is an art and sometimes an imperfect one. It doesn’t mean the story isn’t worth telling.

At a certain point, we need to accept the story the writers have crafted or change the channel. While I didn’t like the Baby Mama storyline and wished Arrow had gone in a different direction - this is where we are at.

That said, I don’t really want the writers to have a good reason to break Olicity up because that means they shouldn’t be together. Once Olicity got to “engaged” it was a limited amount of storylines that would break them up. Any and all of them were an inorganic hot mess. “Lie” was the least messy and most easily repairable (which is how they designed it to be). From my experience on other shows, the Olicity fandom got off light.

Immediate Gratification and The Insatiable Appetite

I also find in this day and age there’s a “immediate gratification” in effect. We want more of everything and we want it faster. This is the antithesis of storytelling. Telling stories takes time. It requires patience. Writers aren’t going to hand you everything all at once. They will piece it out, bit by bit, over years, but nobody is willing to wait for anything anymore.

We have an almost insatiable appetite for this show as a fandom. We want more spoilers, more articles, more promos, more cast pictures, more cast tweeting, more Marc Guggenheim Tumblr Q&As, more Stephen Amell Facebook chats, more conventions and on and on and on. We’re a passionate group. We love Arrow.

However, if Arrow doesn’t dole out the kind of information we want, when we want it, it doesn’t mean they suddenly don’t care about the couple or the fandom.  If we don't get an OTA photo at every event, it doesn't mean Arrow doesn't care about OTA. If we don't get an Olicity photo at every event, it doesn't mean Arrow doesn't care about Olicity. The actors are very passionate about their jobs and quite appreciative of the fandom's enthusiasm. However, they are not obsessed Arrow fans like us. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say getting these photographs done at every event is probably not on the forefront of their minds like it is ours.

Sometimes the EPs do give hope, but it feels like one instance isn't enough or it’s forgotten in a short time. It seems like we want reassurance in every article. Unfortunately, it's not Wendy and Marc's job to hold our hand through the process. If we're worried then that's probably the reaction the marketing intended. We're either in or we're out. That's really the only decision to make.

What Should Arrow Do?

Well... I think they need to realize that the marketing tactic isn't working for one. It might be the same tactic, but the story is dictating a different message and it's just not landing right with the fans. It's having an adverse effect and driving them away. The show is lucky to have the Olicity fandom. Not a lot of shows have this level of support. So, it would not kill The CW or the EPs to toss out a few puppies and rainbows.

They also can't make the same mistakes that put them in this position in the first place. Let's not force the story. That seems to be something Marc agrees with. I’m not in a hurry for them to reunite Olicity because I want them to do it right.

Final Thoughts

We don’t owe Arrow anything. If we aren’t enjoying the show it’s okay to change the channel. Or perhaps we'd enjoy it more if we binged the season all at once or DVR’d several episodes. Or maybe we should stop reading articles and spoilers. Maybe we want to be vocal. We control our viewing experience and there is no one singular way to be a fan.

Part of the joy when a beloved couple finally stays together is knowing we stuck by them through the hard times. It’s overcoming the challenges that makes that reward all the sweeter. The beauty in fandom is finding the joy in this couple even when times are difficult. We should help each other get through the unhappy moments. Not tear each other down. Whether you are angry or happy, neither side has the corner market on being right.

That said, there’s a huge portion of the fandom I wish just wouldn’t read spoilers. The point of spoilers isn’t to tell us what’s going to happen. The point of spoilers is to TEASE. It’s a cat and mouse game between audience and writer. I personally love the detective work, but many find the whole process stressful and I think they’d be much happier if they just watched the show.

As for hope...

The Olicity fandom was always told Oliver and Felicity would never happen because it wasn’t comic canon. This fandom was born out of a sliver of hope, and we clung to that hope, when all we had were the few times Stephen Amell snuck a “heart eyes” look Emily Bett Rickards’ way during a scene. There is an overwhelming amount of negativity right now and I’d just like to remind everyone this fandom was always hopeful when we had a lot less to go on than we do now.

We truly don't need to look any further than the show for "hope." One of the reasons Arrow uses the "White Noise" approach to marketing is because the show isn't exactly subtle about the direction it is headed.  If we were receiving positive and hopeful promotion in conjunction with these kind of scenes:

would you have any doubt Olicity is reuniting? Of course not. Confidence would abound.

So, the marketing campaign isn't wildly out of line if they are trying to keep an element of surprise.

Finally, marketing is secondary to me and I majored in this stuff. I never put CBS level expectations on a CW budget 

and the PR is never more important than the show. Even with Olicity separated, they are churning out strong episodes in S5. I am entertained. I’m still getting a lot of joy from Arrow and that’s enough for me.

If you are not happy that's absolutely fine. The Internet is a wide landscape. There's plenty of room for us all. 

Alright folks. Thems my thoughts. Once again... these are only my opinions. I send them out into the abyss and leave them with you good people.