RECOMMENDED BY HUMANS

The first HBO brand campaign to entirely feature fans, Recommended by Humans showcases the intense love people have for HBO programming and the power of real recommendations from real people who really love TV. Sure, an algorithm can suggest something you might like, but it can’t look you in the eye and say, “Holy s***, this show is so f***ing good!” That’s passion that can only come from another person.

The result was viral social conversation, a noticeable spike in featured program streaming, and a healthy discussion about where and how we find our favorite shows.

#HumanReco Individual Stories

With documentarian Alison Klayman, we produced emotional and eye-catching videos that featured real fans expressing their intense love for HBO shows. Unscripted and from the heart, these people showed the power of a good human recommendation — and convinced an ever-skeptical internet crowd to earnestly discover shows, movies and documentaries.

Starting Social Conversations

Throughout the campaign, we encouraged fans to spark social conversations between each other - not just replies to the brand. Using #humanreco, fans went deep into recommendation mode, passionately pleading their case for their favorite shows, characters and even theme songs.

#HumanReco Tool

Looking for something to watch? Look no further than humanreco.com. Not only does the constantly-updating tool give you hundreds of real recommendations from real people, but lets you watch the first episode of every single recommended show - completely free.

Results

The campaign proved our theory - nothing can replace the power of a human story behind a recommendation. And if you people a platform to make recommendations, they’ll take it. Not only did thousands of people offer up their personal recommendations, but the campaign really did help people find their next favorite show as demonstrated through noticeable spikes in viewership across featured shows.

Press