It’s unusual for a first-season show to have a fan base so active that it rivals older, much more established shows. It’s even more unusual when that first-season show has yet to air a single episode.

But that’s the situation Starz took on when it committed to a 16-episode TV adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s beloved “Outlander” stories, a series of historical sci-fi adventure-romance novels just loony enough to sell more than 20 million copies worldwide. They’re the kind of books that inspire fan-made art, websites, blogs and more, a global network of impassioned readers who are no doubt breathlessly excited for the August 9 premiere of the show while simultaneously fiercely protective of their favorite stories and characters.

“We knew bringing ‘Outlander’ fans their beloved series to the screen was a big responsibility,” said Erin Dwyer, executive director for digital marketing at Starz, whose team sought to bring those fans “along for the ride and celebrate them and their passion.” Early on, she said, she knew Starz had a unique community on its hands when Sam Heughan was cast as the dashing redhead James Fraser in July 2013, and “Outlander” fans promptly rallied on Twitter to get him voted E! News’ #HottieOfTheWeek… for two weeks in a row. Clearly, their power in the social sphere was potent; the trick was to harness it.

“In the past we were creating a fan base from scratch and focusing on awareness and tune-in to like-minded audiences and communities,” said Dwyer. “In the case of ‘Outlander,’ we had a stellar base of existing fans we could build a dialogue with so we leveraged that in our digital strategy more than we have with other first-season originals.”

Fixing to offer “a dedicated location to house all things ‘Outlander’ in the social space,” Dwyer’s team produced Outlander Community, a microsite within the Starz digital platform that mixes exclusive show content with an aggregated feed of fan output across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, blogs and more. Here, a pleasing, constantly updating array of interlocking tiles displays “Outlander”-related tweets, photos and other real-world content alongside fun bonus features like Put a Kilt on It, a printable paper download that lets you wear a kilt anywhere on your body. Other interactive content from the network side includes a Time Period Quiz that helps you isolate where in time you really belong (I am apparently best suited for 1400s England) and the microsite’s most elegant feature, Claire’s Apothecary Cabinet, which lets the user select and learn about the various tinctures and medicines on the main character’s herb shelf.

“We knew we wanted to highlight the herbalist that Claire is,” said Dwyer. “Not only is it fascinating and a big part of her character, it’s also perfect for an interactive world for fans. We discussed options of ways to empower fans to learn more about the various remedies and plants used and landed on an execution that integrates the beautiful show sets (we shot the cabinet set for the experience) while highlighting the unique attributes of each herb that Claire studies and/or uses in a fun but informative way.”

Creative agency And Company helped Starz’ internal team build the customization and front-end design of Outlander Community to fit the network’s aesthetic and vision. Social marketers Spredfast provided the aggregating tool that scrapes ongoing social media output, pulling in more than 200 pieces of content per average user session.

“It’s a team effort to get all the executions completed,” said Dwyer. “You need to constantly feed the beast. Fans are hungry for content and new ways to present content… [but they] really reciprocate if you keep them in mind and deliver on their passion points.”

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