I had the opportunity to tap into my own, unhinged Love Island fandom to work on Love Island US seasons 3 & 7 with Peacock, both of which brought very different strategic challenges.
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Love Island season 3 was the first season that Peacock acquired from CBS, during a time when the US franchise was lagging behind the massive success and cultural cache of it's UK counterpart. My role was to strategically refresh and reposition the Love Island US brand as it made a new home on Peacock, and my approach was dissecting the UK version to find out exactly what made the Brit hit tick. I found that while both the US and UK series featured hoards of sexy singles looking for love in a tropical villa, there was a key tonal difference that the UK embodied but the US lacked: a sense of self awareness and self deprecation. Because the UK show, and importantly its hilariously self-deprecating narrator, didn’t take the show, the concept, or the islanders too seriously, it allowed the audience to feel better about watching the show, adding a layer of self-effacing depth to what otherwise could've been a fairly shallow concept. Shifting the tone and consumer-facing brand of Love Island US away from the serious and earnest voice of shows like The Bachelor, and finding a self aware tone that felt more fitting for the Love Island brand informed our approach in the launch of the series on Peacock, and the 360 campaign that surrounded it. Now, 4 seasons later, Love Island US has continued to invest in this tone and has built itself into one of Peacock’s top performing Originals.
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I re-entered the villa in 2025 for Season 7, leading the series positioning strategy + social strategy for the show following the smash hit success of Season 6. Our approach was to hyperbolically lean into the obsession that existed around the previous season to drive urgency in bringing back viewers, while feeding FOMO for those who had missed the boat the last time around. Our social approach leaned into distinct tactics to drive the above 2 objectives in unique ways, while making the most of our beloved, returning host, "big sis" Ariana Madix.
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Coupling up with this iconic franchise was a dream come true, and taught me things about the reality & social space that I'll be applying to projects for years to come.
