The Black Love brand launched in 2017 highlighting what it takes to make a marriage work with our docuseries Black Love on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Importantly, our brand has leaned into telling love stories from the Black community because we are often told (by mainstream media) we aren't worthy of love and partnership. After 6 seasons, we ended the docuseries, but the thirst to capture stories on dating and partnership never lessened. "How do you meet your person?" and "How do you know that's your one?!" are questions we get often. So Black Love launched The Rest is History, a digital-only response to "How do you know?"
Through social media, we engage and entertain our audience while also giving them tools to live their best lives. More than 60% of our audience is interested in companionship. We can share data and stats on Black marriage in our community and tips for dating and connecting - which we do - but we chose to highlight the origins of love through The Rest is History so our audience can see themslves int he storytellers. They can ask themselves "What would I do in this scenario?" "Would I date a woman with kids?" "How soon should I date after divorce?" Spoiler alert - there is no one answer. But sharing personal journeys directly from the folks that have been through them empowers our audience to imagine the choices they can make when they know love is possible on the other side.
Black Love sought out everyday couples and influencer couples together any amount of time to offer their origin story and define why it's working for them. From the DMs to cold email outreach, we found folks willing to tell their stories. We filmed on a set we created in our office and cultivated an environment of openness and vulnerability. Having launched our company in 2017, we didn't create any other series sitting couples on a couch besides our award winning docuseries on OWN so it was important to bring that same visual style and storytelling transparency our audience appreciates from us. This time, we were doing it in short bites. Couples were excited to participate. We also tailored it to social media, adding fun sounds, emojis, and graphics to stand out on the platforms (Instagram and Tiktok). Across 20-something couples, 40-somethings, LGBTQ+, dating with kids, and dating after divorce, we have ensured that the stories were varied.
With over 25 million views on the series across Instagram and Tiktok, the series is resonating with audiences who find the stories enlightening, heartwarming, and encouraging. 1/3 of the episdoes have 400K views on each platform, Tiktok and IG, and some episodes have reached 1M views.
We are unique in that we do not use celebrity stories, tying the impact to well known talent and their upcoming projects. These are everyday stories for and by everyday people. That's why they resonate.
This series has also created a template and a pathway for Black Love to showcase all forms of love. During April, we will highlight friendship by showing pairs of friends with them explaining how they met and what moments have defined their bond. Data has shown us that many people have been craving connection and friendship since the pandemic. This is the perfect way to show our audience that deep friendship can be cultivated at any age and stage!
