Social media really broke the promotional mould when it showed up. Not only brands, but broadcasters are turning to social platforms to promote a new product. That’s what we’re seeing from Rogers-owned Citytv as it rounds up an audience for its fall series The Bachelor Canada by rolling out a social media app that cushions the show with bonus content.

The nature of the show (or any dramatic reality show for that matter) is conducive to social chatter, something that the channel is attempting to stimulate prior to the start of the first Canadian season. “From the time the show was announced, to the announcement of the host of The Bachelor Canada and beyond, we’ve seen a natural conversation unfold online,” Koreen Ott, marketing director, entertainment, Rogers Media, tells MiC. “There is a strong appetite for more content about the show.”

And that craving is being tended to with what Ott says is a first for Citytv. The “Bachelor Canada 4Play Deck” is housed on Facebook and meshes the old-style game of trading cards with the virtual online space. Those that “like” the app are given cards that hold exclusive content and can be collected, shared and traded with friends. The cards give them access to video clips, photos, quotes and facts about the bachelor, the show’s host and the yet-to-be-revealed bachelorettes.

“We knew we wanted a tool that would allow fans to engage with the Canadian franchise throughout the summer before the series premiered in the fall,” she says, adding that the channel reviewed a few proposals from companies that provide social media tools before it chose Decksi on account of it meeting the criteria of being “shareable, fun and engaging.”

Citytv is still actively looking for advertisers to partner with the show, says Gillian Mannsbach, director, client solutions, Rogers Media. “We are entering into new talks every day with a variety of different brands, all of whom have some sort of direct or indirect connection with the show,” she adds, explaining that brands in the luxury, travel, entertainment, packaged goods, automotive and everything in between would fit appropriately with The Bachelor Canada brand.

Broadcast details of The Bachelor Canada will be released in the coming weeks and sponsors of the show so far include Colgate-Palmolive, Coty, Energizer and Kraft.