“What comes out of this community is that we’re taking 2000 of our loyal viewers and giving them a seat at the table in the decision-making process,” stated Melva Benoit, FOX’s Senior VP of Audience Intelligence and Research Strategy.

FOX Networks, a subsidiary of News Corporation (NYSE:NWS.A) is teaming up with social networking company, Passenger to create a private community for FOX fans.  This private community will give FOX feedback on their marketing/shows.  Over 2,000 FOX fans were invited to preview upcoming shows and networks with TV producers.

This community will have a say in what shows are released by FOX on TV.  The community will also input ideas in FOX’s overall marketing strategies.  Passenger also worked with ABC on a similar initiative. Other high-end brands like Coca-Cola, AMEX, and Mercedes worked with Passenger as well.

“These communities are for very purposeful interaction, which sets them apart from standard communities providing an environment for hanging out,” stated Justin Cooper, co-founder of Passenger.

Passenger was co-founded by Justin Cooper and Andrew Leary.  Passenger have raised $20.5 million in funding thus far [VentureBeat].  Passenger is based in Los Angeles, Calif.

Passenger is a Software-as-a-Service company that allows customers to interact with their customers and announced today that they have raised $8.3 million. in Series B. According to Dan Beldy of Steamboat Ventures, Passenger allows “companies redefine their customer relationships by fundamentally changing the way consumers are able to communicate with their brands.”

Some of Passenger’s clients include ABC, Coca-Cola, and Sara Lee. These clients pay Passenger to set up networks for them and get the users to sign up via email invitations or banner ads. According to Red Herring, ABC Studios used Passenger software to “gather viewer opinions on the plotlines of Ugly Betty and Lost.

The Series B funding was led by Steamboat Ventures, Shelter Capital Partners, and StarVest Partners. The Series A round of funding was $4.2 million and was provided by Shelter Capital Partners.

Passenger enables clients to set-up live sessions where users can engage in conversation with brand reps. Passenger also allows easy to setup Discussions, Polls, Activities, Message Centers (allows members to exchange files), client dashboards, and a social network.

References:
[1] Red Herring: Passenger on Board with $8.3M