NBC, the producer of the series, spent millions on the release of The Event in the U.S. All this created an enormous expectation for the premiere, both by spectators and the media.
Little was known about “The Event” itself: the Universal Channel series was so shrouded in mystery that not even the actors knew what was about to come. Neither did we. The first initiative of the agency, together with the channel, was to admit that little was known about the series.
In the end, the series didn’t last long. But at least in Brazil, it ceased with a memorable campaign.
Nobody knows nothing about it, but the expectations are very high.
Client
Agency
Media
#theeventfacts
We fed social media with theories with the hashtag #theeventfacts riding on the by then Twitter larger than life trending topic #chucknorrisfacts, inviting the audience to create their own theories about what would be the “Event” and create buzz to the short-coming the Premiere.
Real life events, like a massive blackout in Brazil, were used as part of the social media strategy regardless they were or not ‘The Event.’
In what now is a common place, we were one of the first to invite fans to take part of the campaign on Twitter and in a custom website, qualasuateoria.com.br (‘what is your theory’), where they were able to share their own conspiracy theories.
We knew it before Snowden
The production of the series itself was a target of conspiracy theories involving the secret in which the shootings took place. We took advantage of that, feeding the public’s curiosity using facts from the pilot episode mixed with curated information to generate buzz for the newly orphaned fans of ‘Lost’ and ’24’ that had ended in the previous season.
Special Billboard
A unique billboard with fake smoke and windows resembling the building the panel was mounted was placed next to another one with the headline “The explosion beside us is not The Event.”
Media Kit
A press kit resembling a secret file, including information only revealed by UV light was sent to media and bloggers giving them some extra content to write.
