Universal Studios: Ted Facebook Page, 9

Credits & Description:

Category: Entertainment
Media: TV, Online, OOH, Email, Radio
Company: Universal Studios
Client: Universal Studios
Brand: Ted (The Movie)
Company: Universal Studios , Universal City
Target: USA · North America
SVP, Digital Marketing: Doug Neil, Universal Pictures
SVP, Digital Marketing: JP Richards, Universal Pictures
Director, Digital Marketing: Leigh Godfrey, Universal Pictures
Senior Manager, Digital Marketing: Eric Brodsky, Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Features: Apps, Ads and Sponsored Stories, Pages
Language: English (US)
Objectives: Awareness, Intent, Recommendation, Product Launch
Tags: Entertainment, North America, USA, English (US), Apps, Ads and Sponsored Stories, Pages, Awareness, Intent, Recommendation, Product Launch, TV, Online, OOH, Email, Radio  
'Ted'—the first movie from Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane—was released in movie theaters on June 29, 2012 and on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download in December. To set Ted apart in a crowded movie marketplace, Universal needed to position the character as crass, relatable and lovable, to develop loyal fans, and and build buzz.
Facebook was the perfect platform to achieve the above and help make Ted one of the most successful comedies of all time. The campaign had various elements revolving around three main strategies and at each phase, Facebook ads were used to spur activity and amplify results:
Starting and Building the Brand
Universal leveraged Mark Wahlberg's and Family Guy’s loyal fans to introduce Ted. Months before release, the TedIsReal Facebook Page launched and provided content into January. All content was in Ted’s voice, included fantastic images with captions (memes), and were timely, culturally-relevant and hilarious—the Ted brand personified.
Extending through Partnerships
Ted Memes on Partner Pages: Universal launched memes across 23 partner Pages, including Family Guy (50 million fans) and a wide range of NBCUniversal and Comcast properties, ranging from Scarface (7.5 million fans) to The Office (10 million) to Burn Notice (2.8 million fans).
Ted-e-grams, custom postcards with Ted and models, were created and featured at Playboy’s Facebook Page (7.6 million fans).
Engaging Fans
'Wild Night with Ted' Facebook app: Fans can photo-bomb photos with custom created images of Ted. Intuitive, custom photo editing tools let people blend Ted into photos and share their creations on Facebook via their feed and as their cover photo. A public gallery, voting, and integrated weekly sweepstakes were added to spur activity.
'Talking Ted' mobile and tablet app: An iOS and Android soundboard application with animated video and favorite movie lines. Fans control Ted's actions, record videos, and share using Facebook.
Campaign Performance
Each of the campaign’s elements had fantastic results and helped Ted open as the number 1 movie in the U.S., with $54.4 million box office receipts. It became one of the year’s best-selling blu-rays and DVDs. Detailed campaign results for each tactic follow.
'TedisReal' Facebook Page
• The Ted Facebook Page tallied over 7.5 million fans and daily engagement, shares and reach were in the millions.
• Universal’s Facebook ads began in early April, almost three months prior to release, by initially targeting Family Guy fans through Like ads. Given initial success of launch, we continued our efforts through key milestones. By opening weekend, 60% of total fans of the Ted Facebook page were generated through 360i’s efforts.
• By January, popular posts reached 2.1 million consumers: higher than popular late night cable shows like The Colbert Report, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and Conan.
Ted Memes on Partner Pages
• Ted memes were placed on 23 partner Pages, including Family Guy—one of the largest entertainment Pages, with 50.3 million fans. An estimated 30 million impressions were delivered.
Sponsored story Page posts ads were employed to maximize engagement and extend social reach. Overall CTRs were upwards of 27%—500% above our benchmarks. These advertising efforts converted fans into advocates and insured that Ted remained top-of-mind in the crucial holiday window.
Partnership with Playboy
• over one million fans enjoyed and shared hilarious Ted-e-grams via Playboy’s Facebook Page.
'Wild Nights with Ted' Facebook app
• the photo-bombing app on Facebook was highly engaging and successful. Over 160,000 people created images, sharing over 125,000 images on Facebook. On average, fans spent 2.5 minutes with the app.
'Talking Ted' mobile and tablet app
• 10 million downloads thus far, outpacing all internal goals. One of the top three NBCUniversal and Comcast most downloaded apps.