Category: Socila Media & Viral Marketing
Advertiser: HBO
Product/Service: TRUE BLOOD
Agency: BBDO NEW YORK
Chief Creative Officer: David Lubars (BBDO New York)
Executive Creative Directors: Greg Hahn/Mike Smith (BBDO New York)
Art Director: Matt Sorrell (BBDO New York)
Copywriter: Jessica Coulter (BBDO New York)
Head Of Interactive Production: Niklas Lindstrom (BBDO New York)
Executive Interactive Producer: Douglas Stivers (BBDO New York)
Senior Interactive Producer: Katrina Cass (BBDO New York)
Account Team: Tara Deveaux/Leland Candler (BBDO New York)
App Development: (Haus)
Creative Director: Rasmus Blaesbjerg (Haus)
Director Of Creative Technology: Drew Trujillo (Haus)
Developers: K.c. Austin/Bruno Ribeiro/Ken Jameson (Haus)
Testing/Quality Control: Uriah Williams/Shane Plummer (Haus)
Sound Editor: Alen Isagholi (Haus)
Sound Mixer: Jon Friedner (Haus)
Executive Producer: Jared Plummer (Haus)
Producer: Claudine Nichols (Haus)
Interactive Producer: Hunter Futo (Haus)
3d Software: (Motion Portrait)
Media placement: Interactive/Social - Facebook - 8 December 2011
Describe the brief/objective of the direct campaign.
True Blood is a popular American television series from HBO detailing the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in the state of Louisiana. HBO tasked us with finding a way to get True Blood fanatics to share their love of the best show ever by giving True Blood DVDs to their friends and family over the holiday season. After years of declines in DVD sales, our job was to excite True Blood fans to help us get the True Blood box set into worthy hands. And the best way to do this was clear—just let vampires loose online to do their version of the hard sell.
Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective with reference to the projected response rates and desired outcome.
We knew True Blood fans were serious about their favourite show, in which the most effective way for a vampire to get a human to do something is to glamour them; that is, they stare directly into a human’s eyes, making them completely controllable. We took the vampire persuasion technique of 'glamouring' and put it into the hands of eager fans. Over 25,000 vampires from 130 countries prepared a custom glamour that spread through Facebook walls and Twitter (via #youneedtrueblood), a testament to the insight that True Blood DVDs are the perfect holiday gift for almost everyone.
Explain why the creative execution was relevant to the product or service.
True Blood fans are social creatures that are ready and willing to share their love of the show. The nine million True Blood fans on Facebook were a perfect audience to tap into. And giving them an easy and show-relevant way to recruit new vampire fans was a natural and effective way to strengthen the brand.
Describe the results in as much detail as possible with particular reference to the RESPONSE of the target audience including deliverability statistics, response rates, click throughs, sales cost per response, relationships built and overall return on investment.
Nearly 25,000 'vampires' from 130 countries spent an average of five minutes preparing a custom 'glamour' for unsuspecting Facebook 'victims'. We saw 'glamours' spread throughout Facebook walls and Twitter (via #youneedtrueblood) from the expected True Blood devotees to grandmas, cross-dressers, babies and puppies—a testament to the insight that True Blood DVDs are the perfect holiday gift for almost everyone.