The ballad of songbirds and snakes
Objective: To reignite the Hunger Games fandom and build anticipation for the release of the series prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Challenge: The significant gap between the conclusion of the original trilogy and the prequel. The fandom had relapsed as many original fans grew up and grew out of the series.
Medium: Digital Campaign
Client: Scholastic
Role: Strategist
Research Methods
01 | Social Listening
Studied social platforms to understand how the existing Hunger Games fandom behaved across social platforms. Analyzed the themes, characters, and moments most important to the community to inform our content and platform approach.
02 | Industry Research
Identified strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Anticipated and monitored the cultural and political environment in which the book would be released.
key learnings
Connecting to the Original Trilogy is Key. Fans resonated with the original trilogy. This love and familiarity with the series provided a gateway to the newest Hunger Games installment, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. By leveraging the warm nostalgia and unbridled passion fans have for the original trilogy, we fueled their anticipation and welcomed them back to Panem with open arms.
Authenticity Wins. This tight-knit community of Hunger Games superfans could smell a corporate-sounding power from a mile away. Speaking to them authentically and on their level is key to their acceptance.
Part of a Community. No matter how many years had elapsed between books, the immediate connection between two Hunger Games fans is powerful. Content that actively included them and spoke to their shared passion won.
Results
We charted our campaign strategy before a global pandemic upended our plans. We turned the unexpected challenges of 2020 into an opportunity for creativity. We turned the book’s release into a worldwide digital event with a virtual party pack, GIPHY stickers, innovative AR activations, Instagram and TikTok filters, a first page read along, and release day content. Through it all, we provided on-going community management, reactive, and social reporting as we brought the Hunger Games franchise to new heights.
We launched new social accounts, growing Instagram to over 26K followers and Twitter to over 7K followers.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes became a New York Times #1 Bestseller and sold 500,000 copies in the first week alone.
Our Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes book trailer earned over 2.1M media views and 280K engagements.
Our efforts on release day garnered 81K Earned Mentions and 914M earned impressions.
Over the course of our campaign, our digital content earned over 1.09B earned impressions.
the work
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Instagram Campaign
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Official Website
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Book Trailer