HBO challenged DK to out-do the True Blood Season 1 campaign with an even more groundbreaking and non-traditional marketing blitz based on the notion that vampires are real.

We created and executed a campaign to disrupt reality and people’s perceptions of what an advertisement really is, borrowing equity from 6 blue chip brands.

After creating the stunning opening title sequence for True Blood’s premiere season, DK approached HBO with a proposal to do a groundbreaking campaign for Season 2 of True Blood. The brief was fairly open; generate buzz and dovetail with the mainline “tune-in” campaign. HBO had a bona fide hit on its hands with True Blood so we needed to make sure our idea was not geared toward a narrow “fanboy” or “rabbit hole” type of campaign. They wanted something that connected with the broader

audience. Something that was fun and campy and twisted like the show itself. In our creative exploration we needed to find a core fundamental truth. And it came to us out of the script for episode 1, Season #2. The main character, Sookie Stackhouse says, “Every time I think I know what’s what…turns out I don’t know anything.” For us that rang true and lead to our assault on reality campaign.

The campaign took its form in several different elements/media executions, all spawned from the above line. The idea we had was based on the conceit that if vampires are living among us, why can’t they be marketed to just like any other demographic? HBO loved this thought and loved our original layouts which showed a host of well-known brands, all hawking their

vampire wares. HBO was crystal clear….“great idea, but can it actually be pulled off?” Sure we could have gone with faux brands and advertisers but what fun would that be? So we put a short list of brands together, mocked up some ads and started cold calling.

When we started we were hopeful to get 2-3 brands to sign on, however in a matter of weeks we were able to secure six brands: Geico, Monster, Mini, Harley-Davidson, Gillette, and Mark Ecko. The next step was to ensure that we were on-strategy and on-brand with these partners. The closer to their “real” advertising we could get, the more disrupting our campaign would

be. We worked with each of the key marketing people to make sure we were aligned perfectly both in terms of their strategy but also in terms of their brand guidelines. Not an easy process when all of a sudden you have 7 clients instead of 1.

In addition to the co-branded portion of the campaign we also came forward with an idea to produce a series of videos that would also bend reality and make you question what you really know to be true. While the co-branded work had a wink and smile humor about it, the video content would allow us to explore both ends of the emotional spectrum, dark/serious and funny/over-the-top. A perfect mirror of what the show is

all about. We focused on the two key archetypes of the show: vampires and shape shifters. The vampire content is all about what happens when a seemingly normal person “comes out” in public and reveals themselves to be a vampire. The shape shifter content is based on the idea that sometimes, a shape shifter can pick the wrong moment to “shift.”

The initial press and PR buzz has exceeded our wildest expectations. It started with an article in USA Today and has continued with a piece on CNN, the Financial Times and just about every trade publication and website you can imagine. The real buzz is soon to come though as the work gets posted and published and consumers start to wonder, “what the heck did I just see?”

In terms of quantifiable results, according to HBO, the premiere episode averaged 3.7 million viewers, making it the pay cabler's most watched original program since the series finale of The Sopranos two years ago. What’s more, the opener was up a staggering 157 percent over the season 1 premiere, and 51 percent over last November’s season finale.

Deliverables:

• 375 layouts created to get to our final hero pieces.
• 30 different brands explored.
• 6 brands participated: Ecko, GEICO, Gillette, Harley-Davidson, MINI, Monster.
• 102 Banner ads.
• 8 hero horizontal layouts.
• 12 hero vertical layouts.
• In-Theatre HD animated digital slide.
• 6 Viral Videos.
• Classified Ad for Vampire Assistant.

Print:
TV Guide, TV Week, US Weekly, AM NY, Wall Street Journal, BrandWeek, New York Magazine, Hollywood Reporter, AdWeek, MediaWeek, Rolling Stone, Variety, Broadcasting & Cable, New York Observer.

Online:
Sites to include: HBO.com, IMDb, TV.com, New York Post – Page Six, AOL, Yahoo!, CNN, NY Times, Gawker Media, Google Content Network

Billboards, Wallscapes, Phone Kiosks, Bus Shelters and Bus Sides:
New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia

Classified Ads:
Village Voice, NY Press, LA Weekly, Chicago Reader, Philadelphia Weekly, SF Weekly