Business Challenge
When they were launching The Walking Dead, an original TV series based on the successful graphic novel, AMC executives saw Comic-Con as a critical component of the strategy to bring the new series to life. The show’s cast was made up of unknowns, so AMC couldn’t rely on marquee actors as a draw.
Adding to the challenge, by the time AMC engaged aim — just six weeks before the event — every available space outside of the San Diego Convention Center, which hosted Comic-Con, was booked.
Insight
Horror and science fiction enthusiasts dream about being involved in their favorite shows, so we knew that we could generate serious buzz by offering fans the chance to be in The Walking Dead. We also knew that if we could enlist fans in creating content for the show, they would help us promote it.
Strategy
We invited Comic-Con attendees to have their photos taken at touchscreen kiosks that also recorded their contact data. With the push of a button, the computer transformed guests’ faces into zombies and inserted them into the Walking Dead trailer. After viewing their personalized trailers, visitors were invited to email them to friends and family, and share them on Facebook, YouTube and other social networking sites.
Bragging Rights
More than 5,100 Comic-Con attendees turned themselves into Walking Dead zombies. 87% of them opened the email of their customized Walking Dead trailer, 72% forwarded the email to a friend, 71% posted on Facebook and 71% tweeted links to their video.
The 90-minute debut of The Walking Dead attracted the largest demo audience for any cable TV show that year, and it generated the highest ratings of any AMC series ever. Word of mouth helped to propel the series to a four-fold increase in viewership over the course of the season.
