The Walking Dead: Social & Experiential Creative
Efforts included experiential, fan engagement, and digital concepts meant to generate media impressions on social media and in the press. Included the introduction of major villain Negan and teasing the confirmed death of an undetermined fan favorite character. Seasonal content was also produced as needed.
Role: Creative & Art Direction
Design & Animation Support: Michelle Porucnik & Jourdan Enriquez
Illustration: Michelle Porucznik
The Negan Nightmare
This series of content was meant to feature the terror that Negan would bring to the show's characters. The aim was to ensure that we reminded fans of his introduction in last season's finale and give them a sampling of the villainy in store for the new season.
Neganisms
Social content highlighting quotes from Negan in bold typography to build excitement favorite character from the comics and his sinister weapon, Lucille.
Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Moe
At the end of the previous season fans were left with a cliffhanger: Which one of the main characters would be beaten to death by Negan? To generate anticipation, immersive and bold carousels were created mimicking the way Negan was choosing his victim in the last episode. We overlaid multiple facial expressions to create a rotating carousel of the characters.
Subway Ghostings
In order to create media buzz, we would feature holographic subway ghostings and projections in major cities to create an experience riders will never forget. Riders will see scenes from the show, but also see ghosts of cast members that may have been the one killed in the Season 6 finale.
Social Media Activated Bus Shelter
This bus shelter would show a Twitter Feed for the show and at a number of tweet intervals at specific times, Negan would smash into the "glass" of the screen without warning, startling people. Sound effects would play for added effect via hidden speakers.
Giant Size Lucille
To create buzz and illicit conversation online, this live activation idea featured a giant size Lucille that would be rigged to smash a large box with the characters faces, mimicking the expectation of the season premiere. The goal was to excite fans of Negan and his brutality. Fans would be asked to tweet #TWDLucille. With every 10,000 tweets, Lucille (the bat) would smash into the box. This would repeat until the box was broken, revealing a prize for the last person to tweet.
Negan KikBot
To create more opportunities for fan engagement and partnering with newer platforms, fans could chat with Negan, uncut and raw. We would be able to build a story tree to help Negan navigate the conversation and engage with fans directly.
Negan on Tinder
While a controversial idea to generate media buzz, Negan would join Tinder and engage with people who reached out to him. This would not be a promoted activation, however, matches would be invited to go on a "date" with Negan. These dates would be coordinated at the same time and place so that all matches would arrive at the same place close to the same time. Instead, they would be greeted by Jeffrey Dean Morgan in character and be given TWD exclusive, which would be coveted by fans.
#RiseUp4TWD Character Quotes
For the half season premiere, content was developed using a Rise Up hashtag to promote and track fan engagement online. This set of content was meant to encourage viewers to "rise up" for their favorite characters via social media and remind viewers of the challenges the characters encountered with Negan.
This is Rising Up 4 TWD
Themed after Barbara Kruger, these short pieces of social video content, would show the many ways that the characters have been challenged and had to rise up in their fight against Negan.
Negan's Taken Half
Show some of the new video footage, but cover the center of it with a black bar to tease fans and highlight the antagonism of Negan.
Character Hashflags & Filters
Bringing added fun for fans as they engage, we created filters and stickers across social media, including Snapchat, Twitter, MSQRD, as well as character hashflags for people to use as they post.
Post Season Holiday Engagement Posts
Adding to the fun, we created illustrations based on parts of the show to wish fans well for the holidays.