Case Study

Sizzle

The Brief

In the era of peak TV (559 shows aired in 2021), social media is
critical to drive awareness, buzz & word of mouth.

For Yellowjackets to succeed on SHOWTIME, it deserved a social
media campaign as delicious as the cross-generational survivalist
story itself.

But for Yellowjackets to hit, it would need a
social campaign as original as the series itself.

Building
Buzz

Yellowjackets is a one-of-a-kind show. So its campaign
would have to highlight its three most original elements:

Original
Premise

Cross-Generational
Characters

Complex
Female Leads

Introducing Our Voice

The dark humor and grit of a cohort of complicated women became the
focal point of character intro videos, original tweets and captions.

  • Taissa
  • Shauna
  • Natalie
  • Misty

Creating Intrigue

SHOWTIME created unique teasers to make audiences ponder our
central campaign question: What really happened out there?

A dedicated show Instagram
launched with the Premiere
Date cryptically painted
across a plane wing.

Original black box recordings
from a device in the show teased
the mystery to come.

And exclusive footage was
leaked with an in-world wink
toward team tryouts.

Bridging Two Eras

Meanwhile, the show’s cross-generational appeal was emphasized with
bespoke content tailored towards the Gen X/Gen Z target audience:

Gen Z cast members posted original
content teasing the show.

We brought the 90s to the
forefront of content & experiences.

Time periods were strategically
juxtaposed.

But nothing goes exactly according to plan.

For the show to really take off, we’d need to be as adaptable as our characters, as our fandom
started to take on a life of its own.

Adaptation

Our social listening unearthed fans’ most talked about characters
and the conversation trends bubbling up around the show.

Stoking The Fire

With our learnings, we encouraged engagement – delivering quotes that
hit to breakdown and discuss, offering tributes to characters loved and
lost, and being responsive to the fans making the show a hit.

  • Tease
    Upcoming
    Episode

    Tease with clips, stills,
    and tweets to fuel
    conversation

  • Episode
    Premieres

    Post impactful clips,
    stills, and gifs

    CM support on
    premiere night

  • Talk about WTF
    just happened

    Post reactive content,
    based on fan conversations

    CM engagement with
    relevant gifs

  • Social
    Listening

    Monitor the social
    conversation

    Create reactive content
    based on social listening

By week 5, mentions and impressions doubled.

The Yellowjackets Hive

Fans became stans creating unique artwork to celebrate the show.

Fans took it one step further by creating their own names for elusive characters such as
“The Antler Queen” which quickly became apart of the fandom lexicon.

The Yellowjackets Hive

We partnered with influencers to spread the word and grow our hive.

By week 7, mentions and impressions
had quadrupled from the premiere.

The Yellowjackets Hive

And soon enough, momentum began to build. Celebs joined in on the
conversation and as the buzz grew, so did the demand for original merch.

And when celebs
joined the bandwagon

We produced original merch
they were proud to rep.

By week 7, mentions and impressions
had quadrupled from the premiere.

A Cultural Phenomenon

Eventually, Yellowjackets was recognized as not only the buzziest, but the best.

In the final three episodes, fan conversation
continued to double week over week.

Tracking The Buzz

By the finale, our campaign was generating 27x as much buzz as it
was during the premiere – unprecedented growth.

The Yellowjackets Sting

And in a season, the show became one of the
most important on television.

Renewed for
Season 2

Second most
streamed series
in SHOWTIME
history

SHOWTIME’s
Biggest
First-Year
Series in 6 years