Slasher: Solstice

Gold Winner

DotCOMM Award

Digital Marketing & Communication Campaigns

Slasher is a Canadian horror anthology series created by Aaron Martin, renowned for its originality and its signature depictions of carnage. Canadian film production company Shaftesbury challenged us to deliver a paid digital marketing campaign to generate U.S. viewership for the season three premiere of Slasher: Solstice on Netflix.

We were asked to be creative and grow the show’s fan base without relying on violent imagery—which was quite the needle to thread given the show’s inherently gory visuals. Because Shaftesbury opted for a strictly digital campaign, no out of home or traditional broadcast channels would be used. It was up to Shaftesbury and Art & Science to deliver real-world results from organic and paid media across multiple digital platforms.

Results

173% increase in engagement on Facebook alone
20 million impressions
4.1 million video plays

Our strategy consisted of two components: Generating awareness of the premiere, and providing a meaningful way to engage with content that would translate to active viewership of the series. We reached out to audiences on a variety of social media platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Rather than treat the Slasher: Solstice audience as homogeneous, we chose to create several custom target audiences on Google, focusing on constellations of TV watching profiles—from horror enthusiasts, to binge-watchers, to lovers of edgy teen TV.

Facebook engagement increased significantly, and the show trended on Netflix in multiple countries. A flexible team, they expertly navigated obstacles using creative methods … We were impressed by their ability to pivot when faced with significant design and thematic challenges.

— Client review on Clutch.co

In collaboration with Shaftesbury, we chose YouTube as the primary digital platform on which to execute our awareness strategy. In order to generate a high number of impressions among our curated audiences, we flighted several 15-second “Skippable InStream” ads on YouTube.

To build audience anticipation for the season premiere, we structured a campaign around a seven-day countdown using Facebook and Instagram. Each day, we posted a new mobile-only Instagram Story, and Instant Experience, inviting the audience to guess the answer to the mysterious question at the heart of the show: “Who is the Druid?”

On the day of the premiere, we launched a mobile Facebook Filter, that allowed users to wear the iconic Druid mask and engage with the central theme of the show in a new way.

Results

Gold Winner

DotCOMM Award

Digital Marketing & Communication Campaigns

Our campaign delivered a total of 20 million impressions, and 4.1 million video plays, across all of our targeted channels. Over 240,000 viewers watched the ads to completion.

In the weeks following the premiere, Slasher: Solstice was trending on Netflix. During the week of its premiere, TV analytics company TV TIME ranked Slasher: Solstice in the top-three shows on the rise, outperforming viral hits like Chernobyl.

Enthusiasm for the show spread beyond the U.S. audience to international markets, where we began to see demands from fans to release the show in the UK, and across continental Europe.

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Slasher: Solstice

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Slasher: Solstice

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