Let’s face it—there’s a lot of good TV right now. Original series abound beyond cable and across platforms. For entertainment brands like HBO, media- busting experiential programs have changed the game on what this industry can truly call immersive. Ahead of the premiere of the second season of “Westworld,” an event 16 months in the making, the brand wanted to make a splash and win back the 13 million viewers of the first season—and then some. So, the brand recreated “Westworld” at one of the most important influencer events of the year: SXSW.
You can read about the entire tale in our Grand Ex cover story here, but here’s the CliffsNotes version on what went down, people:
In the series, Westworld is a luxury theme park where guests go live out their wildest fantasies amidst artificially intelligent characters. Way off the beaten path of all things SXSW in Austin, HBO activated a 90,000-square-foot footprint in a secret location, complete with 16 replica structures of the iconic establishments from the show, along with more than 60 actors to bring it all to life. A 444-page script guided the actors and program. And just like in the series, participants were transported into SXSWestworld via a train carriage from the series. Once inside, they scoured the park to find hidden season-two clues. No two consumers had identical experiences.
Technology behind the scenes personalized the experience for each attendee. A handwritten letter awaited at the post office in SXSWestworld that directed them toward unfolding storylines within the park. They also received a social media share page
via email, a personalized “Wanted” poster and an Old-West-style photo GIF which “glitched” to reveal season two clues. While the AI hosts (those actors we mentioned) were “armed with guns,” the attendees were “armed with cameras,” the masterminds explained, “creating advocates for the series who could provide reach at a global scale.” Folks, just Google #SXSWestworld. You’ll see.
SXSWestworld was the “most ambitious promotion in HBO’s history,” which is saying something given the network’s high-powered
status, and it helped HBO establish itself as a force in experiential marketing, standing out from the clutter of more than 600 scripted shows in the marketplace. Not to mention it rose above the crowded marketing landscape of SXSW, where human interaction trumped technology, creating the hottest ticket in town. In fact, each day, tickets sold out in under two minutes and the standby line stretched more than two city blocks. On top of the nearly 1.9 billion impressions the program earned, one of the 500 pieces of press published across the globe called it “one of the best publicity stunts of the 21st century.” Draw.
