After a successful Season 1 run of Bates Motel, we sought to drive tune-in for the Season 2 premiere, generate widespread buzz, grow viewership & create a "must-see" level of anticipation for this heart-pounding thriller.
We "renovated" the Bates Motel website from season one, an experience that offered an immersive look at the infamous motel and delved deeper into the show's mythology. At BatesMotel.com, fans took a digital tour through the motel, including all guest rooms, the office and even parts of the house! Each room contained different items of interest - clicking on them would give you more insight into the series, including revealing imagery and video, all hinting at what was to come in season 2. Users could share what they discovered through social media outlets. The site also featured a custom Twitter module that let consumers participate in the Bates Motel Twitter conversation while exploring.
The site was a success with 844K unique visitors (an increase of more than 50% from Season 1). With over 1 million page views, Batesmotel.com continued to pull in fresh users with each new episode.
In the town of White Pine Bay, nothing is what it seems on the surface, you always have to dig a little deeper for the truth. This inspired us to give fans a new and engrossing way to experience a desktop site.
The flash based site was recreated faithfully from hi-resolution panoramic photography to give an almost tactile sensation of visiting the actual motel. The panoramic stills of the real set aligned the site with storylines and themes from the show and allowed for 360-degree room views and a first person point of view.
In some rooms, the site prompted consumers with, "Don't let the darkness stop you, but you'll need a flashlight." It then gave the option to use a smartphone or mouse as a flashlight. If consumers clicked on phone, the site directed them to bit.ly/bateslight to enter a four-digit code. The computer then connected to the phone via HTML5 Web-sockets, and consumers were able to calibrate their phone and move it around to light up different areas of the room. Alternatively, consumers could do the same thing with the mouse by hovering it over different areas on screen. This flashlight feature gave users a mechanism to explore the darkness lurking beneath the surface of Norma and Norman Bates' world. Easter eggs such as old photographs or expansive video clips were also hidden to give deep diver fans an even more immersive experience. For those on a mobile device, a mini HTML5 site was created as well.
