Our goal was to create a surprising, innovative, and interactive social media stunt to support the SpongeBob SquarePants Franchise, while simultaneously growing the audience on its newly launched Instagram account.
We created an Instagram Scavenger Hunt where fans followed clues taking them on a journey through multiple Instagram posts and accounts in order to find the Flying Dutchman's buried treasure. Those who found it were entered for the chance to win a real-life treasure of their own!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BV73ZB-F2hI/
The strategy behind the Flying Dutchman's Treasure Hunt centered around finding a novel and unexpected way to engage our new fans on Instagram, while sparking fan affinity through the use of iconic elements from a fan favorite episode. A fairly new account at the time, we wanted to provide an enticing reward to drive more followers to the platform and remind legacy fans of all the reasons they should follow the account.
We focused on uniquely utilizing media formats and "game-ifying" the handle in a way that actively engaged the fans and exceeded their expectations. By capitalizing on the iconic show moments, we brought super fans into the fold, further propelling the brand name and activation into the social zeitgeist. By utilizing the stories feature, video clips, and custom creative, we sent fans on a digital journey to hunt down clues that would eventually lead them to find a hidden treasure within the feed.
The hunt started with a launch video from the 'Arrgh' episode (where the Flying Dutchman board game first appeared), which led them to the handle's Instagram story to roll the 'dice'. Fans tapped through the stories to find out which dice they had rolled. And depending on their dice roll, they received a prompt to go to a series of new accounts that gave them more clues on where the treasure was buried. When fans finally found the buried treasure, they not only received the victorious feeling of winning, but were also entered for the chance to win a real-life treasure of their own (in the form of an exclusive prize pack, complete with a signed storyboard from the original episode)!
During the activation's flight dates:
- The SpongeBob Instagram account grew 10x faster when compared to the average daily rate.
- The activation's Instagram Stories generated a total of 1.5M views.
- The feed content received more than 50k video views with an average engagement rate that doubled the monthly average!
