The objective of Viking Quest is to showcase the team's ongoing journey throughout the season in a creative, artistic and eye-catching way. Last season, we used Vine and our Vinekings account to create 6 second videos from game to game. However, with the exodus of Vine this year, we decided to turn to a platform that boasts of the most creative users: Instagram. This year, our goal was to make videos so interesting that fans want to watch them a few times just to catch all of the hidden "Easter eggs" within the storyline. Each week, fans can follow along with a little character named Viktor to see how he handles (and pokes fun at) other teams each week.
Strategy 1: Find a ridiculously creative artist to be our partner
We couldn't do this alone. This season, we continued our exclusive partnership with an artist and animator named Ian Padgham in order to bring this concept to life. Our fans were familiar with his work from our Vinekings content, and we trusted his style and creative vision.
"Brands often make the mistake of going for one hit wonders, looking for a viral moment. But what we've done this year is something fresh, thoughtful and hugely ambitious. By turning each game into an episode of a full, coherent season, we are pushing into new boundaries of content creation (and having a blast)." -Ian Padgham
Strategy 2: Leave our fans wanting more (without disappointing them)
Much like in a good novel or your favorite television series, a cliffhanger always leaves someone hungry to watch more. When it comes to Viking Quest, the cliffhanger each week is a key component of encouraging fans to come back each week to watch the next mini-episode of the series. Each weekly video splices together seamlessly into one season-long story that fans will be able to watch in totality once the season is complete. Every week, the social media team works directly with Ian to develop creative storylines and clever vignettes. Fans can usually find at least one or two inside jokes within the video.
The #VikingQuest videos have received 3,718,542 total views throughout the season to-date and have generated 258,744 likes, 4,841 comments and 24,075.
