TNT partnered with Fullscreen to launch their latest slow-burning thriller series, I Am the Night, by driving fervent anticipation pre-premiere among the true-crime fandom online.
In order to reach the true-crime audience outside of traditional social channels, I Am The Night's campaign leveraged influencer partnerships with My Favorite Murder, an experiential activation with Chris Pine and Patty Jenkins, and the series’ companion podcast “Root of Evil.” Collaboration was key in getting the attention of the target audience and fostering organic advocates for this new property.
A wide array of platforms came together to make I Am the Night the #1 most talked-about new drama of the season, each one leading with different influencers:
- Facebook
- Director Patty Jenkins and star Chris Pine vaulted early awareness with custom trailer bumpers earning 10M trailer views.
- Instagram
- Patty Jenkins’ cinematography was showcased with surrealist paintings by Man Ray at a special gallery at LACMA. Instagram Story coverage grew the account’s following by 7% in a week.
- Giphy
- Chris Pine led the way with 1.9M views on his custom Giphy Story, part of a Character Story Series.
- LinkedIn
- Jenkins joined a “Conversation With” interview on LinkedIn to reach industry professionals.
- YouTube
- An original branded content series by true crime vlogger Kendall Rae accrued over 10M minutes watched as she explored the most infamous murders in Hollywood history.
- Podcasts (iTunes and Spotify)
- On the anniversary of the Black Dahlia murder, My Favorite Murder hosted a live taping of their podcast to promote the show, which gained 1.5M downloads and 134K social engagements.
- Another original podcast, “Root of Evil,” featured the descendants of suspected serial killer George Hodel. Podcast episodes were paired with custom social videos, leading to 6.3M downloads and a spot at the top of Apple Podcasts’ charts.
- Twitter
- I Am the Night, AT&T and DirecTV Twitter channels shared true crime historical facts in real-time during the episodes. Live engagement drove 76% of the total campaign mentions.
The campaign generated 369M total social impressions and 77M video views with only six episodes, making it TNT’s most successful social media campaign ever. The organic views alone were 5.6x the previous best for the network.
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