TCL wanted to bring brand awareness to the quality of their televisions during a low period in sales (October), and without having to resort to the industry-standard of competitor-bashing and “spec-showing.” Because, frankly, consumers don’t understand OLED vs. Mini-LED or Dolby Atmos vs. Dolby Surround. TCL knew that it could not become top of mind with a small budget by partnering with BTS or creating its own virtual influencer. TCL’s only chance was to be culturally relevant. October screams Halloween – and none of our competitors take advantage. Inspired by Alex Ross’ artistic style, we revitalized classic monsters through works of art – Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wicked Witch of the West.
The assignment was understood. We needed to create a jaw-dropping experience that would stop people from scrolling in a world where 95 million photos and videos are shared on Instagram per day. The solution came to us like a speeding bullet that had sound waves in the form of award-winning comic book artist and writer Alex Ross’ pencil strokes. We identified his art as the needed connection to consumers. The three monsters, depicted with intricate detail, brought the artwork to life in posts and on TCL’s TVs. The ads’ artwork showcased the monsters’ facial expressions paralyzed with bursts of colour and dramatic illustrations that showcased fear and a minimalist, tasteful TCL remote in hand. We then took it a step further by creating messaging that showed how monotonous traditional television ads were by linking it to the question we ask consumers – “what scares the scariest people?” It turns out, the most mundane things scare the scariest people in our lives, just like TV product ads that focus on specs or other features that many do not understand.
Captivating art paired with engaging fun was perfect. The TCL Halloween campaign made a global impression and resulted in 27,633,533 social media impressions, 3,731,816 post engagement, 11,812 new followers and 94,027 question participants. In the end, we successfully achieved our objective to increase brand awareness during the Halloween season through our globally trending campaign. We positioned the brand as being young, fun and sociable, and we boosted engagement and brand likeability with striking visuals and entertainment. Well, isn't that what social media was traditionally created for?
