HBO Max’s Legendary is a one-hour competition series where voguing teams – called “Houses” – compete in fashion and dance challenges at studio-based balls. To promote season three of the series, the objectives included:
Driving awareness and viewership for season 3 by reigniting season 1 and season 2 audiences, and growing the audience by targeting fans of like minded content.
Fueling industry buzz for critical acclaim and awards consideration.
Creating a brand halo effect for HBO Max as the home for cutting edge unscripted content centering diverse LGBTQ+ voices.
Bolstering Legendary social profiles as the home for exclusive Legendary content that drives viewership.
To celebrate the season 3 premiere of the series, Legendary, HBO Max and it's LGBTQIA+ community and audience initiative Human by Orientation partnered to throw “The Legendary Ball” at the iconic Brooklyn Museum, New York City's third-largest art museum.
The experience would feature all of the elements of a ball while integrating themes, talent and branding from season three of Legendary. Because NYC is the birthplace of Ball culture, we would take the opportunity to create a Ball in the city that birthed the movement.
Across the concept, the activation would shine a spotlight on the core moments that make a ball what it is, an exploration of self and performance. By recognizing history and iconic present day talent, the experience will create a memorable evening for an unforgettable community while creating affinity and promoting season three of the hit series.
Like most things that have come to be culturally transformative, the ballroom scene was born out of necessity for those who refused to exist quietly. Necessity for a space where bold expression, community connectedness and strong individuality could not just survive but truly thrive. WIth HBO Max’s Legendary dedicating a spotlight to this community, the campaign for season 3 was designed to bring bits of this underground culture to life while expanding its reach to the masses.
Just as classic Hollywood was known for its glamour, sophistication, individuality, and drama, the same elements of one iconic era bled into another - the world of ballroom. Historically and even still today, the Old Hollywood aesthetic is one of allure, mystery, vanity, and fascination, which lends itself perfectly to the grandiosity of the ballroom scene. The Legendary Ball would feature an extravagant experience that marries cast talent, and community members in a singular legendary night that promotes season three of the hit series.
Guests arrived at the event dressed in 10s across the board, and began their evening by serving grace and face at the Legendary step and repeat, moments after stepping out of the museum elevators. Notable guests who walked the black carpet included the performing houses from seasons 1, 2 and 3, including: House of Garcon, House of Miyake- Mugler, House of Tisci and more.
As the night went on, attendees showed off their best runway walk at the Legendary interactive video booth. This dynamic video booth was a massive hit, as guests lined up all night, anxiously awaiting their very own video takeaway.
To officially kick off the night’s performances, LEGENDARY ballroom icons Leiomy Maldanado, Dominique Jackson and Law Roach graced the runway and served as the nights judges, awarding individual category trophies and $10,000 to the winning team.
Anchored by a competition between performers, The Legendary Ball paid homage to the series past, while building excitement for the upcoming season. The Ball concluded with guests dancing and dipping on the dance floor with sounds provided by Legendary resident DJ Mike Q.
In total, the Legendary Ball was attended by over 300+ guests including influencers, celebrities, and tastemakers from within the community. Notable attendees included The Dragon Sisters, Kid Lit Music, Cierra Boyd, Loco Ninja and more. The experience garnered over 458 organic social posts, 8.98 million organic impressions and 424K organic social engagements.
The Legendary interactive video booth installation garnered a ton of organic social shares on Instagram. As anticipated, guests’ posts from the premiere event continued into premiere day, with attendees bringing awareness to the premiere date, and driving engagement to the brand’s social channels.
The HBO Max “Legendary Ball” activated an experience that resonated with its core demographic of multicultural millennials and Gen Z adults (18-34) with an emphasis on the LGBTQIA audience. The experience successfully promoted season 3 of the hit show LEGENDARY driving tune-in and generating buzz while providing an amazing and memorable night for the community.
