THE 14TH ANNUAL SHORTY AWARDS

The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media and digital. View this season's finalists!

Special Project

Special Project
From the 15th Annual Shorty Awards

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds WeHo Bus Shelter Campaign

Entered in Creative Use of Technology

Objectives

Paramount+’s “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” follows the intergalactic exploits of Captain Christopher Pike and the crew of the starship USS Enterprise in the decade before the events of “Star Trek: The Original Series.” To build buzz around the new series, Paramount+ needed to find a manner in which to wed technology from the “Star Trek” universe with locations visited by thousands of passersby on a daily basis. The use of eye-catching tech in a commonplace setting would be compelling to both long-time "Star Trek" fans as well as enthusiastic new viewers.

 

Strategy and Execution

Paramount+ designed an arresting campaign utilizing public bus shelters in West Hollywood, California. The campaign worked within the context of the placement’s location and introduced unsuspecting transit riders and pedestrians to the capable cast of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.” The fully digitized displays featured gorgeous backdrops of some of the show’s cosmic locations with fan-favorite characters such as Spock and Captain Pike appearing true to life as though they transported themselves directly into the bus stops from locations across the galaxy. 

The groundbreaking digital displays expertly combined real-world locations with the fantastic realm of science fiction. The realistic, immersive, and mesmerizing ads grabbed the attention of passersby, the most die-hard Star Trek fans, and the uninitiated alike.

Results

Being located in the densely populated West Hollywood neighborhood of the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area, the bus shelters garnered hundreds of thousands of views throughout the duration of the campaign. “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” went on to become the fifth-most in-demand streaming series in the US during the month of May 2022. The series also garnered a coveted 99% approval rating on the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes and received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. 

 

Media

Entrant Company / Organization Name

Paramount+

Link