At its zenith, the fan community around the original Hunger Games Movies was one of the most active groups in history, however 10 years later, and with many of the original leaders becoming dormant, we birthed a special program to reignite this group, targeting original leaders and new alike. The group, ‘The Gems of Panem', would become the pinnacle of community conduits between brand and fan — gaining advance access to materials, consulting on elements of the campaign, and in return galvanizing a fandom that was ready to reignite. Furthermore, against a backdrop of the WGA and SAG AFTRA strikes halting traditional Hollywood publicity, we needed to use social media and community in a much more focused way.
The specific goals for the Gems of Panem campaign were to;
Securing the Gems
To ensure those selected to be part of the Gems were core community leaders, they were extensively vetted for brand safety. Each member had to be a genuine, connected member of the fan community that had an engaged active audience on at least one priority platform (IG / TT). We also ensured that they displayed positivity, passion and knowledge for the franchise and we looked for those who had a recent, regular posting on The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Setting the Channels of Communication
Once the Gems had been selected, both communication channels with Lionsgate and output channels for the Gems were established to ensure timely, efficient communication and sharing of assets.
A private Reddit channel, WhatsApp and email address were set up to share exclusive assets, monitor and support this affiliate community.
The Key Marketing Beats
— TRAILER LAUNCH - FIRST LOOK EXPERIENCE IN VEGAS
As part of the first look event, exclusive TEASER GIFs launched 24 hours ahead of the first trailer, syndicated across The Gems social channels, with cross-channel CTAs for eager fans to explore. With an exclusive look at the first trailer and a filmmaker surprise meet & greet, the Las Vegas exhibition truly stoked the fandom fire. 1.29M+ EST IMPRESSIONS
— NY COMIC CON - COSPLAY MEET-UP, EXCLUSIVE SCREENING
A weekend in the mighty city, our Gems ventured to a Hunger Games Cosplay meet-up and were treated to exclusive NYCC artwork as well as fathom screenings. 869,237 IMPRESSIONS
— NYC LIVESTREAM - ARTIST ANNOUNCED, TALENT SURPRISE & DELIGHT
From Artist announcement and the official ticket release, fuel was added to the fire with talent surprise & delights. 226 POSTS and 343,000 IMPRESSIONS
— COUNTDOWN - EXCLUSIVE FAN-LED CROSS-CHANNEL ASSETS
An 18 day countdown to release day across The Gem channels, with an iconic The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes (TBOSAS) quote series - bookended by the official Hunger Games Instagram channel.
— LA PREMIERE - FAN EVENT, MURAL LAUNCH, AFTER PARTY
Gems shone bright at the premiere, from GRWM DryBar & manicures, to TBOSAS Mural and Barricade premiere day with exclusive afterparty. 6,329,400 EST IMPRESSIONS
— PRESS & PRODUCT - ADDITIONAL LIFT FOR THE BERLIN PREMIERE AND MULTIPLE PRESS & CONSUMER PRODUCT SPOTLIGHTS
As well as coverage of the BERLIN PREMIERE, the Gems supported 5 MAJOR BRANDS and their TBOSAS products during their journey back to Panem. These included ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, WALMART, URBAN OUTFITTERS, 1800 FLOWERS and BUTTER NAILS.
In numbers;
1.96M FOLLOWERS Across 22 unique fan accounts
15.57% follower increase from April-November 2023
37.6M+ estimated total reach
40.1M+ estimated impression
1,623+ total in-feed posts, across Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook & YouTube
5.81M+ estimated engagements
15.4% estimated engagement rate
The Gems of Panem program invited a fandom to truly drive a blockbuster film campaign in a first-of-its-kind, all-encompassing experience. What started as a strategy to engage the fandom’s community leaders evolved into an increasingly vital element of The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes campaign - as the SAG-AFTRA strike limited traditional marketing tactics, the Gems were able to keep the flame alive to drive over 40M impressions.
