Based on Disney-Hyperion’s best-selling book series by award-winning author Rick Riordan, "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" is a Disney+ Original series that tells the fantastical story of a 12-year-old modern demigod, Percy Jackson, who's just coming to terms with his newfound divine powers when the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. With help from his friends Grover and Annabeth, Percy must embark on an adventure of a lifetime to find it and restore order to Olympus.
To build excitement for the streaming series among fans of the books and new viewers, Disney Branded Television looked to go beyond the usual promos and trailers on social media. Instead, it aimed to leverage exciting moments and intense stakes in the "Percy Jackson" story, while also providing something engaging and shareable to get fans and new viewers alike talking about the series and hyped to tune in. It also wanted to use the paid promotion to engage with viewers directly on social media, identifying fans and viewers and bringing them a social experience that would raise awareness and excitement of the series and draw users to further engage with the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" social media presence.
With "Percy Jackson and the Olympians," Disney Branded Television knew it had a built-in fan base that loved the "Percy Jackson" books and were interested in seeing the story adapted to the screen. However, it also knew those fans were very familiar with the "Percy Jackson" story, and engaging them on social media and building their excitement for the series would take something creative, in addition to the usual trailers and promos. At the same time, Disney Branded Entertainment wanted to bring in new viewers who weren't necessarily fans of or familiar with the "Percy Jackson" story with novel social posts that would catch viewers' eyes and build their excitement for the show.
Disney focused on the literary roots of the series with its Story Selector social post. The unique promo allowed users to build their own trailer for the series by choosing their own path through Percy's journey. The post asks users to pick between scenes, and with their choice playing clips from the show and coalescing into a quick but thrilling look at the action and danger Percy and his friends face. The Story Selector also gave fans a look at specific parts of the series to see the way a story they had previously only imagined was brought to life in "Percy Jackson and the Olympians."
The bespoke nature of the Story Selector gave users different experiences based on their choices, allowing them to highlight their favorite story elements in the created trailer. That feeling of choice made the social post more engaging than just another video to watch as users scrolled their feeds, encouraging them to take part in the conversation around "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" and pushing the series to top-of-mind in a way that normal promos couldn't.
Disney Branded Television made use of promotion on TikTok to increase the reach of the Story Selector post, augmenting its already considerable social media reach with the official "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" TikTok account.
Disney Branded Television’s social presence for "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" has been highly successful in driving fan and viewer engagement and raising awareness and viewership for the show itself. The Story Selector post saw a high degree of engagement as it moved beyond the show's organic following to reach fans and viewers across TikTok.
On TikTok, the promoted Story Selector post earned almost 30,000 likes, helping to additionally boost the "Percy Jackson" account's presence on the platform. The account itself sees heavy engagement from a tuned-in fan base that likes to take part in the conversation.
With a huge amount of views, likes, and comments, the TikTok account demonstrates the healthy engagement and strong community around the social campaign that's consistently excited about "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" and hungry for more.
The Story Selector promoted post and social campaign helped "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" to a record-breaking premiere on Disney+ and Hulu, with 13.3 million viewers over its first six days.
The Story Selector post garnered an above-average Engagement Rate, performing particularly well among the Gen Z target audience.
