With a story as beloved as Miles Morales and the Spider-Verse, it was important to give fans the opportunity to be at the forefront of the campaign. Inspired by the theme “anyone can wear the mask,” we established the Spider Society, an elite group of Spider People and mission control for any fan to enter the Spider-Verse. Our aim with this initiative was to cultivate a community of Spider-Man ambassadors and offer them a groundbreaking experience to immerse themselves in the characters and worlds of Across the Spider-Verse. What is more personal than 1-to-1 conversations with the cast, receiving personalized guidance and missions from your very own Spider Mentor, and accessing exclusive content delivered directly to your mobile device? This is precisely what we aimed to achieve through our global SMS program.
Do you have what it takes to travel through the Spider-Verse? By leveraging SMS technology, we recruited fans from across the globe, instantly immersing them in the beloved characters and worlds of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse through their phones. A simple text to the phone number 718-808-8342 (a homage to Miles Morales’ Brooklyn area code) unlocked exclusive access to personalized messages, talent Q&As, and special announcements. Some top recruits may have even spotted the Spider Society number on Metro Boomin’s Coachella billboard!
An immersive fan experience swung into action as new members were contacted via SMS and prompted to select their Spider-Mentor. The choice was theirs to make. Would it be Spider-Gwen, Jessica Drew, Peter B. Parker, or Spider-Man India guiding you through the Spider-Verse? Each Spider-Mentor engaged directly with fans through texted voice memos, voiced by the actors themselves: Hailee Steinfeld, Issa Rae, Jake Johnson, and Karan Soni. Recruits proved their mettle by completing special missions to unlock content reveals and secure a permanent place in the Spider Society, the hub for all things Spider-Verse.
Through collaborations with the Meta and Community messaging platforms, we forged unique connections, delivering exclusive, territory-specific content tailored to an individual fans’ interests and location from around the world. For instance, fans who texted in Brazil were treated to an exclusive live-stream event with a local football legend, while fans in the United States texted questions directly to Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld, who responded via video message.
We took extensive steps to ensure that participants in markets across the globe received the experience in compliance with local regulations and in their native language. Our Spider Society consisted of recruits from Australia, Brazil, Central America, Colombia, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Moreover, recognizing that English is just one of the languages spoken in the Spider-Verse, we made sure our communications were fluent in multiple languages including Traditional Chinese, German, Spanish, and Portuguese.
While there are many ways for fans to connect with the Spider-Verse, we reserved our most exclusive access for the Spider Society. Members enjoyed exclusive privileges such as receiving early access to the trailer, behind-the-scenes glimpses of Metro Boomin’s in the studio recording the soundtrack, and first looks at character poster reveals. These exciting moments were all delivered first to fans via SMS and the global response surpassed all expectations.
The Spider Society became the largest and fastest-growing entertainment brand on Community and blew away Meta’s previous benchmarks becoming the most successful SMS global campaign to date for a movie. Spider-Verse broke records and broke barriers to directly connect with fans on their mobile devices, delivering over 10MM messages worldwide. The intimate interactions achieved 62% Average Click-Through Rate and 21% Average Response Rate, both more than double the industry standards. The Spider Society saw an unprecedented 99%+ retention rate and was also recognized by industry press. Overall, the program received an overwhelmingly positive response and sentiment, with fans interacting consistently to stay connected with every element of the experience.
