When filmmaker Sam Lipman-Stern started working at a telemarketing company as a teenager, he discovered that he was a cog in a wheel perpetrating a billion-dollar scam. He begins videotaping the wild office antics and co-workers for fun but then later realizes the company they all work for, the CDG, is part of a nefarious network of corruption. This 3-part docu-series tracks Sam’s darkly comedic 15-year journey with his brazen workmate Pat as they expose rampant corruption in the billion-dollar telemarketing industry.
In our promotional campaign, we aimed to mirror the documentary's dark humor and surrealism, harnessing the absurdity of CDG's office culture. "A Day in the Office" serves as a tonal rollercoaster, transitioning from idyllic work scenes to chaotic revelry, offering viewers a glimpse into the mayhem that defines life within CDG's walls. Meanwhile, "Recruitment Video" extends a tongue-in-cheek invitation, welcoming prospective telemarketers into the madcap universe of CDG with a mock recruitment pitch.
Overall, our objective was to create curiosity, drive conversation, and engage fans. Utilizing short, eye-catching video assets on social media, we wanted each piece to leave a little mystery and showcase the irreverent humor of the documentary.
To bring Telemarketers to life, we orchestrated a plan of action that leveraged the unique tone, setting, and era of the documentary to captivate audiences and foster ongoing engagement. Our bespoke social campaign served as the launchpad, igniting social conversation and enticing viewers to delve deeper into the narrative with each passing week.
Key to our strategy was the creation of eye-catching short-form videos tailored to reflect the distinctive tone, setting, and era of the docu-series. Through custom graphics and visuals, we transported audiences back to the early 2000s, immersing them in a nostalgic time capsule of the telemarketing industry's nascent years. By harnessing the unmistakable spirit of the era, we ensured that our content resonated deeply with viewers, evoking a strong sense of nostalgia.
However, our journey was not without its challenges. One significant obstacle we encountered was the task of crafting a clear narrative from the chaotic footage of the CDG office. To overcome this hurdle, we distilled key moments and themes from the documentary into engaging and cohesive narratives. Through close collaboration between our creative team and filmmakers, we navigated these challenges with finesse, ensuring that our content remained faithful to the overarching vision of Telemarketers.
The resounding success of Telemarketers in becoming the most-watched HBO documentary series of 2023 - with 1.9 million average viewers per episode - exemplifies how our team's efforts exceeded our objectives. Our primary goal was to captivate audiences and spark widespread engagement with the documentary through thumb-stopping short-form social video, and achieving this level of viewership demonstrates the profound impact of our creative campaign.
By strategically leveraging social media platforms and crafting compelling video content tailored to the documentary's unique tone and setting, we effectively captured our audience's attention and fostered ongoing conversation. The impressive viewership numbers not only validate the effectiveness of our approach but also highlight the resonance of the documentary's themes and narratives with audiences online.
