“Breakout Kings" is an original drama series that follows the unconventional partnership between the U.S. Marshal’s office and a group of convicts as they work to catch fugitives on the run. On the heels of the success of The Glades, it was critical that Breakout Kings significantly furthered A&E’s momentum in the original scripted series space and reinforced the brand’s promise as the ultimate destination for real-life and scripted drama programming. The Catch a Con Sweepstakes/Gold Run campaign strategy was to establish Breakout Kings as a drama that broke the mold; with a fresh and creative concept and in its ability to deliver a buzz worthy element to increase awareness and drive tune-in to the series premiere.The Catch a Con Sweepstakes/Gold Run campaign strategy was to establish Breakout Kings as a drama that broke the mold; with a fresh and creative concept and in its ability to deliver a buzz worthy element to increase awareness and drive tune-in to the series premiere. As part of a multi-tier marketing campaign, A&E created an innovative promotional marketing stunt featuring both a real-life and virtual scavenger hunt utilizing the iconic orange jumpsuit reinforcing the show key art. The Catch a Con promotion engaged consumers to track down and “capture" Breakout Kings-branded prison jumpsuits/convicts that had been “hidden" around New York City throughout major retailers, OOH locations and virtually via the Goldrun application. Hundreds of branded jumpsuits were placed guerilla-style on storefronts, fences and alleyways across NYC in multiple high traffic locations, including Times Square, Port Authority, Grand Central, Union Square areas to name just a few. Additional jumpsuits were contracted to be placed in popular nightlife locations and via wild postings. Retail partners, Bloomingdales (Soho), Kenneth Cole (4 locations), Brooklyn Industries (6 locations) and OMG Jeans (9 locations) placed the branded Breakout Kings jumpsuits front and center in their windows and in-store during the promotion period to drive awareness and participation. A&E established a unique partnership with the new augmented reality application, GoldRun, to incorporate a virtual scavenger hunt into the promotion. The Catch a Con Sweepstakes leveraged the GoldRun App that allowed iPhone users to track down, interact with and collect virtual escapees placed in high traffic locations in NYC including OOH and retail partners. The GoldRun geo-location technology allowed consumers to spot and “capture" these virtual prisoners on the run and share with their friends on Facebook. Retail partners provided geo-targeted messaging via their social media channels and also distributed tune-in collateral in stores including information on how to enter the Catch A Con Sweepstakes to win cash prizes. A dedicated microsite (catchacon.com) featured a detailed map of locations for consumers to spot convicts and served as the home to enter the Sweepstakes.
