The Sympathizer was a monumental cultural moment for Vietnamese and Southeast Asian voices, so we wanted to drive awareness and create buzz for the series launch and engage the Vietnamese and AAPI communities authentically and celebrate this moment through exclusive early screenings and a premiere weekend Asian night market takeover by partnering with key local Vietnamese and AAPI community organizations.
Max also cultivated a network of authentic, creative, and influential Vietnamese and AAPI advocates for the new series who served as ambassadors to build engagement and drive tune-in for key audience groups, through a digital content series that was launched pre-premiere and in-season.
This campaign was about disrupting norms and celebrating diverse stories as we push for more authentic and inclusive portrayals of the Vietnamese community on television. By highlighting the authenticity of the show and the talent behind it, we built a bridge to the story seen on screen amongst audiences who would be key advocates for the series.
Max partnered with CAPE and Gold House, the leading cultural ecosystems that unite, invest in, and champion Asian Pacific creators and stories to generate early support for the series with exclusive preview screenings and Q&As with The Sympathizer cast and crew in two key markets: San Jose, CA and Orange County, CA, which are historically important to the Vietnamese diaspora in the U.S. Max strategically engaged grassroots Vietnamese arts organizations to co-host: Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN) in San Jose, and Vietnamese American Arts and Letters Association (VAALA) in Orange County. Both screenings brought together 300 people and reached thousands more via social media coverage.
The community first angle was continued by partnering with 626 Night Market in Santa Monica, CA during premiere weekend via a takeover experience with influencers, tastemakers and local community members in attendance throughout the two-day event. The market was transformed into the world of The Sympathizer, including a photo moment, branded entrance archway, and other decor, drawing inspiration from the show and traditional night markets in Vietnam and celebrated the Vietnamese community and culture through art, entertainment, and cuisine. Vietnamese-American performer, Dolly Ave, DJs Annalog and Demonslayer provided live sets throughout the evening while Vietnamese food vendors such as All Dat Dumpling, All Dat Noodle, Café 949, Ridges Churro Bar, The Ugly Bao served delicious Sympathizer-themed bites to attendees.
Max also partnered with 9 content creators tasked with recording themselves, answering prompts tied to the show's themes and 2 visual artists who created a time lapsed animated graphic video that accompanied the stories the creators shared. The final content was published on the creators’ Instagram and TikTok profiles, in the form of a split screen asset that bridged authenticity and transparency with artistry and helped sustain conversation about the series on a week-to-week basis.
The screenings drew in 300 attendees and reached thousands more via social media coverage, while over 2,000 people visited the 2-day night market event, creating an electric, celebrative environment of Vietnamese culture and community. Guests excitedly took to social media throughout the night to share their experience, generating over 497K+ impressions, 27k+ engagements on social media throughout the weekend.
For the digital content series, Max engaged 11 content creators who created a total of 20 social posts on Instagram and TikTok. The Instagram posts totaled 376.4K impressions, 41.8K engagements and 1.5 million total social impressions. The TikTok posts totaled 1.6 million impressions, 10.7K engagements and 14.2K total social engagements. Both social platforms garnered a total of 3.47M+ impressions and 66.7K+ engagements.
