#MarketingExcellenceAwards highlight: How HOOQ 'terrorised' KOLs to drive hype for its comedy series

Last year, the now-defunct Asian OTT service HOOQ launched its first Singaporean original comedy series titled "She's a terrorist and I love her", which touched on controversial topics such as racism, sexism, and nepotism in the workplace. However, HOOQ needed this local series to cut through the clutter of programmes that was being pushed out by other OTT players in the market. As such, it worked with That Marketing Guy to plan a media launch to grab the attention of consumers and drive hype for the series. The execution of the media launch led That Marketing Guy to win silver for Excellence in Experimental Marketing at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's recent Marketing Excellence Awards 2020.

Challenge

HOOQ was an OTT platform owned by WarnerMedia, Sony Pictures TV and Singtel, which went up against the big boys such as Netflix, Viu, and HBO Go. To differentiate itself, and engage the hard-to-crack audiences, HOOQ decided to go hyperlocal to transform itself from the "home of Hollywood" to the destination for original, episodic content by familiar figures, set in even more familiar locales.

"She's a terrorist and I love her" was HOOQ's first local production and the OTT platform wanted to introduce it with a bang to ensure it would not be perceived as yet another new show on a streaming platform. It aimed to create excitement among reviewers and key opinion leaders, as well as bring home a unique experience that viewers would associate with HOOQ.

Strategy

Inspired by the show's premise, HOOQ and That Marketing Guy created a closed-door experience for key opinion leaders (KOLs) to stream, share and savour. This included an escape room and a curated gallery dedicated to production props. Doing so allowed the KOLs to physically immerse themselves in the world of "She's a terrorist and I love her", and share something different with their fans to set the mood for previewing Singapore's first dark comedy on terrorism, sex shops, and loan sharks.

Execution

Suspense for the launch started way before the actual event. It began with the receipt of the event invitation and there was also a live-action reenactment leading up to the media screening. The lights went out and a group of armed "terrorists" entered the room while yelling at audience members. The "terrorists" targeted a specific "guest" who was in actual fact an actress. The actress pretends it is a prank but becomes visibly afraid when they grab her forcefully. She is then shoved to the ground, hooded, and cuffed.

The terrorists then threaten and force hoods on each of the guests, before herding them into specific rooms. Once the doors are locked behind them, participants are allowed to remove their hoods. Inside each room is a "hostage", who are also portrayed by actresses, wearing a torn wedding dress and is visibly shaken too. She told the guests that she was tricked into marriage and has since been held captive by a cult of anti-capitalism terrorists seeking to attack Singapore. She is among the last group of hostages who share the same sorry fate.

This then leads to the escape room portion. The hostage tells the guests that she has been trying to escape with the help of clues inside the room. However, her efforts have failed. She then hands them a phone linked to her lover, who is an insider committed to breaking her out. However, the calls are only limited to 30 seconds to prevent the other terrorists from tapping the line. When her task is completed, she is dragged out while screaming. The participants are then given 30 minutes to escape.

Results

This media launch resulted in the series accumulating over 10,000 views within its first two weeks of airing, making it the most viewed series on HOOQ Singapore ever. It also amassed a PR value of SG$139,000, with coverage from local and regional media such as The Straits Times, 8 Days and South China Morning Post. Meanwhile, a total of 42 media and KOLs attended the launch. According to That Marketing Guy, the launch received more than 304,000 paid and earned media impressions overall, and had a total reach of at least 265,000. There were also more than 2,000 brand tags.