Daring to do more for discovery+ to win new subscribers

Challenge

discovery+ wanted to win new subscribers by becoming known for its richly varied OTT service, not just its documentary-led heritage. Our analysis showed that paranormal programming was one of the top converting genres, achieving higher viewer engagement than almost any other vertical. We set out to make discovery+ famous for something other than its factual content, by finding paranormal fans in their entertainment haunts and daring them to discover more of what they love…

What we did

Our strategy was to ‘Hijack Halloween’. By eschewing traditional media strategies for a bit of drama, in order to win over a fickle audience, we were able to:

PUSH paranormal fans to discovery+. We contextually placed TV advertising in paranormal programming to push viewers ‘in the moment’ over to the discovery+ platform. Extending to audio, we partnered with Spotify to create the ultimate Halloween playlist and, to gain the attention of theme park thrill seekers, we used OOH TV at Tulleys Halloween Shocktober Fest, providing a highly contextual placement amongst Halloween superfans.

PULL paranormal fans away from their daily grind. We ‘spooked’ our audience when out and about by dominating three underground stations with digiwall executions daring passers-by with an invitation to ‘Stream to Scream’.

PROMPT them to take up a subscription. We partnered with Bauer to run a ‘ghostly competition’ across the Absolute and Magic Breakfast shows, encouraging listeners to call in with their spooky stories. To drive subscription uptake, we used online video to amplify clips from the show across YouTube and Fandom, as well as high impact audience targeted display. Finally, we used Blis mobile geo-fenced activity to target people who had been exposed to the digiwalls, serving them with a subscription offer.