The Campaign

The Melbourne Theatre Company wanted to promote their latest production, Birdland – a play about a rock star and his excessive, often nihilistic existence in hotel rooms – to a younger audience demographic. To bring this world to life, we created a preview like no other – the Peephole Preview. Behind three hotel doors we recreated three scenes from the play, giving viewers a glimpse of the dark world of Birdland through the peephole. To do this we fitted out three rooms at the InterContinental Melbourne with new doors, each custom-built with a magnetic iPhone lens in place of the peephole. This meant that only when a smart phone was attached, could our audience watch the debauchery on the other side. The experience, and the unique moments captured, were shared instantly on social platforms using #peepholepreview and #MTCbirdland. In one night, using only 11 influencers, we reached 450,000 people and introduced the Melbourne Theatre Company to a whole new audience. Importantly, 90% of those who saw and shared the Peephole Preview were under 30 – this is attributed to driving a 150% increase in youth ticket sales. The Peephole Preview helped the Melbourne Theatre Company find a voice on social media - with 100% positive feedback online - and increased their consumer awareness with a new, younger demographic.

The Brief

Our goal was to get the under-30 market interested in the play, discuss it with their friends, and ultimately buy the specially priced youth tickets to see the play. To do this, we needed to create an experience that would be shared peer-to-peer, rather than using a typical mass-marketing campaign.

Results

In one night, using only 11 influencers, we reached 450,000 people and introduced the Melbourne Theatre Company to a whole new audience. Importantly, 90% of those who saw and shared the Peephole Preview were under 30 – this is attributed to driving a 150% increase in youth ticket sales. The Peephole Preview helped the Melbourne Theatre Company find a voice on social media, and with 100% positive feedback online, increased their consumer awareness with the younger demographic.

Execution

First, our key influencers were sent an InterContinental Hotel room key. Printed on the back was a room number, a time and a date. Once they arrived at the hotel on the night, they discovered three scenes from Birdland being played out in three separate rooms – a mental breakdown, a horde of groupies and a game of cards gone wrong - each using actors from the Melbourne Theatre Company. To watch the debauchery happening behind each of the doors, the guests had to connect their phone to the magnetic lens in the custom-built door. This allowed for a personal one-on-one interaction with the actors inside the room, which was easily captured as photos or video and saved to their phone. This unique preview event lasted two hours and the experience, and the moments captured, were uploaded and shared instantly on social platforms.

The Situation

Birdland was a relatively unknown play from the UK, which was darker and more confronting than most of the Melbourne Theatre Company’s productions. With an audience base of mostly older patrons, the MTC needed to connect with a new, younger audience in order to sell tickets.

The Strategy

Because the MTC are seen as a very traditional theatre company, it’s understandable that the younger demographic might be cynical when it comes to believing how great the play would be. Instead, we let them hear it from people they look up to and admire – 11 carefully chosen influencers from Melbourne, ranging from fashion bloggers to musicians. To do this, we created an experience worthy of being shared with their audiences. We made it as easy as possible for our influencers to share the experience with their followers, by having them view the it through the very device they would ultimately use to share it – their mobile phone, and the social media apps that go along with it. This meant that our target audience were able to watch an exclusive preview of the play, delivered directly into their hands by the very people they trust to bring them the newest, coolest, latest stuff.