The Campaign

“Different versions of the same online video content – one with invisible ghosts, and others where they materialized – made viewers think they had actually seen a paranormal incident. Then, a highly creative, interactive version of the video took the excitement to a higher level, unleashing massive discussion and sharing.” In a multi-stage media campaign, we engaged young people on a variety of internet platforms, leveraging the power of this online community to launch rumors of a real ghost-sighting, which became the focus of attention in mainstream society. As young Taiwanese personally experienced the incident on their screens, they discussed and shared it on social media, spreading the news across many different social networks favored by young consumers, sparking countless media discussions, and achieving widespread social reach. As a result, young people started paying attention to ghosts, and took part in the traditional Hungry Ghost Festival.

Creative Execution

“Using different versions of the same commercial, an interactive online video, and a 3-stage social media campaign, we generated a paranormal incident that gripped Taiwan!” (1) Invisible ghosts: We released the first commercial in history starring lead characters who were all invisible. A flurry of news reports and social media activity dominated young people’s attention. (2) The ghosts appear: Three days later, we randomly broadcast two versions of the video on the internet. In one, the ghosts were invisible. In the other, they materialized. People believed they really had seen ghosts. The story continued to heat up. (3) The Big Reveal: One week later, we released a web-based interactive video on social media. If anyone typed the letters “RIP” while they were watching it, the invisible ghosts suddenly appeared. With the release of this video content, the truth was revealed, and the campaign rose to a dramatic climax.

“Taiwan’s hottest marketing campaign of 2016” • Interactive video views instantly surged to over 700,000 in one hour, temporarily crashing the server. • The video achieved over 4.5 million views. • Fan page post engagement rate surpassed 32%, with over 29,000 shares. • The fan page was flooded with requests from viewers asking for confirmation of ghost sightings. • 17 million Taiwan dollars in earned media. • New store memberships among young consumers increased by 16% over the previous year, growing 9% more than ordinary members • Sales of 101.67 billion Taiwan dollars during Hungry Ghost Festival, up 18%

“Anytime a ghost appears on the screen (e.g., movies or music videos), a discussion erupts on Taiwanese social media. We exploited this phenomenon, allowing our creative video content to achieve widespread sharing, and instigating tremendous discussion about an alleged ghost-sighting.” Young people were growing less and less interested in the traditional Hungry Ghost Festival, but they felt intensely curious about any topic that was taboo. And talking about ghosts during Hungry Ghost Festival was strictly against the rules. So we broadcast different versions of the same online video content, making people think ghosts had materialized on their screens. As young people experienced and discussed this paranormal incident, they generated widespread sharing, spreading the video content from individuals to groups, from the official fan page to all the social media platforms that young Taiwanese love to use. The hush-hush topic of ghosts became the hottest subject on the internet.