Why is this work relevant for Direct?

Disappearing Dracula was a physical poster installed within the bathrooms of pubs, clubs and entertainment venues which was designed to illicit an immediate response amongst those viewing it. Dracula’s disappearing reflection in the mirror created a private moment between the ad and the audience which was photographed and shared on social media platforms time and time again.

Background

With shrinking audience attendance over the past 3 seasons, the West Australian Ballet wanted to promote their upcoming season of Dracula and appeal to a new and younger audience – deciding to shift their advertising spending away from the loyal older demographic for the first time. The objectives of the brief were to increase ticket sales, as they hadn’t had a sell-out season for 3-years, and to grow the attendance of younger ballet enthusiasts and first-time attendees.

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

We wanted to capture people’s attention when they least expected it. To do this we leveraged the well-known folklore that Dracula doesn't have a reflection to create a private moment and provoke an immediate response. We used flip motion effect printing which was then placed at an optimum 37-degree angle, creating the illusion that something supernatural was at play and causing Draculas reflection to vanish in the mirror. The outcome? A private, eerie moment with thousands of unsuspecting people. A simple new twist on an old printing technique.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

To reach the 18 – 39 audience demographic for the first time on a limited budget of just $5,000 we decided to target arts and events precincts and live festivals throughout the city. The contemporary event artwork was then designed to leverage the re-emergence of vampire culture amongst younger audiences. While the creative idea meant that we needed ad placements near mirrors. As such, we negotiated a large media buy which secured 100 placements. Each one was then meticulously installed on the 37-degree angle and tested to ensure it worked effectively. The campaign was accompanied by a Public Relations strategy, which looked to amplify the audience through unpaid activity in the media and online.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

102 placements were installed in clubs, pubs, restaurants and entertainment venues over two evenings prior to a busy weekend in order to maximise exposure. The in-venue campaign ran for 1-week. However, after the first night the campaign went viral after multiple social media posts from within venues. The campaign was quickly picked up by Junkee, Vice and hundreds of other media outlets. The campaign quickly achieved over 210,000,000 media impressions in the process.

List the results (30% of vote)

• 15,120 tickets sold in just 1-day. The first time in 3-years a ballet season had sold out and the quickest sell-out on record. • West Australian Ballet website traffic increased by 401% • There was a 38% increase in 18 – 39-year-old ballet attendees. • West Australian Ballet subscribers increased by 24% • Over 210,000,000 media impressions were achieved.