Why is this work relevant for PR?

This campaign brought the world of Netflix’s popular zombie show ‘Kingdom’ out of the screens and into the real world, giving fans a chance to experience the show in a surprising way- through taste. This tasty stunt helped drive buzz and conversations for the pivotal plotline of the film. A key component of the campaign was the use of social platforms and PR to drive conversations online- “What’s happening? Why are these two brands partnering? What does bubble tea have to do with zombies?!” These were some of the burning questions PR and social channels helped facilitate to drive.

Background

Netflix's Kingdom: Ashin of the North, traces the zombie outbreak in the show to a 'resurrection plant' that brings the dead back to life. As fans eagerly awaited the release of a full new season of Kingdom, Netflix launched Kingdom: Ashin of the North, a special one-off episode that traces the zombie outbreak in the show to a 'resurrection plant' that brings the dead back to life. But this was only a single episode, and we knew fans would be hungry for more, so to keep them excited, we gave them a taste of Kingdom.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

The Resurrection Plant Bubble Tea We collaborated with Fire Tiger, a popular Korean-inspired bubble tea brand to create a Bubble Tea flavour infused with the Resurrection plant! We then orchestrated a campaign that drove buzz for this must-have drink. In the lead up to the launch, we built hype around the partnership with mysterious hints on our social channels that got fans excited. Fire Tiger even turned their iconic tiger logo across their social pages into a zombie tiger. We then released an Instagram filter that simulated the experience of eating the Resurrection plant. On launch day, hordes of fans devoured the drink. We upped the ante by partnering with LINE MAN, who released a horde of LINE MAN zombies to deliver the drinks, to the horror and delight of our fans.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

Our target audience were primarily fans of Korean films and the Kingdom franchise, in particular. Fire Tiger had a loyal following that we tapped into for this campaign as well. The Kingdom series has been hugely successful in Thailand and as the fandom continues to grow, we wanted existing fans to discover more of the show they love in unexpected ways, and give new fans a taste of the Kingdom-verse by bringing the show world into the real world. So we partnered with a local Thai brand that can help us surprise and delight our fans, and also build our social cache locally.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

In the lead up to the launch, both Fire Tiger and Netflix built hype around the partnership with mysterious hints on their social pages that got fans excited. Both brands even ‘spoke’ to each other on social, keeping fans guessing. Fire Tiger then turned their iconic tiger logo across their social pages into a zombie tiger (a zombie tiger was featured in the film) On launch day, hordes of fans devoured the drink. We upped the ante by partnering with LINE MAN, who released a horde of LINE MAN zombies to deliver the drinks, to the horror and delight of our fans. We drove more eyeballs to the partnership by releasing an Instagram filter that simulated the experience of eating the Resurrection plant.

List the results (30% of vote)

News of the deadly drink spread rapidly throughout the kingdom, with many news outlets picking up on it. A frenzy of fan conversations took the internet by storm. Many fans, some famous celebrities created content showing how the drink looked like and how the LINE delivery zombies delivered their drink. The three way partnership resulted in 5.7 million people reached. 24 MillionTHB in PR value The limited edition resurrection drink surpassed 1,000 orders in the first 3 hours, resulting in a 100% in sales compared to their normal sales.