Bradley 59,255 Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 Have you ever done a campaign like this before, where you have to promote a show but can't reveal the plot or cast? No, I never have. Not in my career. Why shroud the season in so much secrecy? We were going into the sixth season and that number has a particular meaning in the horror realm. In the past, our strategy for the fanbase has always been to reveal and build excitement through transparency and inclusion. We would put out these teasers that are amalgams of themes that are sometimes underpinning themes that feed into the show and don’t come into realization until the very end, or that are obvious themes and play on the stereotypes of the genre but that we twist into a new way. And that’s been very successful for us, because we drop these breadcrumbs along the way, but they very much lead to a full sandwich at the end of the trail. This time, the breadcrumbs are in the form of misdirect teasers, where only one is real. How many are there total? There are 24 teasers. Then there’s the anthology spot that brings it all together, as well as the other anthology spot which we released with Lady Gaga’s single, "Perfect Illusion." (promo ) Her song is very much up the alley so we played with that. There are also 17 different print finishes, so the outdoor and the print campaign mirror. And then there are another eight teasers that are social-based only. We have peaked and now it’s about the campaign. We will release a few more things socially, but now it’s about letting it sit and having the breadcrumbs become, I hope, a gourmet meal. Was this campaign the most robust you’ve ever done for the series, or does it just seem that way? This was equal robustness to past seasons. Every season for AHS we give it the same amount of support, because we’re launching it fresh. We have to give it a lot of resources because we have to take it from the ground up. This one has as many resources, but that is awesome that you think it was more. We did want to ignite discussion and I can tell you we have always had an incredibly robust social community with AHS because it’s that kind of show, but this year, the fans did share and exchange and debate more and there was a lot more social activity. Ryan Murphy spoke about a desire to switch things up for season six. Was the idea a collaborative effort? It was something I pitched to John [Landgraf] and then to Ryan and then we worked together in a collaboration to pull it off. In terms of locking the set down, making sure that PR was right there with us — everything had to be hermetically sealed. We had a strategy as to how we wanted to pursue the season, in terms of reaching out to talent, the actual production and the marketing. So in that regard, we were sutured together so that we could create a campaign that could actually realize this goal, which was difficult to say the least. Take me through the method to your madness for the campaign. I felt we would play on two aspects of the human helix: Desire to know, the curiosity to find out what you don’t know; and perhaps more importantly, the notion of how powerful withholding is to the human psyche. Often wanting is more fulfilling than having. So it plays upon that supply and demand aspect, and that wanting and needing and not having aspect that drives so much of human endeavor. For us, it was about saying, we’re going to celebrate the horror genre: “Question-mark six — what will it be? This time it will be about seeking, not having." We researched horror and the subgenres and decided to wreak havoc upon some of those really dominant tropes that have pervaded horror for decades, and put little twists on them through a modern lens: gothic horror and its subgenres, sci-fi horror, evil children — all of those things that are nightmares. Horror is so fascinating because it plays on our fears in a safe way and so everything with American Horror Story has a twist of fun to it. It’s not meant to really invade your psyche to the point where you can’t function for the rest of your life! It’s meant to give you a brief start and a jolt, but also kind of make you smile. Were you worried about alienating the audience or damaging the brand by taking this risk? [Seasons seven and eight aren't officially picked up, but Ryan has spoken about them.] I don’t feel like we thought we would damage the brand. I think the power of the program can precede a marketing campaign. A marketing campaign, by being at the point of entry, we are the privileged babysitter to the primary relationship with the program itself and the viewers. What we try to do is open the door and let people know that there’s something of value to experience. So I don’t think we worried about damaging the brand. What we did worry about is that we didn’t want to do anything that didn’t bring the viewers a thrill, happiness, a twist and a turn that was a positive and thrilling experience; versus a frustrating experience. And I don’t meant to say that there weren’t viewers out there who were frustrated, I’m sure there were, but overall, there’s a thrill to the hunt and that’s what we were celebrating. AHS was coming whether we told you or not, so there wasn’t a risk of the marketing campaign saying, “Aha!” And that there wasn’t even a show at the end of the tunnel. After all the breadcrumbs, you are definitely going to get the sandwich. There’s no bait and switch here. It was about celebrating the building and worshiping the anticipation. There's more but they're so long so do check into the link please. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/american-horror-story-season-6-premiere-spoilers-theme-928048 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bradley 59,255 Posted September 14, 2016 Author Share Posted September 14, 2016 I recommend you guys reading it. The AHS team is actually quite philosophical and they don't just come up with ideas out of nowhere without reasons to it. They do tons of research before deciding what teasers to use and shoot and they actually are aware of a lot of things that we might be concerned they don't. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiggyZiggs 30,063 Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 4 minutes ago, Bradley Cooper said: I recommend you guys reading it. The AHS team is actually quite philosophical and they don't just come up with ideas out of nowhere without reasons to it. They do tons of research before deciding what teasers to use and shoot and they actually are aware of a lot of things that we might be concerned they don't. So let me get this straight...out of ALL the released teasers only ONE is real?! The others are fake or hypothetical future seasons? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bradley 59,255 Posted September 14, 2016 Author Share Posted September 14, 2016 4 minutes ago, ZiggyZiggs said: So let me get this straight...out of ALL the released teasers only ONE is real?! The others are fake or hypothetical future seasons? Didn't you know that? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiggyZiggs 30,063 Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 4 minutes ago, Bradley Cooper said: Didn't you know that? But there are only six teasers for the AHS sweepstakes competition. So I thought one of those teasers alluded to the theme this year. And all the teasers released afterwards had something to do with AHS 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bradley 59,255 Posted September 14, 2016 Author Share Posted September 14, 2016 6 minutes ago, ZiggyZiggs said: But there are only six teasers for the AHS sweepstakes competition. So I thought one of those teasers alluded to the theme this year. And all the teasers released afterwards had something to do with AHS 6 I doubt that. One of the six teasers reflect the season, other teasers could or could not be related to the season itself. We'll know tonight! I do believe that some posters (those on street billboards) reflect the actual theme of the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasingGhosts 726 Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 I'm so excited for this season! Born This Way > Joanne > The Fame Monster > The Fame > ARTPOP Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rezjohnsen 1,548 Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 As long as theyre playing PI as much as we expected, another success and huge Promo then And I wonder It wasnt Love It wasnt Love Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatigay 21,074 Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 I had forgotten about AHS starting this week... I bet I'm not the only one.. Idk how it will translate inviewers tonight 😬 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bradley 59,255 Posted September 14, 2016 Author Share Posted September 14, 2016 1 minute ago, thierryrreiht said: I had forgotten about AHS starting this week... I bet I'm not the only one.. Idk how it will translate inviewers tonight 😬 today* not this week Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatigay 21,074 Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 28 minutes ago, Bradley Cooper said: today* not this week "Idk how it will translate in viewers tonight" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 98,235 Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 I was gonna give my opinion but I'll take Myrtle's advice and I won't be a hater If you see me posting like crazy, I'm either bored or procrastinating. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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