Landing a spot on the coveted Comic-Con floor, we built a customized booth, recreating Norman’s basement from the show. After a site visit to the set in Vancouver, we created exact replicas of every piece, from the taxidermy on his walls down to the dust and cobwebs. Conference attendees were able take a photo with the taxidermy bird featured in one of our season 2 press images and immediately send it out through their social networks. In the digital image, the bird’s wing twitched to add another level of creepiness. With chill inducing music playing at the booth (Norman’s favorite classics!), you could periodically hear Norma scream down to the basement “Norman!”

At batesmotel.com/12rooms, fans took a digital tour through the motel.Users could quickly share what they discovered through social media outlets, featuring a custom Twitter module that let consumers participate in the Bates Motel Twitter conversation while exploring. Each room contained different items of interest-clicking on them would give you more insight into the series, all hinting at what was to come in season 2. Some rooms, going dark, prompted consumers with, “Don’t let the darkness stop you, but you’ll need a flashlight.”Fans were then given the option to use a smartphone (via HTML5 websockets) or mouse as a flashlight.

Our Comic Con presence brought experiential marketing to the next level, delivering our show to the masses of Comic Con – reaching and creating buzz among both the consumer and industry peers – and highlighting what makes Bates Motel innovative and exciting.