Hulu turned fifteen in March of 2023. They’d never acknowledged their anniversary before, so they wanted to eventize this special moment and celebrate both fans and content in a unique and enticing way.

Objective:

- Hulu aimed to generate earned media & buzz and drive positive brand perception & preference amongst current subs.

Media insight:

- In searching for a ground-breaking campaign that could cut through the clutter of an ultra-competitive streaming landscape, Hulu recognized traditional media placements wouldn’t be enough. So when they realized the timing of their anniversary aligned perfectly with a widely celebrated, culturally endemic celebration of green, it was a lightbulb moment. They would simply redirect Chicago’s massive celebration of green—including a built-in local and national media frenzy—into a celebration of their own anniversary using a stealthy media hijacking operation that extended from the river itself, to the skies above.

To celebrate their 15th anniversary, Hulu—known for its signature green brand color—knew they wanted to make a big splash despite a limited budget and a noisy competitive landscape. So rather than taking a traditional media and messaging approach, Hulu hijacked the biggest, greenest event going on during their anniversary month—St. Patrick’s Day- thanking everyone for wearing green.

They started with the world-famous St. Patrick’s Day festival in Chicago pulling off a media hijacking—taking out media placements around the city, including full page ads in the Chicago Tribune, walking street teams, aerial banners, and, three river boats decked out with Hulu branding. Messaging featured tongue-in-cheek headlines thanking the city for turning themselves and their river green in honor of Hulu’s 15th anniversary.

But the stunt didn’t end in Chicago. Hulu engaged in a social listening campaign that thanked fans and brands posting anything green or for celebrating their 15th anniversary.

Target audience:

- Hulu didn’t have a specific target audience for this media stunt other than targeting tourists and residents of Chicago celebrating St. Patrick’s Day that weekend.

Media planning:

- Hulu explored non-traditional media activations that presented the opportunity to insert ourselves into the established celebrations to hijack the moment. This led us to OOH and specifically opportunities around the river knowing how large of a moment the river dying is. We needed something that would give us extended reach, stand out amongst the clutter and feel like a natural alignment.

- While overall Hulu awareness is high, this was the perfect opportunity for a well-known brand to still find a way to be unexpected

Approach:

- Hulu’s approach relied on identifying high-visibility locations where festivities would be taking place, and creating contextually-aware messaging thanking Chicagoans for helping Hulu celebrate their big day.

Implementation:

- Hulu rented a boat, wrapped it in contextually aware messaging thanking Chicagoans for celebrating their anniversary, and invited guests and key local influencers aboard for a joy ride through the city.

Media channels and integration:

- With the river dyeing ceremony being the heart of the celebrations, Hulu implemented boat and surrounding opportunities that gave them front row access to the river.

- Hulu reinforced the message with aerial banners flying overhead and walking billboards interacting with those out and about celebrating

- The day after the celebrations, we dropped a print ad in the Chicago Tribune thanking Chicago for celebrating our anniversary

Timeline:

- On March 11th, the river was dyed with Hulu’s first boats being boarded around the same time to view the action live. Hulu had three different boats operating throughout the day.

Scale:

- The three boats had 3,000 passengers throughout the day.

Overall

● 21MM+ Total Impressions

● 11.6MM+ Paid Impressions

● 2MM+ Earned Impressions

● Brand preference grew 2.p.p in March vs. PY

● Brand Attribution “Is better than other streaming services” grew 4 p.p in March vs. February.

Social

● 8MM+ Total Impressions

● 430K+ Total Engagements

● 7MM+ Total Views

● Patty Pop Culture Influencer Activation

○ 3.2K Views of Unboxing Story

○ 73.6K Views of IG In-Feed Video

○ 2.8M Views of TikTok Video

Reach

● Hulu’s 15th Anniversary takeover garnered both national and local press attention including segments on Good Morning America as well as Chicago’s local ABC affiliate. Earned media placements resulted in over 2 Million impressions.

● 6.9MM paid media OOH impressions

● 358K paid media Print impressions

○ An additional 4.4MM impressions from the digital subscription