The Walking Dead was one of the most highly anticipated television series of 2010. The series follows the exploits of a small group of survivors as they try to navigate a world destroyed by a zombie apocalypse. The brief was to create interest and hype around the show's launch, while introducing it to consumers and the media. To do this, we created an integrated campaign that was executed across a wide range of above-the-line and below-the-line channels, including a launch event. Each element of the campaign was carefully targeted and crafted to build interest and hype along the various stages of implementation by posing some of the most difficult decisions to consumers and judging how they would respond. The result was a campaign that successfully brought the premise of the show to life and allowed consumers to immerse themselves in the trials and challenges experienced by the characters of the show.

Magazines and newspapers ran features on the 'must have' gadgets of the year, rated for their zombie killing abilities and press packs were distributed to the media. Survivors were found wandering the aisles of hardware stores stocking up on weapons. We then created documentary videos asking tough moral questions and challenged ideas of right and wrong even further. This Below-the-Line campaign supported a series of gritty commercials that explored the human tragedy of losing loved ones and, through the use of ambient decals, zombies could appear any time and anywhere – creating word-of-mouth interest.

Worldwide, targeted industry and social movers received invitations that guided them to a zombie-free Safe Zone in their city where they could gather and prepare for the zombie attack. The climax of the process were events - held in downtown medical buildings - that became the only refuge in the midst of a zombie apocalypse!

After a coordinated international launch across 120 countries, the response to the campaign was phenomenal. 'The Walking Dead' received the highest AMC ratings in history, with more than 5.3 million viewers tuning in. This made it the highest-rated debut for any cable series for the 18-49 demographic (Entertainment Weekly). A second season of ‘The Walking Dead’ is already in the pipeline.