Summary
Citadel Initiation Program Introducing fans to Amazon Prime Video's brand new spy-verse of Citadel wasn't going to be an easy task. After all, we were competing for attention with the IPL. So, we decided to ride the cricket wave by hijacking India's favourite Credit Card payment app CRED (official partner of the IPL) and turned daily active users of the app into Citadel Agents.
Challenge
Being a brand-new universe, Citadel had no existing fandom and limited budgets for promotions. To add to the challenge, the show was also launching during the action-packed IPL 2023 season. Our tasks then became: 1) To promote the launch of the new Prime Video Original Series 2) Drive maximum awareness for the show, its characters, and introduce fans to a new & exciting spy-verse
Objective
Citadel, a brand-new Amazon Original Series, is the first instalment in a global spy universe (with regional spin-offs in India & Italy already announced), starring Priyanka Chopra & Richard Madden as the iconic spy duo of Nadia Sinh & Mason Kane. With Priyanka Chopra in the lead role, India was a priority market for the global release.
Strategy
Just like how Mason Kane (Richard Madden) is reintroduced to the world of Citadel after losing his memories, we created a digital experience to introduce fans to our new spy universe. Using Comscore, we identified Cred (India's leading fintech app) as our audience's preferred destination for credit card payments. Since the app's daily active users have an average credit score of 750+, it became the ideal platform to target our NCCS A & B audience at an effective cost. Cred was also the official partner of IPL 2023 and was expected to receive increased traffic during the season. This gave us the perfect opportunity to promote the show by riding the IPL wave without having to make exorbitant spends. Taking learnings from previous Prime Video campaigns (where we used gamification to drive engagement), we devised a communication strategy that initiated users into the world of Citadel. The ‘Citadel Initiation Program' on Cred introduced users to Nadia Sinh (Priyanka Chopra), Citadel's top spy. Through her, fans got a chance to test their skills and become Citadel agents, by completing 2 secret missions. 2 entry points were created in the highly engaged Explore & Rewards section of the app, to ensure visibility for all Cred users. Fans were then redirected to the custom ‘Citadel Briefing Room', where Nadia Sinh (Priyanka Chopra) gave them the mission directives. The first mission, the ‘Citadel Intel Quiz,' tested their knowledge about the show and the action-packed spy world it created. Successfully answering the questions unlocked the second mission. 30 winners (and their +1) were chosen across Mumbai, Delhi & Bengaluru for the Citadel secret screening hosted in select theatres. This was the first time in India fans got early access to a Prime Video release in the form of a theatrical experience.
Data
The Citadel Initiation Program wasn't just a success on the Cred app, as it started trending at #3 on Google Breakout, with fans searching for the quiz. It also organically broke out on contest sites, promoting our gamified experience free of cost. The deep integration with Cred also resulted in many first-ever innovations on the app, such as a Citadel-branded presence in the newly created ‘Explore' section, a custom microsite where Nadia Sinh briefed users, and customized elements in the gamified rewards section that brought the world of Citadel into the world of Cred. This gave the show's launch a significant boost online, making it a must-watch for fans upon release.
Solution
Results
Through effective channel selection and an engaging digital & on-ground experience, we introduced our audience to the world of Citadel, with: 1MN users playing the quiz 5.45% overall CTR (avg. benchmark: 3.75%) 79MN impressions (18% more than planned) 13MN views 58% reach (7.5MN of 13MN)
