CBS Films
Last Vegas

360 Digital Campaign

Case Study

AvatarLabs' 360° digital campaign for the movie Last Vegas put fans on the VIP list for the ultimate bachelor bash in Sin City, hosted by an iconic cast of Hollywood A-listers.

Opportunity

As a multigenerational family-friendly comedy, research told us that promotional efforts should be simple and accessible. Marketing needed to appeal to a broad audience, and steer clear of off-color humor.

Challenge

We knew we would be working with somewhat limited assets for the film's most marketable facet — its four superstars: DeNiro, Douglas, Freeman and Klein.

Approach

In forming the digital campaign strategy, we considered several narratives; "Fish out of water", "Young vs. Old", "The Hangover for retirees" — and ultimately decided the best positioning for the campaign would be: "Four Oscar winners ruling Vegas and living large."

Solutions

The Last Vegas storyline centers on four gray-at-the-temples best friends who stumble into VIP treatment at a bachelor party in Vegas. The digital campaign showcased our internationally renowned cast — always "dressed" as per our positioning — oozing class, charisma and charm, having lots of fun and winning big. We played up "living large" while maintaining the universal appeal of a buddy film. This approach also gave us the opportunity to weave in the more personal story of lifelong friendship.

Ideating for multiple digital channels, we orchestrated a creative campaign that was seamless across the official website, social platforms and display advertising.

We started with the launch of the official website whose main navigation was inspired by a nightclub. We built the club from the ground up using limited photography. Each star appeared front and center on interactive panels, looking sharp and bearing a tongue-in-cheek nickname we created that spoke to his Vegas archetype: Billy "The Bachelor", Paddy "The Heavy Hitter", Archie "The High Roller" and Sam "The Ladies' Man." Upon click, each character's panel expanded to reveal character content alongside animated images of their kid selves goofing off in a photo booth. We integrated additional EPK content such as video, social graphics, gallery photos and promotional partners.

Next up was a social community management campaign fueled by content. With an audience who largely participated in mainstream social channels (primarily Facebook, secondarily Twitter and Google+), we created highly visual content optimized for easy sharing, including original images, videos, and select PR reposts. We created over twenty themed content "waves" to encourage quick uptake and recall (e.g. "nicknames", "movie quotes", "how to do Vegas like Last Vegas"). We optimized content in real time based on fan response, and created exclusive posts for the cast to share on their own social networks. We also created a series of gifs for use on partner sites and Google+. To increase buzz, we engaged the audience with a number of tactics across all channels, including a Twitter sweepstakes in which we gave away movie swag. In support of the multiple trailer releases, we were responsible for the thumbnails and messaging used with each, including Video ads and Paid Posts on Facebook and Twitter.

Two weeks before the film opened, we traveled to Las Vegas to provide social coverage of three events: the stars receiving the Key to the City, the special Vegas premiere with a surprise cast appearance, and the red carpet for the premiere party. Combining our photography selects with the studio's on location, we were able to present high quality photos that felt immediate, personal and in the moment. We uploaded and captioned the photography to our social networks within two hours of each event, giving Last Vegas "insiders" a firsthand glimpse of the red carpet action prior to coverage by national outlets.

The final piece of the campaign to launch was the online media, which included a variety of progressive banners, rich media units and seamless takeovers.

Last Vegas earned over $134M worldwide, becoming CBS Films' highest grossing film ever. Our efforts gave immediate rise to an avid fanbase, many of whom saw the movie more than once, and served as passionate social ambassadors.