For the release of the fun summer film The To Do List, CBS Films teamed up with digital agency AvatarLabs to build awareness and buzz through an interactive and nostalgic marketing campaign. Between capturing the feel-good essence of the early 90s' and creating a highly shareable campaign, CBS Films understood the necessity for a strong online presence to reach the audience for this R rated coming of age comedy.
First up was the HTML5 official website that takes fans into the mind of Brandy Klark, the na�ve valedictorian who plans to use her summer to make a dent in her lengthy and racy To Do List. Using the film as inspiration, the agency developed an engaging site from scratch with 90s fonts, wild patterns, and blasts of pink and purple to reflect the outrageous fashion and animated culture of the early nineties. The vertically scrolling site reveals film content in various playful ways.
In order to promote social buzz, the "To-Do IQ" was developed - a social quiz that tests how well fans actually know the quirky sexual slang prevalent in the film with risque questions, a social leaderboard and social badges. An interactive trailer was also developed, where fans could watch the trailer supplemented with hilarious and shareable "pop-up commentary" about the 90's.
To promote the film in a unique way at Comic-Con 2013, CBS partnered with Fandango, Regal Entertainment Group and Foursquare on a check-in promotion that rewarded users with a special redemption code for a "Buy One Get One Free" movie pass. AvatarLabs developed the custom solution that powered the promotion.
Finally, the campaign ramped up for opening week with custom homepage takeovers. Rotational units included rich media ads as well as progressive ads that contained a video Easter Egg upon rollover.