Overview

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I & II is a 6-time Tony Award® winning, global play. It is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage.

Given the brand’s worldwide recognition and following, the infamous tagline associated with the production became #KeepTheSecrets – a global effort urging fans against spoilers – enforcing the idea that you had to see the show to find out all that happens. While the #KeepTheSecrets campaign enticed many people to see the show when it came to Broadway, it also inhibited people from talking about the show at all, specifically on social media.

With the rising importance of social media, word-of-mouth and personal referrals have become almost more important than critical reviews for Broadway shows. Fans crave accessibility and if they are going to commit to seeing and paying for a 2-part show, they want to check out what people are saying and posting about the show first on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Thus, we shifted our marketing strategy to amplifying buzz, and then, leveraging the increased volume of word-of-mouth.

Solution

Step 1: Launch UGC Campaign

• Launch a series of social media campaigns with strong CTAs (call-to-actions), encouraging fans to share their experience at Cursed Child on their own personal accounts using the show's branded hashtag, #CursedChildNYC. Incentivize fans to actively share for a chance to be featured on the official Cursed Child social media pages, website, and other marketing assets.
• Utilize UGC (user-generated content) for fan testimonials and general social media content.

• Create photo-ops throughout the theater so fans know exactly where to take the perfect photo for Instagram and include signage of all Cursed Child official social media handles for easy tagging.
  • Promote these spots on social by launching the campaign, "5 Most Instagrammable Moments at the Lyric Theatre." 
• Hire a dedicated "Audience Concierge" to work at the theater before, during intermission, and after the show, raising awareness for must have Cursed Child photo-ops. The Audience Concierge offers to take photos of people in the theater, communicates appropriate show handles for tagging, and overall, amplifies the fans' experience while at the theater. The Audience Concierge also facilitates photos and interactions for celebrity/VIP visits.

• Build and publish a dedicated "Buzz" page on the show's official website as a content hub where fans can learn and see more about the show through the lens of fans and celebrities.
• Add a "Fan Feature of the Month" to the show's monthly newsletter further encouraging people to share and post on social media.

Results

• 41K posts utilizing the tag #CursedChildNYC.
• "5 Most Instagrammable Moments" campaign garnered over 13K likes and 60K video views.
• Audience Concierge continues to see a high volume of interest from audience members wanting to get their picture taken. On average, the Audience Concierge takes photos for around 800 audience members per 2-show day.
• Buzz page is now among the top 3 most engaged pages on the website; visitors to the site spend the most time on this page.