Empire Produces Coast-to-Coast Street Marketing Campaign for FOX Series Prison Break
When FOX Broadcasting sought to generate public awareness and media buzz for their new series Prison Break, touted by critics as Fall 2005's top new drama series, they teamed up with Empire Entertainment to produce and execute a promotional stunt with street marketing teams in three cities across the nation.On August 25, Empire created a prison yard set of metal fencing and barbed wire on the plaza of the News Corporation Building at 1211 Avenue of the Americas. Inside this faux prison yard, a professional tattoo artist tattooed the body of a young man for the public to view, while thousands of passersby were invited to receive free buzzcuts and temporary henna and airbrush tattoos. On nearby street corners, a team of 10 young and energetic male models in orange prison jumpsuits and chrome manacles handed out Prison Break-branded nail files and water-transfer tattoos.
In addition to the promotional stunt and street marketing team in New York, Empire managed similar street teams in both Chicago and Los Angeles on the same day. Outfitted in their orange jumpsuits stenciled in black paint with "FOX Prison Break" on the back and the "082505" show premiere date on the front, the Chicago team promoted the new drama series along downtown's popular Wacker Avenue and even made an appearance on FOX's morning news show. The Los Angeles team worked the high-traffic tourist destination in front of Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.At the end of the day, 75,000 branded giveaways were handed out and hundreds of thousands of impressions were made with the public both on the street and through media coverage on television and in print.
Empire Entertainment was responsible for staffing, costuming, set design, talent wrangling, logistics and onsite management for the promotional stunt and street marketing teams in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Guests received their first taste of technological innovation at registration, where they were welcomed by name on a reactive LED screen installation covering the full width of the entry wall. A large lunch café was created with a décor scheme that incorporated custom-built, ceiling-high steel LED frames draped with foliage to create smaller, intimate restaurant-style spaces that displayed both technology and nature.
A series of breakout sessions presented content targeted to attendees’ varied interests, while imagery displayed throughout the venue showcased real-life applications of how products designed to empower developers help to unleash the power of data and reimagine possibilities that will improve our world.
Every element of Microsoft Connect(); from registration, breakfast and keynote, to lunch and evening cocktails, were custom-designed to communicate exacting brand messaging and to deliver a high-touch guest experience to this important audience. The keynote and breakout sessions were livestreamed through an onsite studio built for this purpose and content was watched online by millions around the world.
Empire is proud to collaborate with Microsoft on this annual, top-tier business communication event.
To view excerpts of Connect(); 2017, please visit https://www.microsoft.com/connectevent
