Heavy Metal - Artwear Activation Campaign
Challenge
Heavy Metal's 50-year legacy as the authority in sci-fi, fantasy, and horror storytelling that created the aesthetics others still copy today affords a sense of adventure. We needed to expand its offering with a line of artist-designed, diabolically unique t-shirts - just 666 of each. Our core objective - sell out the limited-edition artist tees using entertaining direct-response advertising to convert Heavy Metal's existing fanbase and wider audiences.
Insight
Drops like this are closer to buying a band t-shirt at a concert, rather than your run-of-the-mill e-commerce push, so we decided to make the launch into an event, pushing the feelings of belonging: "I was there" cultural significance, and exclusivity: access to rare, never-to-be-repeated artifacts that turn into treasures with time, and status: Badge of presence and taste within their community.
Implementation
We created an emotionally-driven, story-led drop campaign that transformed each shirt into a collector-worthy item. Our campaign ran across email, Meta (organic + paid), Reddit, YouTube, Google Shopping, Pinterest, and TikTok in three phases: Tease, Drop, and Aftermath, with static and animated banners, 6s, 15s, and 30s spots.
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