Project Details
- Campaign : Dexter: New Blood Wrap-Up Companion Podcast
- Links : Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube
- Network : SHOWTIME®
- Awards : 2 Shorty Awards, Cynopsis Model Award, Webby Award Finalist
- Press : Deadline, Screen Rant, Collider, Bleeding Cool
DEXTER: NEW BLOOD Companion Podcast
To celebrate America’s favorite serial killer, SHOWTIME® relaunched the DEXTER companion podcast. Our phased approach, leveraging pre and post premiere tactics, allowed us to reach multiple target audiences across many touchpoints.
This was an award-winning full 360 campaign that included strategy, creative, production, talent relations, PR, media (paid, earned, organic), CRM, social, podcast and partner marketing to successfully drive acquisition, retention and engagement.
STRATEGY & EXECUTION
Partnering with Executive Producer Scott Reynolds, the original host, we re-launched the podcast in celebration of an iconic, yet nostalgic day in Dexter history: the 15th anniversary of the show’s premiere. Ahead of Premiere, we viewed our podcast episodes as a tool to help us bridge the old and the new. Content ranged from retrospective discussions featuring series star Michael C. Hall, Executive Producers and network execs dissecting the origin story of America’s favorite serial killer and the cultural impact the groundbreaking series had on the larger television landscape to fan favorite cast members from the original seasons reliving their storylines and experiences on the set of Dexter. The conversations were filled with never-been-heard-before details for fans.
Once Dexter: New Blood premiered, the “Dexter Wrap Up” gave our Dexperts a fix after each airing fleshing out all the plot twists, recounting favorite moments on set and providing exclusive content via interviews with the brilliant actors, writers, cast & crew responsible for bringing the show to life.
We even surprised fans with a bonus episode that extended a key show storyline centered in the podcast universe. “Merry F**king Kill”, a true crime podcast hosted by Molly Park (played by Jamie Chung) was seen & briefly heard in the show. Scripted in collaboration with the show and voiced by Jamie Chung in character, fans were thrilled when we dropped a 10-minute bonus episode of “Molly’s Podcast.”
RESULTS
The return of the Dexter Wrap-Up Podcast delivered on our goals and then some.
- – Amassing 705K+ LISTENS Across Platforms (during the show’s run) and a whopping 82% CONSUMPTION Rate
– Peaking at a Rank of #3 in the TV & Film “Aftershow” Category on Apple . - – Press celebrated the return, with Variety naming it one of “15 Television Podcasts worth listening to”
- – Consumer Sentiment was extremely positive with a 4.8 star rating on Spotify and 4.7 on Apple Podcasts .
- – The Podcast was honored with multiple industry awards, including The Shorty Awards, Cynopsis Model D, and Webby Awards.
- – And fans regularly expressed how grateful they were for additional Dexter content and the opportunity to hear from talent directly.
Alongside the success of the podcast, we saw Dexter: New Blood break records for SHOWTIME® to become the most-watched series in network history and most talked about SHOWTIME® show in 2021.