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Saints & Strangers isn’t just another Thanksgiving TV event this season – it’s the Thanksgiving TV event.
On Nov. 22 and 23, National Geographic Channel tells the story of the pilgrims who landed at New Plymouth in the 1600s, unwittingly becoming the characters in the oft-told First Thanksgiving story.
Saints & Strangers, however, tells the real story of the “Saints” (religious separatists known as pilgrims), along with the “Strangers” (merchants who partnered with the pilgrims), and the several Native American tribes already in “the new world” who had to deal with their own struggles among themselves.
In the hopes of getting across the epic true story of the first pilgrims (not necessarily the one everyone learned in first grade), Nat Geo embarked on an intense marketing campaign to tell the story of conflicting ambitions that go far beyond what people think they understand.
“The goal was to tell an authentic and truthful story while making it incredibly cinematic,” said Andy Baker, SVP, group creative director at National Geographic Channel. “We stay true to the authenticity while telling a compelling story.”
Nat Geo started with the launch spot in September, “Prayers,” created with Variable, who also worked with National Geographic Channel on the Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln campaigns.
Variable juxtaposed a prayer, told by Vincent Kartheiser as William Bradford, and a Native American chant for the launch spot, showing that the opposing groups weren’t as different as they (or viewers) think.
“We wanted to work through the main character Bradford,” said Salomon Ligthelm, director at Variable. “We loved the idea of juxtaposing the prayer of thankfulness from the safe journey to the new land, flashing forward to the reality that they don’t know what they’re about the experience, what they’re about to go through.”
Shot in just over two days in South Africa, Variable shot this while production for the movie event went on around them.
Variable was inspired by the visual language being created by the production led by Little Engine, but wanted to differentiate slightly. To that end, the “Prayer” spot breaks the fourth wall at the last moment “in order to heighten the drama,” according to Ligthelm. The promo ends with Bradford turning his face up to the camera, looking straight at the audience.
This spot was shown early on in the campaign to get word out about the miniseries, including across movie theaters in order to show the epic nature of the event.
“Tales” went on to expand that story, including the Strangers’ point of view. The spot ends with the ominous line: “Sooner or later we all find out if the stories are true.”
These launch spots together served to expand the tale beyond the one told in elementary schools, because, as Baker says, the real story wasn’t just two-sided.
“In reality, there were all these different dynamics with all these people with their own priorities, all looking out for different interests,” said Baker. So the campaign took on those conflicting points of view, putting viewers in the shows of the Saints, the Strangers and everyone around them.
For the second screen, National Geographic Channel created a narrative experience where people could learn the true story of Thanksgiving told in Saints & Strangers while learning what it took to make it as a settler at the time.
“Saints and Strangers: Surviving Plymouth” puts each user into the role of a settler, forcing them to make choices in their colony that could dictate how they use resources, whether they turn to conflict and if their people survive.
The site prompts the user: “In 1620, the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth. Now it’s your turn. Will you follow in their footsteps, or rewrite history?”
The idea behind the second-screen experience was to put the viewers in the settlers’ shoes. The experience takes the user through a series of choices, meeting with leaders Myles Standish, future governor William Bradford and the Pokanoket’s Massasoit to make decisions.
“When you’re dealing with this idea of survival, everything is a bit grey,” said Kevin Bulmer, director, brand strategy and media planning at National Geographic Channel. “There’s no good decision – you’re choosing between terrible and horrible.”
The authenticity of the Saints & Strangers experience rolled over into the channel’s marketing efforts closer to launch, which went live in the form of a completely transformed gastropub in New York.
Saints & Strangers Pub 1620 opened to the public in Flatiron Hall on Nov. 18 and 19 with a curated menu courtesy of James Beard Award-winning Chef April Bloomfield.
The pop-up restaurant features 17th-century pub food and drink popular in England, as well as menu items that the pilgrims would have encountered in “the new world,” with the décor mimicking that of a pub that the pilgrims and merchants would have seen before leaving their home.
“We’re re-creating the traditional British pub as it would have looked in London before setting sail,” said Bulmer. “The goal was to incorporate a myriad authentic touch points to give a rich experience in the space.”
That level of authentic detail, according to Bulmer, was priority No. 1 for Nat Geo in all facets of the campaign. “Whatever we do want to make sure we’re doing it right,” he said. “We make it feel as big as possible, so that it’s really reflective of the scale of the film.”
And right before launch, Nat Geo placed Saints & Strangers front and center in every way possible, promoting it as the true, authentic, compelling story that everyone thinks they already know.
“We make it clear that it’s not just a random film happening on Thanksgiving weekend, it’s the story,” said Baker. “We want you to walk away thinking it will live up to that Nat Geo quality and authenticity, and tell a great story at the same time.”
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