Every network seeks to dominate Comic-Con, but USA is attempting to do that literally with their “Transportation Domination” marketing campaign at San Diego Comic-Con this week.

Following in the footsteps of Mr. Robot and a darker-themed USA network comes Colony, a drama series from Executive Producers Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Ryan Condal (Hercules). Blessed with a Comic-Con friendly set of cast members and producers, it’s little surprise that USA is making a concentrated effort in San Diego this year, starting with the trailer (below).

SDCC is often the launching pad for a TV show’s marketing campaign, and that’s the case for Colony, attempting to make its mark upon the nerd-masses this week in San Diego. The series, set in the near future, concerns a family’s struggle to free an occupied Los Angeles, and stars familiar names like Josh Holloway (Lost), Sarah Wayne Callies (The Walking Dead), Peter Jacobson (House) and Amanda Righetti (The Mentalist), all of whom are joining Cuse and Condal in San Diego for a slew of panels, premieres and autographs.

“Carlton Cuse and Ryan Condal of Legendary, Josh Holloway from Lost and Sarah Wayne Callies from Walking Dead, this is their stomping grounds. I think they all feel very at home in this arena and it’s an appropriate show to bring to Comic-Con this year,” said Alexandra Shapiro, USA’s EVP of marketing and digital.

“I think their fans are eagerly awaiting to see what Colony is, and I think the stamp of approval that those actors and those auspices bring to the show will create great anticipation. I think we’d be remiss if we didn’t cater to these core genre fans, or even the broader fanbase that Comic-Con has [engendered]. We’d be remiss if we didn’t bring the show to them and give them an early sneak peek of what it’s going to be about,” Shapiro said.

But it’s USA’s “Transportation Domination” stunt that will get people talking about the show, and thanking the network.

USA has partnered with Uber to provide Comic-Con attendees with complimentary rides using a fleet of hundreds of Colony military vehicles, SUVs, bicycles from 23 DecoBike stations and pedicabs. From Thursday, July 9 through Saturday, July 11, San Diego’s transportation will be Colonized, and all you’ll have to do is request a ride on the Uber app by selecting the Colony option.

In addition to the free transportation, one lucky participant will win a free ride with Colony creators Cuse and Condal. To enter, fans need to follow Colony on Twitter (@ColonyUSA) and use the hashtags #ColonySDCC and #UberColonySweeps.

Comic-Con attendees will likely stumble into Redhats, the show’s Transitional Authority enforcers, who are patrolling the streets of San Diego. If fans take selfies with the Redhats and Tweet using the hashtag #RedhatRewards, they’ll receive postcards that can be redeemed at several local retailers, including My Yogurt, Berkeley Pizza, Bootlegger’s and Ghirardelli, for free food such as pizza, hot dogs and cupcakes.

As Shapiro wisely states, “there’s nothing people love more than free food, free merchandise and now we’re giving people free transportation, as the icing on the cake. We’re giving it all.”

Indeed, USA is pulling all the stops to get Colony into the social ether.

“I think what we’ve discovered in our seven years at being in Comic-Con, is that it’s an incredible launching pad for any franchise. If it’s a new franchise, it’s a great way to start early on. If it’s an established franchise, it’s a great way to go in and give something back to fans in a meaningful way. I like the idea of kicking off our campaign at Comic-Con, and having a real event, an experience, where we can interact with fans, and bring the show in a meaningful way to them, even before we show the trailer to the world,” Shapiro said.

Speaking of trailers, Colony‘s first trailer will debut on Friday. “We’ll let the 4,000 plus people that will see the show at the panel on Friday be the first to see it, and then after that, we’ll take our trailer and we’ll cast a wider net, across all platforms,” Shapiro said. “I liken Comic-Con to the social catalyst for conversation. I think we would do fine without it, because of the actors and the auspices, but Comic-Con adds fuel to the fire that is hard to artificially create.”

But we haven’t seen nothing yet.

“We’re just getting started. We just started production this week on episode two. We’re going to be [working] in concert with Carlton and Ryan, really coordinating an incredible launch campaign, but also in real-time, being able to offer out little morsels, almost Easter eggs, for this core fanbase that we think exists for their sort of genre of shows. I think that’s what’s gonna be really interesting. You don’t always have the luxury to be able to do that, because your show’s wrapped, or you’re not in production. I think it’s going to give us the ability, whether it’s using Periscope, Meerkat, Tumblr and the like, to really engage fans, [and] sort of to see their interest, and curiosity, as we get closer to our premiere date in the fall of 2015.”

And certainly, fans taking advantage of those precious free rides across San Diego’s jam-packed downtown to and from their hotels are engaged right about now.

Tags:


  Save as PDF