Max also partnered with more than 100 influencers that the company said reached over 270 million people, but is prioritizing authenticity over scale.
“It’s a similar strategy,” Mulderig said, noting how influencers create authentic content for their followers. “Create content that’s right for your audience.”
Strength of video
WBD has seen “incredible performance” on video across TikTok and Instagram Reels, and will also be promoting Max on Instagram Stories.
“We’re taking advantage of pretty much any meaningful engagement that we can create on those platforms, and use those tools that we have,” said Mulderig.
There will be AR filters on TikTok, Snap and Instagram, which will have paid, influencer and talent support.
TikTok will also have an interactive branded effect for Max, and there will be interactive tap-to-reveal advertisements for And Just Like That.
Content will also be tailored for different platforms, as Mulderig noted that some perform better from a video versus a static perspective.
“We’re using all of those features that those social platforms provide in the most native way that we can,” said Mulderig.
Momoa and Rae are the faces of the campaign, but WBD will also leverage other talent, including Chip and Joanna Gaines, Guy Fieri and animated characters such as Bugs Bunny.
Last week during WBD’s upfront presentation, the company announced Momoa as this year’s host of Shark Week, which Mulderig said is a good example of the wide variety of content that appeals to Max’s audience, noting that Aquaman and Shark Week can be found on the streaming platform.
The Max team isn’t new to creating viral content that takes off organically, considering the viral Negroni Sbagliato clip from last fall featuring House of the Dragon stars Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke.
“We built the foundation for the Negroni video the year before when we started to specialize the teams around very specific verticals: publishing, analytics and a vertical that does lenses and influencer management, and of course we have a creative editorial function,” said Mulderig. “For something like Negroni, we started to see the more casual, caught moments perform.”
Max has also found success on social with IP such as Succession (4.2 million organic TikTok impressions), the House of the Dragon TikTok branded effect (98.2 million impressions) and Euphoria’s Instagram filter (1 million impressions).