An unexpected character was developed to facilitate the conversation between the show and the audience – The Wentworth Rat.

With access to the nooks and crannies of the prison and small enough to avoid detection the Wentworth Rat was the perfect protagonist to smuggling out the gossip, information and exclusive content, in the form of video, gifs and audio to enhance the storyline.

Through a proprietary conversation engine we were also able to answer questions from viewers and engage in a dialogue thus enriching the experience of the show and sustaining engagement.

The Wentworth Rat Chatbot was launched just before the show began to air and would continue for its duration of the series. It was the first campaign of its kind for the client (Foxtel) but became much more than an experiment and even ended up being promoted through dedicated TVC's and Radio spots, proving the commitment the brand had to the idea.

While the Bot automatically served content and information in response to peoples interactions with it, we monitored it closely in its early stages to observe how users were interacting and how we could therefore improve their experience.

With a dedicated and existing fan base the Wentworth Rat Bot gained immediate traction. Clocking up over 5 thousand subscribers and 16 thousand user sessions in the first few days.

Importantly the Wentworth Rat Bot is helping to maintain engagement in the show with 64.5% of users returning multiple times to interact with the storyline.

So enamoured with the Rat Bot the client agreed to release footage and stills from upcoming episodes exclusively through the bot.