From writing fan fiction to role-playing with toys, Star Wars fans tell their own stories every day. Armed with that insight, Disney wanted to produce a campaign grounded in authentic content straight from the fans themselves.

We decided to “Go Rogue” and put the power in the hands of the fans, tapping into their unique culture of communal speculation and excitement and playing into the standalone premise of the film and its characters. Together, we assembled a team of Star Wars super fans to imagine, write and produce a first-of-its-kind, “Rogue One”-inspired miniseries starring none other than the new toy collection. Their characters’ mission? Find the lost building instructions to the LEGO Star Wars Death Star set – a tongue in cheek nod to the fan speculation around the plot of the upcoming film.

To create the four-part miniseries, we enlisted writers and animators who were also lifelong Star Wars fans. They set up shop then went to work creating the most epic unboxing series the galaxy has ever seen.

Each video was translated into 10 languages and released in 25 countries—with one video going live each week, leading up to launch. The first video debuted on the Star Wars YouTube channel on 8/31. The series then appeared across all Star Wars and Disney-owned social channels—where it organically took off—and was supported by participating retailers via their own co-marketing efforts to promote the collection. It also saw a larger-than-life screening in Times Square, and eventually moved to on-air as interstitial content on Disney Channel.

In conjunction with the release of the final video, Disney launched a global UGC contest, inviting fans to submit their own “rogue stories.”

The miniseries delighted fans around the world and was a welcome departure from traditional movie promotion tactics. By enabling—rather than disrupting—fan culture, it generated fresh buzz for the iconic franchise and raised the bar for fan engagement.

Key Results:

The series successfully engaged fans of all ages:

• +14M organic YouTube views

• +200k social media engagements

• 95% positive sentiment on YouTube

• UGC submissions from fans around the world

And the media took note:

• +1,000 global press hits

• +3.4 billion earned media impressions

“Finding a creative way to unveil what those toys look like, meanwhile, is a chance to do more than just slap a bunch of pictures on a website’s “buy” page—and that makes the “Go Rogue” short a cool use of the material.” -FastCo

In addition to driving toy sales, the series drove excitement for the upcoming film, which earned over $1 billion globally.