We aimed to attract as many listeners as possible to

reach our main goal of becoming a relevant player in the

field of audio entertainment.

The story of HYPNOPOLIS takes you on a thrilling adventure in the year 2063. In this brave new world, all court judgements are based on an artificial intelligence called “The System”. And instead of receiving a prison sentence, the convicts are put into a deep sleep. The crime rate has dropped to almost zero, injustice seems to be a thing of the past. But when journalist Hope Reiser is woken from a thirty-year sleep penalty she has served for the murder of her husband, she is convinced of her innocence and believes that the real murderer might still be out there and watching her. And as she tries to find her way in this alien future, she starts fighting to clear her past!

Instead of bringing “just the next corporate podcast”,

we wanted to create a top notch entertainment series.

While the story is clearly based on BMW’s vision of the future, the brand doesn’t play a major role.

HYPNOPOLIS should establishe a vibrant futuristic world with its own premises, characters and places that fans are eager to see further explored and expanded.

We auditioned about 200 voice actors, from the Los Angeles area and all around the US, and then chose and recorded 14 of them for the podcast. The cast contains seven different nationalities.

The recording process took about two weeks. We only recorded five of the speakers in person in the studio, the rest was recorded remotely due to the early pandemic quarantine regulations in spring 2020.

The bold approach to put entertainment first and brand second payed off for audience and BMW alike.

HYPNOPOLIS aimed to establish BMW as a relevant

player in the field of audio entertainment and to reach

new target audiences. Both goals were achieved:

HYPNOPOLIS entered the top ten of the Apple Podcast

charts in almost 120 countries and went straight to

number one in 40 countries. Our media analysis shows

that we have reached an audience of sci-fi enthusiasts

that previously didn’t have a lot of engagement with the

BMW brand. Since most of our listeners are between

25-35 years of age they belong to the especially

valuable and hard to reach automotive target group of

prospective first buyers.