Music plays a strong touchpoint in the HBO's comedy series, Insecure. To introduce consumers to the show, in 2016 HBO hosted the first Insecure Block Party in Brooklyn, NY. Hosting 650+ guests to merch, food, games, screenings, and live musical performances, the experience garnered 18MM+ social media impressions and 22MM+ earned press impressions. In season two, the series further highlighted Inglewood, CA. To create a meaningful experience, HBO partnered with the City of Inglewood and closed Market Street. Hosting 1,000+ guests from the LA community for a day of culture, music, food, screenings the event showcased black-owned businesses via gifting suites and food kiosks and the Fernando Pullman Community Arts Center non-profit organization, that served as a set location. The event drew 36MM+ social impressions and 208MM+ media impressions. In 2018, HBO wanted to engrain this series into the cultural fabric and created InsecureFest, a music festival premiere screening activation.

For season three of Insecure, HBO wanted to produce an activation that cemented the series' relevance in music, television and culture at large for our target audience. Designed to be scalable and encourage social sharing, InsecureFest, was a natural evolution from its previous years, bringing to life the music that was so seamlessly woven throughout the series. HBO decided to transform the newly opened Banc of California Stadium it into a carnival-themed music festival coupled with the premiere screening of the first episode of the season. This allowed HBO to target the core African American millennial audience base by engaging partners, keeping cultural touch-points from the show’s themes and developing more social media engagement opportunities, while enlisting bigger performers and screening the episode to a larger audience. Bringing together over 2,500 guests made up of HBO talent, notable influencers, and local consumers to commemorate the upcoming season and solidify

Initially designed to be scalable and encourage social sharing, Insecure Fest, was a natural evolution from its previous years. For its third iteration, the goal was to engrain this series and this activation into the cultural fabric of our audience. Tapping into Los Angeles ethos and bringing themes highlighted within the series to the forefront, HBO brought to life a festival activation that resonated with the community and fans in the most authentic manner. To further amplify reach of this event, HBO partnered with both media partners and a diverse array of social media content creators to capture the event organically. Leveraging IG stories, HBO hosted takeovers with media brands Hypebeast, Teen Vogue and Spotify, while a select group of IG influencers provided their editorial voice to the event on their profiles. Each overdelivering on their commitment due to the overall excitement to share this one-of-a-kind experience with their followers.

HBO expanded the audience scope geographically by obtaining a new location, the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles. This allowed HBO to house more guests, more on-site customization, build a larger screening premiere and develop a more robust experience. HBO expanded the audience scope digitally by partnering with media brands Hypebeast, Teen Vogue and Spotify and leveraging their social media plaforms to release real-time content and engage additional audiences.

Guests arrived at the stadium to find it filled with socially shareable, larger-than-life rides and carnival games. Upon entry, guests were given a pouch to collect tickets, encouraging participation in carnival games to win prizes of Insecure-branded merch.

In addition, the day featured a screening of the season three premiere, live music performances from Saweetie, Rico Nasty, Aminé and 2 Chainz. In between acts, DJ Jasmine Solano and Gia Peppers kept the crowd excited and informed of the day’s festivities.

In total, over 2,500 guests attended the festival including top influencers and celebrities including Niecy Nash, Victor Cruz, Karrueche Tran, Angela Simons, Bridget Kelly, and BJ the Chicago Kid. In one of the most talked about events, and highly-anticipated premieres of the year, #InsecureFest garnered over 121.7MM+ social media impressions and 788K engagements. Broadcast outlets Entertainment Tonight, Extra and KTLA covered the red carpet and event on television broadcasting to viewers nationally and local LA markets. Leading online entertainment and lifestyle publications like People, Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Jezebel, Complex and Vulture also attended and covered the red carpet and event – resulting in over 90 media placements and 400MM organic media impressions. In addition to earned media, HBO partnered with the culture’s most impactful media outlets including Hypebeast Music, Teen Vogue and Spotify to amplify the event, performances and Insecure season three soundtrack.