We needed to find a breakthrough way to announce the launch date of Stranger Things 3. From a timing perspective, there was an 18+ month break between season 2 and 3 and we knew the timing of the announcement for the launch date was going to be a crucial campaign beat for fans and press. Our biggest challenge was to find a way to truly eventize the launch date of S3 as more than just a date -- how could we create a real global moment that would signal the return of the show as the biggest and best season yet? Tactically we needed to solve: When would we release this new news? What was the creative concept that could break through - without requiring significant media investment to do so? Was there a way to organically create the narrative that 2019 was the official year of Stranger Things?

In tandem with the actual 2019 Balldrop, at 11:57p ET (Hawkins, Indiana time - the setting of Stranger Things!), Stranger Things social channels went live with a 3 minute “live” stream from the 1985 ABC Ball Drop w/ Dick Clark. This was our initial ALERT to our core fanbase that something was up. The AV live stream tease included various Season 3 easter eggs which the fan base later picked apart and helped with the assets overall longevity of the AV asset. Rather than fitting in with all 2019 visuals, we wanted to stand out by bringing fans the actual, authentic live stream from 1985 before revealing our Season 3 Key Art + Date once the live stream concluded. Stranger Things was returning July 4, 2019.

We wanted to make 2019 the year of Stranger Things, and felt there was no better way to kick that narrative off than by releasing our first campaign beat on the very first second of 2019. Although we knew many (press included) would be out on holiday, we felt that Jan 1 gave us an ideal “quiet” time to counter program against. The live stream itself we felt was the perfect creative tie in to the New Years date, as our 1985 ball drop live stream counted down at the exact same time as the 2019 ball drop. Once the live stream concluded, we then fully took over all social feeds by having our global Netflix accounts, Stranger Things accounts + Stranger cast accounts share our Key Art in tandem - helping to “roadblock” all social channels on a day many were spending at home (and on their phones).

From a timeline perspective:

4:00p ET: The Stranger Things Twitter channel profile thumbnail was updated with a cryptic in-world “WIYZ - Hawkins, Indiana” news station logo which created initial speculation with fans on social.

5p ET: ST Twitter channel quote RT’d a fan who asked: “Give us a release date you cowards.” with the response: “If you’re nice we’ll tell you. Say midnight Hawkins time?”

At 11:56:30p ET our live stream began across the Netflix YouTube channel + Stranger Things Instagram and Twitter channels. The live stream directly coincided with the same timing of the 2019 Ball Drop.

At 12:00a ET, our live stream concluded with the release of our S3 Date Announce + S3 Key Art for fans to reshare! Cast, Netlfix, + Stranger Things social channels all shared the content to help with a full social feed takeover with this news.

The 1985 ball drop “live stream” was the #2 globally trending video on YouTube, 2nd only to the actual 2019 ball drop. In less than 48hrs, the actual Season 3 Key Art had become the most liked post on the Netflix Instagram all time, and was the most retweeted piece of content on the Stranger Things Twitter channel all time as well. With over 3.3M+ engagements, 3.8M+ YouTube views, & 49M+ impressions across our owned Stranger Things + Netflix channels UNPAID, the news quickly spread to press resulting in even more global coverage for this major campaign beat.