The core of the creative idea was to show parallels between issues prominent in the world of 1903 and as it exists today, something we referred to as“ different century, same problems.” It was all about two realities, side by side. When we started gathering photos from the turn of the century, we noticed very similar visual and contextual structures to images being made by photojournalist today (which led us to create the photographic slider bar). We decided that the past and present should co-exist in a deeply reported multimedia digital experience that expanded on the world covered in The Knick.

This concept was far bolder than Cinemax had expected. But our feeling was that having a brand get behind vital issues adds validity to that brand. And combining the critical importance of journalism with the influence of a major brand was a powerful method to convey our concept.

The Past is Prologue merged the past and present in a multimedia digital experience optimized for multiple platforms and devices. The site included frontline reporting from the current migrant crisis on the Serbia-Hungary border, never-before-seen archival photography of the Bubonic Plague outbreak in China, interviews with medical experts, and an intimate video portrait of a medical marijuana user in New Jersey. Collectively these videos, infographics, commentary, and photography (with a custom-built photo slider) revealed history repeating itself.

The site lived within our URL and was promoted on the homepage as well as multiple endemic sections, including Entertainment, Health, and within a custom editorial series. We also created a Native Zone with Season 2 trailers as well as edit and branded content. Using proprietary social seeding software, we targeted audiences that showed interest in the issues and customized content from the project to appear in their feeds.

The Past is Prologue generated increased interest in and awareness of The Knick both inside and outside of the native audience, which was evident in both reach and engagement metrics. The project garnered more than 69 million impressions from the homepage takeover and another 4.2 million from Facebook. The Native Video Page showed an 81% engagement rate, with the site drawing an impressive average time on page of 3 minutes 36 seconds. This execution received a “ Best of Brandtale” distinction, and in Season 2, The Knick got a coveted 100 rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Perhaps most important for the client, Cinemax saw viewership of The Knick increase from Season 1 to Season 2.