Netflix Kingdom is a series that clashes Joseon era in the 16th century of Korea with a plague of the undead. After the second season of the series launched and started building the franchise as the biggest Netflix Original IP in Korea, the goal of the brief was to create conversation and earned media for Kingdom around the Halloween period to excite Kingdom fans and a bigger audience.

To create hype for the fictional series around Halloween, we told the Kingdom story as real history. A three-story museum was constructed in Seoul’s cultural district. Craft techniques authentic to the period created intricate and gory artifacts. Coinciding with the exhibition, a 360 experience, and mockumentary were also launched to get the fans outside of Seoul stuck into it.

Since Kingdom is the first and the most successful Netflix Korea IP, the core target of the exhibition was Kingdom fans. The initial goal was to quench Kingdom fan’s thirst for the show. The ultimate goal of the exhibition was to drive up the desire to watch the new season of the show by surprising fans with its high quality and the commitment of the real history concept and reminiscing key moments of the show to them. Furthermore, we intended the buzz around the exhibition among existing fans to trigger to bring new fans into the world of Kingdom.

A three-story museum was constructed in Songwon Art center located in Seoul’s cultural district. Coinciding with the exhibition, fake leaked CCTV footage of undead, bloody bath bomb giveaway, and fan quiz was provided to drive up the desire of fans to visit the exhibition. The booking opened on October 10th in 2020 and the exhibition held from October 21st to November 8th in 2020. Craft techniques authentic to the period created 16 intricate and gory artifacts, which present Kingdom’s plotline as real history. The exhibition also had a surprise twist at the end with awaking undead on the B3 floor. A 360 experience and mockumentary were also launched not only to satisfy the existing fans who can not visit it but also bring the broader audience into the world of Kingdom.

Even if the maximum visitor for each turn was controlled under 20 ppl due to Covid, ‘The Massacre of Kingdom’ attracts many people naturally and sold out every ticket in 24 hours of the opening day without the big support of paid media. With an outcry on social media demanding the tickets, more tickets were opened but sold out within 24 hours again. It made the front page of Korea’s largest search site, Naver, and also received rave reviews from media and celebrities, in local and international, entertainment, and even government cultural press. Ultimately it drove people to Netflix, to learn the history of Kingdom for themselves.