The main objective of this campaign was to engage and authentically reach and excite our target audiences (multicultural, Japanohphiles, true crime fans) through a multi-tactical campaign that raised awareness and built excitement and viewership around the Tokyo Vice series. We aimed to achieve this through content capture, engaging multicultural influencers, and creating memorable experiences and building awareness to over 20+ local Japanese businesses, while staying true to Japanese culture, language, and traditions.

In celebration of the new HBO Max series, Tokyo Vice, and to create buzz around it, we wanted to create a unique experience that touched upon the themes of the show. We’d invite a diverse group of culturally relevant content-creators and “transport” them to 90’s Tokyo to take on an immersive mission via a made-for-content scavenger hunt in LA’s Little Tokyo. Influencers would make their way from one local partner Japanese business to the next, while uncovering clues at every turn, which ultimately would lead them to a speakeasy event. They’d be joined by more creators at the event where they’d uncover even more Tokyo Vice-inspired surprises, photo ops throughout the space and a Japanese-inspired menu and show-themed specialty cocktails.

To celebrate the premiere of Tokyo Vice, we selected a few culturally relevant influencers to take on an immersive scavenger hunt in LA’s Little Tokyo, where they went from one Japanese business that we partnered with to the next to ultimately uncover a hidden speakeasy experience inspired by the gritty and seductive world of Tokyo Vice. We specifically targeted content creators and influencers of diverse backgrounds, which included individuals who have a strong passion for Japanese culture. We also wanted to engage the local Japanese community in an authentic way that allowed them to promote not only their businesses as part of the campaign, but also what drives success in their everyday workings. By leveraging these creators and partnerships with local Japanese businesses, we’d create an impactful campaign that effectively and authentically reached and excited our target audiences.

To celebrate the premiere of Tokyo Vice, we selected a few culturally relevant influencers to take on an immersive scavenger hunt in LA’s Little Tokyo, where they went from one Japanese business that we partnered with to the next to ultimately uncover a hidden speakeasy experience inspired by the gritty and seductive world of Tokyo Vice. Throughout the experience, guests enjoyed various show-themed vignettes and received giveaways from the 20+ local Japanese businesses we partnered with and enjoyed a Japanese-inspired izakaya menu and show-themed specialty cocktails.

This created an elevated experience not only for the influencers engaged in the actual hunt, but also for the influencers' followers on social media who were able to learn about the series and follow along their journey, resulting in organic reach and buzz. A curated list of multicultural tastemakers and press were in attendance at the speakeasy.

The influencer-driven scavenger hunt and speakeasy party both proved successful as seen by the large amount of organic social posts, comments, likes, and positive chatter. We also executed a social takeover on @tokyovicehbomax handle with our hashtag #TokyoViceTakeover, sharing posts from our paid influencers and speakeasy guests. Through both these experiences, we were able to reach diverse audiences, create engaging content, drive local partnerships, and promote Japanese owned businesses and the series, which all led to incredible organic social buzz that generated the following social results:

1,832,625 Impressions

921,904 Engagements

3,013,300 Unique Following

80 post delivered (Delivered 381% of contracted)

168 attendees