The voice of hope in The Man In The High Castle is represented by the Resistance, a band of underground freedom fighters striking back against their fascist oppressors to keep the American dream alive. So we created a mouthpiece for that group: Resistance Radio, a dramatic, audible storytelling experience in the format of live radio broadcasts by pirate DJs, sending out their stories of hope and resistance to oppressed America, while playing “illegal” music from upstart rebel musicians.

By collaborating with top-name talent to create an integrated, standalone experience (combining the best in music, radio narrative, and television drama), we aimed to transform entertainment marketing. Our campaign succeeded in Blurring the line between content and promotion, using a multichannel experience to raise the profile of both a show between seasons and a network that is not beholden to linear broadcast constraints.

We created over four hours of an original audio narrative were scripted and recorded for the show, featuring three DJ characters. We also recorded 18 reimagined cover versions of well-known 60s songs, produced by Danger Mouse & Sam Cohen, and performed by a variety of top alternative artists including Beck, Norah Jones, The Shins, Sharon Van Etten, and more.

The radio broadcasts emanate from the show’s alternate world via a custom radio player at Resistanceradio.com, with different experiences for desktop and mobile. The stream was also available via iHeartRadio, Rollingstone.com and on Alexa-enabled devices. Promotional elements coinciding with our campaign launch included Facebook Audio Live segments, promoted tweets, a limited edition 7” vinyl single sent to influencers, a music video, an installation & concert at SXSW, and the release of Resistance Radio: The Man In The High Castle album on all major music outlets.

Within weeks of launch, Resistance Radio garnered major press attention and over seven billion PR impressions, including mentions from The Washington Post, USA Today, Newsweek, Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, NPR, Mashable, Fortune, and People. Interviews ran on national radio stations, and a #resistanceradio promoted hashtag ignited a firestorm as both sides of the political spectrum jumped on the launch of an anti-fascist radio station, reinforcing the campaign’s relevance to contemporary America. We delivered over 2,000,000 minutes of branded audio in the first three weeks to over 250,000 listeners, with an average listening time of over 10 minutes (26 minutes on Alexa). And a qualitative response from listeners was universally positive. Resistance Radio moved from marketing initiative to pop culture phenomenon driven almost-exclusively by earned media, created an ongoing revenue stream from album sales, and has now been written into the TV show as part of the storyline.

Resistance Radio features over 4 hours of dramatic audio storytelling and 18 new music tracks, produced by Danger Mouse, featuring top recording artists. A rich, multichannel content experience, launched to create conversation and buzz across all sectors of pop culture between seasons of Amazon’s The Man in The High Castle. Within one week of launch, the show sparked wide-scale discussion across social media and mainstream press, engaging the country in a wide debate about the meaning of freedom and authoritarianism in contemporary America, all while broadcasting messages of hope and resistance from a world where the Nazis won WWII.

While continuing to attract the largest possible audience (A18-54), we recognized an opportunity to better connect with men 18-24, and more women. These audiences are more attracted to hopeful storylines, and character- driven drama rather than the deep mythology and speculative fiction loved by longtime fans. For these audiences, we introduced new, relatable characters and hopeful storylines, utilizing familiar songs by upcoming artists with large social followings. We also drew parallels to contemporary America to make the show more relatable and immediate.

For existing and lapsed fans, we identified a deeper dive into the story’s world and mythology as the main draw. Within our music and narratives, we wove “easter eggs” of mythology content such as puzzles hidden between radio frequencies, and historical background not yet explored onscreen.

The Man In The High Castle is the most streamed Amazon Original Series, with two seasons available on Amazon Prime Video.

Based on the novel by Phillip K Dick, the complex narrative imagines 1962 America where the Allies lost WWII, and the Nazis and Imperial Japan have split control of the US.

Despite the inherently oppressive tone, our mission was to turn the series into a global franchise with an always-on promotion. Additionally, we wanted to make the series accessible to new viewers — particularly women and younger men. We wanted to develop a concept that 1) sustained engagement with current fans and created interest among new viewers; 2) created a narrative bridge across all earned, owned and paid media; 3) leveraged each medium as a storytelling device and 4) had global appeal to maximize amplification.