USA Network: Battle Over Promicin
USA Network’s The 4400 is a serial sci-fi drama that began its fourth season on June 21st, 2007. USA retained Campfire to excite the existing 4400 fanbase while also creating interest among non-fans and lapsed viewers. The challenge, of course, was finding a way to create a compelling marketing story that would engage an audience already schooled in The 4400 mythology without chasing away potential Season 4 fans who might see the first three seasons as an imposing barrier to Season 4 viewership.
USA Network had ambitious expectations for Season 4 of The 4400. They needed it to stand its ground against stiff Sunday night competition and maintain interest among men from 25-54. The network also wanted to engage women at a higher rate than they’d been able to previously since the show, though thoroughly a sci-fi genre program, had plot elements and characters that should appeal more highly to women.
The 4400 universe is a complex mythology. There are plotlines and characters woven into and out of episodes that require hours of viewing to fully understand. We needed a simple hook that would allow us to simplify the fundamental issues of the program and not have to rely on existing characters and plotlines to deliver us. Enter Promicin.
Promicin is a fictional pharmaceutical taken straight from The 4400. It’s a drug that either kills the user or gives him a superhuman ability. At the end of Season 3, Promicin was being distributed to the general public. In Season 4, we will find the characters dealing with the repercussions of a world overcome with Promicin use. So, we built a bridge in the story that would generate excitement for the season premiere without divulging too much of the new season’s plotline.
For the campaign, Campfire created an atmosphere that paralleled the most heated political debates, with an issue (Promicin distribution) with connotations toward the gun control battle, women’s reproductive rights, or drug legalization issues. We developed the debate from all sides, with a pro-promicin destination, an anti-promicin website, and a neutral watchdog site to monitor activity and host the debate. We invited our audience to pick a side on the Promicin issue and defend it. We also gave users the chance to create their own characters, take Promicin, and explore the imagined limits of their powers.
