This is a presentation on Hulu's 2009 ad campaign.

1. Campaign Review
An evil plot to destroy the world.
Enjoy.
Ya Zhuo
CMGT 510, Spring 2015
April 09

2. SOMETHING
• Established in 2007
• Joint venture: NBC Universal,
News Corp. (Fox), AOL, MSN,
MySpace, Yahoo!
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hulu
An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy.
• Website: ad-supported on-
demand streaming
• Content: TV shows, movies,
trailers, clips, behind-the-scenes
footages from NBC, Fox, ABC,
WWE, TBS, etc.
• Availability: Japan, U.S. and its
overseas territories
• Mission: provide users the choice
of TV and movie videos wherever
and whenever they want
• Advantage: strong partnership
with media giants, and content
license to many of the broadcast
and cable TV content
• Positioning: free or inexpensive
alternative to a traditional cable
or satellite television subscription
ABOUT HULU

3. SOMETHING
ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN
Hulu: An evil plot to destroy the world.
Hulu.com’s service was made available to the Internet users in the United States in March 2008.
Hulu was a nameless tech startup,and had never run any TV ad campaign,
Until…
• To raise brand awareness
• To educate the audience about its benefits
• To create positive brand associations
Communication Objectives
• TV lovers (potential users)
• In the United States
Target Audience
• “During Super Bowl XLIII this Sunday, look
for the launch of Hulu’s ad campaign.
Finally, we’ll reveal the secret behind Hulu.”
Media Teaser
• Super Bowl XLIII (aired on NBC)
• February 1, 2009
• 4th
quarter
Launch Platform
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hulu
An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy.14

4. hulu
An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy.“Alec in Huluwood” (60s) of3 14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKhCEM9Riyc

5. KEY MESSAGES
FROM THE SUPER BOWL DEBUT
“Alec in Huluwood”
“Hulu beams TV directly to your portable
computing devices, giving you more of the
cerebral-gelatinizing shows you want, any
time, anywhere, for free.”
What can Hulu do?
“And the best part is, there’s NOTHING
you can do to stop it. I mean, what’re
you going to do? Turn off your TV and
your computer?”
What can you do?
We are evil aliens who created Hulu to
soften brains of TV watchers and reduce
them to a cottage cheese-like mush,
and then eat it.
The humor part?
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hulu
An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy.
Alec Baldwin “TV Star”
30 Rock
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6. HOW PURSUASIVE?
LET THE DATA SPEAK
After the 2009 Super Bowl commercial,
the Hulu website servers overloaded
due to a huge traffic lift.
Website traffic
Grew from the 6th
o the 4th
most
watched video distributor on the web,
with viewership growing 42 percent
Viewership
5 of
hulu
An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy.14

7. HOW PURSUASIVE?
LET THE DATA SPEAK
Surged from 8 to 9million per day to
18 million the day after Super Bowl,
and to 11 to 13 million streams per
day afterwards.
Website traffic after
Super Bowl
From 300 mentions per day in online
community to 1,082 brand mentions
for Super Bowl TV spot (a 259%
increase).
Buzz
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hulu
An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy.14

8. HOW PURSUASIVE?
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hulu
An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy.
LET THE PEOPLE SPEAK
“‘TV star’ Alec Baldwin appears in
Jack Donaghy drag – good suit,
cupid-bow lips, strangely sibilant,
curried like a racehorse – to
reveal an alien plot to soften
human brains with free online
video. Never in the history of TV
has the truth come so close to
being uttered. The spot has
revolutionized product
placement by making a farce of
it, by making a virtue of artistic
capitulation.”
--Dan Neil
Los Angeles Time
“Not only is it funny, but it
actually accomplishes a very
subtle yet powerful marketing
objective, because it positions
Hulu in exactly the right light.
Instead of trying to say that Hulu
is some kind of new service
“unlike anything you’ve ever seen
before,” this commercial makes it
clear that Hulu is just TV, taken to
the max. Which is exactly what
people want.
--James McQuivey
Omnivideo (blog)
“The ad was good in the sense
that it caught the sarcastic vibe
that appeals to under 40s. A lot
of young people are on Hulu
already, so maybe this was a ploy
to build on the WOM among
those who don’t go to Hulu,
leveraging the ‘cool’ and ‘you just
don’t get it yet’ around the
brand.
--Abgail Hamilton
Online comments
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9. UNDERLYING THEORIES
• Humor
• Liking
• Recall
• Less counter-arguing
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hulu
An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy.
• Celebrity
• Convincing
• Brand recognition
• Distinct personality
OF THE CAMPAIGN
ELM: low issue involvement
People are not paying attention to strong argument; they will be influenced by peripheral cues like humor and celebrity appeals
The mix of celebrities and humor was often used and was perfect in this case.
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10. SAY HELLO TO
MORE EVIL ALIENS
Created by Crispin Porter & Bogusky (CP+B)
Eliza Fondue Seth’s Giggity Goo The Leary Mission
9 of
hulu
An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy.
Huluboratory Hulu Plus: So much watching to watch
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11. hulu
An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy.“Eliza Fondue” (30s) of10 14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qcc4QRRKns

12. hulu
An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy.“Seth’s Giggity Goo” (45s) of11 14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CMWkesiVD4

13. hulu
An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy.“The Leary Mission” (60s) of12 14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD4tPnSXI2Y

14. hulu
An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy.“Hulubotory” (60s) of13 14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-KmP9sy1yE

15. hulu
An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy.“Hulu Watch” (60s) of14 14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnDr18Q79Ek

16. THANK YOU
hulu
An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy.