Created by mystery mogul Rian Johnson, Poker Face is a mystery-of-the-week series starring accidental detective, Charlie Cale (played by Natasha Lyonne), who has an uncanny and fullproof ability to tell when someone is lying. My role on this series was to strategically position seasons 1 and 2, as well as to kick off the 360 campaign surrounding it, all in an effort to help the show make a splash as a modern must-watch mystery of the week.
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Our approach was zero-ing in on our lead's role as a human lie detector, and using that to pop in a culture where bullshit was seemingly everywhere. From deepfakes, to “fake news”, social media filters to AI influencers, we were swimming in the stuff, making our leads’ ability to cut through it especially refreshing and relevant in culture. The season 1 campaign was activated across major media and moments, including a Super Bowl commercial where Charlie called out lies in other (real) commercials from the game, a no-bullshit hotline, and key art & trailers that introduced the world to the quirky, curious murder-magnet that is Charlie Cale.
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The show ended up nabbing nominations, awards, a passionate fanbase, and most importantly, a season 2. Our strategy the sophomore season was built on the same fundamentals as above, but evolved to hero the unique case-of-the week structure that audiences loved so much from season 1, as well as the impressive list of guest stars that had the power to help us drive urgency from week to week.
