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Bates Motel was, from its conception, a chance to push the network’s dramas to an even more innovative point, in unexpected and edgier ways. As a special treat for those fans wishing to dig deeper into the show, we invited them to “Check-In” with either Facebook or Twitter to the Bates Motel itself, an interactive website.

We decided that a major philosophic aspect of our campaign would be the idea of getting viewers to “Take-a-Peek”. Site visitors got this opportunity, as voyeur-encouraging dialogue invited them to look through the 12 peepholes of the 12 doors of the motel. The peephole on each motel room door showed a brief clip from the show or a teaser image spot, with nominal dialogue or information.

The final door—number 12—gave an exclusive, extended sneak peek of the show. The preview included both a trailer and two scenes from the show, which got fans talking about the premiere long in advance. An Easter Egg hidden when viewers checked-in at the office - a phone on the desk, password-protected with the code “Mother” - revealed a special image tease not previously released.

Response was enormous with over 465,000 unique visitors and over 1.8 million page views. Driving tune in throughout the site, Bates Motel was the highest original drama series premiere in network history, bringing in 3 million viewers, with 1.6 million of which were in the target demo.

Contributors:

A&E

Location: USA