MEFCC
Crack the Code
• Headliner Revea
What: Social Media Campaign
Who: MEFCC
How: Social Media Activation
Headliner Reveal
Campaign
The Middle East Film & Comic Convention (MEFCC) is
an event every geek in the region looks forward to. We
were tasked with creating its launch campaign, which
included the announcement of every year’s
much-awaited ‘headliner’ reveal.
Problem…
The headliner was Oscar Isaac. But a straight-forward announcement wouldn’t have
done justice to this news. Especially when the competition was throwing up names
like Tom Hiddleston. The task was to get the audience involved, engaged, and ulti-
mately entertained, even BEFORE the show started.
....Solved
Who doesn’t love puzzles. Well, our core audience certainly does. So we decided to
reveal the headliner with an interactive
campaign that involved riddles. Give them a
series of clues, leave breadcrumbs, and let
them reveal the headliner for themselves.
Now that’s an Oscar winning idea!
Insight
The Comic Con community is not an ordinary
group passive of passive fans. They are active,
they thrive on insider tea, and they love cracking
puzzles. They will dissect every IG post, every
word to find hidden meanings. This behaviour
presented us with a massive opportunity. Use
their enthusiasm for discovery and scoops to
further our objective.
Concept
This led to ‘Crack the Code’. A vehemently interactive campaign, where puzzles, quizzes, easter
eggs were released in trickles. The users were
challenged to solve the Qs and reveal the answers
(to us). It made the experience community-driven,
the connections deeper and the act of solving re-
warding. Mission accomplished.
Rollout
Phase 1: Launch
The great code-cracking of 2024 started with a Pigpen cipher, through a
teaser released on Meta and Reddit platforms. For die-hard fans, it was a relatively easy one to crack, and in no time, we were flooded with direct messages. The buzz began.
Phase 2: Clue Distribution
The next clue was more personalized, sent via DMs to the solvers of the first
clue. It again involved Oscar Isaac’s movies, birth year and car plates. In short,
a windfall for mystery-seekers.
Phase 3: Public Clue
We went public with the next one, and this time the video involved Morse
Code. We could already see the geeks in frenzy over this. This one created
even more buzz, and brought in new people.
Phase 4: Final Clue
The final phase involved connecting all clues form Oscar’s roles. Those who
cracked it were asked to keep the answers to themselves (which they finally
obliged to). The grand reveal happened in February, where his appearance at
MEFCC was confirmed.
The Buzz
Although the campaign was primarily for the UAE market, it reached a global
audience thanks to its sheer virality and interactivity.
Uptick
5434 DMs
received within the first 5 days of teaser launch
2,000
participants successfully cracked the code
1.8K
upvotes on Reddit post
