Fargo Woollens
NEON
Issue 38 | March 2016
Agency
DDB New Zealand
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer Damon Stapleton Executive Creative Director Shane Bradnick Creative Director Chris Schofield Senior Art Director Nicole Sykes Senior Copywriters Rory McKechnie Hayley Marks Senior Digital Designer Dean Pomfrett Senior Designer Nick White
Production Team
Agency Producer Julz Lane Knitwear Production Remar Knitwear Applique Production Textile Collective
Other Credits
Group Account Director James Blair Account Director Katya Urlwin Account Manager Trinity Lawry PR Mango Communications NEON Clients Sorrel Davies Julia Rutherford
Date
October 2015
Background
To promote 'Fargo Season 2', online streaming service NEON had to think of a way to reach an audience which was resistant to conventional advertising and which lived mainly online. The TV landscape had changed radically in the previous five years. Huge online communities had sprung up around hit shows, where fans discussed everything from plot and characters to choice of soundtrack and wardrobe. NEON needed to find a way to put themselves into the conversations people were already having about Fargo.
Idea
One of the features of the Fargo series was the sweet winter woollens worn by the cast members, which made the constant violent murders all the more shocking. Woollen hats with pom poms are very cute. Woollen hats with pom poms and bloodied meat cleavers are very Fargo.
NEON commissioned two leading knitwear companies, Remar Knitwear and The Textile Collective to make the gory garments. NEON then joined forces with top NZ fashion brand Huffer to give the launch the full fashion treatment, hosting a live fashion shoot at Huffer's flagship Auckland store and treating the audience to Fargo-esque hot cocoa and apple pie.
The collaboration with Huffer and the twisted theme of the knitwear caught the interest of many of Auckland's top fashion personalities, who were keen to share images of themselves sporting this post-modern, post-mortem fashion line.
Following the photo-shoot, news of the Fargo Woollens knitwear range spread quickly through social channels and fans were able to get their hands on the garments in exchange for a subscription to NEON.
Results
The woollens sold out quickly, but the conversation didn't stop there. 'Fargo Season 2' premiered on October 14 to NEON's largest audience to date. Subscriptions to Neon during the first month of 'Fargo Season 2' exceeded subscription numbers achieved by NEON's most popular shows, 'Fear The Walking Dead' and 'True Detective'.
Our Thoughts
When I first came into this business and sauropoda roamed the corridors of most agencies, we got briefed to do ads which were fixed in size or length. Nowhere in my early years did I hear someone say, 'I know, let's knit some jumpers'. Isn't it glorious? Now, if you have an idea that's intrinsically interesting, people will broadcast it for you. The trick is to make it intrinsically interesting. Today's creative, then, doesn't need to be able to understand how TV works as a medium, or print, but needs to know how people work. What makes them sit up, lean forward and click to share.
DDB NZ certainly know what makes me work because I would so, so love a bobble hat with a meat cleaver. Come on, confess it. So would you.