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Over the last 15 years I have dressed up as a ghostbuster 8 times! That’s a pretty high ratio and I’m not alone for the popularity of the original movies still holds strong today. Yet what about a new imagining of the movies, what about a female cast! The result one of the most disliked trailers of all time. That was our challenge and one we utterly relished
- What are the campaigns theatrical objectives? Please include explanation of the campaign and why it was successful (500 words maximum)
Ghostbusters Waterloo was undoubtedly the biggest, most shareable and spectacular launch of a blockbuster film in 2016. Not only did the campaign include a variety of global media-firsts for film advertising, but it also drew upon the true love and nostalgia that fans have for the original 1984 version.
Using the UK’s busiest and most haunted station, London Waterloo (footfall of around 2 million per week), Sony, MGOMD, Feref, Talon and JCDecaux made the daily commute off the PKE scale by combining physical, interactive and social elements to create a breath-taking campaign.
Oozing, 8 metre ‘Slime Poles’ were places around the station, and a colossal sculpture of the iconic Stay Puft Marshmallow Man could be seen smashing through the concourse floor. Commuters were encouraged to capture a picture and share on Twitter using #ghostbusterswaterloo. These pictures were then displayed across digital screens in Waterloo station, enhancing the shareable aspect of the campaign.
An immersion zone in the station’s busy commuter tunnel was completely transformed with New York vinyl wraps and atmospheric audio, including eerie snatches of sound from the Big Apple itself.
Thousands of visitors had the chance to buy ghostly goods at a pop-up Ghostbusters retail unit which was built to look like a New York Subway entrance. The retail unit was run by the world’s largest and best-known science fiction, fantasy and cult entertainment retailer Forbidden Planet. Visitors to Waterloo were also able to purchase limited edition Odeon tickets and souvenir tins from the Ghostbusters retail store between 11 – 24th July.
If this wasn’t already enough, business cards were also handed out by fully kitted out Ghostbusters team members encouraging commuters to call the headquarters on 0800 2229 911 and hear a message from the team. The number was also displayed on phone boxes across the UK.
The campaign was uniquely immersive across the JCDecaux media network from start to finish; with ‘GHOSTBUSTERS BOX OFFICE NOW OPEN’ messaging displayed across digital screens in malls and rail stations to drive early awareness.
National content displaying dynamic fake news items featuring ghostly sightings was also deployed across the UK on JCDecaux’s Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) network and this was amplified by experiential activity within two incredibly busy sites, Birmingham Bullring and Manchester Piccadilly, using the iconic Ghostbusters car, the ECTO-1.
If the social explosion the campaign produced wasn’t enough, it was also picked up by the press far and wide, including The Metro, The Evening Standard, TimeOut and even stretched as far as 9News Australia, ABC News and Jakarta Glove Indonesia.

- How did you ensure that your release stood out in a crowded marketplace (300 words maximum)
By producing global media firsts and making sure that the creative aspects of the campaign included as many social-friendly and viral elements within it, Ghostbusters Waterloo managed to stand out in what is an incredibly competitive marketplace.
The chosen location was pivotal in making such a successful campaign, with Waterloo having a weekly footfall of around 2 million per week, reaching various different audiences travelling to London from far and wide across the country.
The combination of visual, sound and interactive elements within the campaign created a fun, immersive and memorable experience for all – creating an easily shareable experience.
And now to the figures. From July 11th to July 21st, Ghostbusters Waterloo generated an eye-watering 52.6 million impressions! To add to this, the number of calls to the Ghostbusters hotline reached a whopping 362,882!