The fourth in Disney's "Descendents" franchise of films, "Descendents: The Rise of Red" is a musical fantasy film focused on Red, the daughter of the Queen of Hearts of "Alice in Wonderland" fame, as she causes waves at her school, Auradon Prep. When the Queen of Hearts incites a coup against Auradon, Red must team up with Cinderella's perfectionist daughter Chloe as they travel back in time to try to undo the traumatic event that set the young Queen of Hearts down her villainous path.
"The Rise of Red" is as much about Red as a character as it is about the growing relationship between Red and Chloe and the journeys of each character at Auradon Prep. To drive tune-in, excite fans for the newest "Descendants" installment, capture new viewers, and give a sense of the story unfolding in Auradon in "The Rise of Red," Disney Branded Television looked to tell both characters' stories through social content that would be memorable, exciting and innovative.
Disney Branded Television leveraged the power of social media and TikTok’s interactive Story Selection in-feed ad feature to create an interactive post that would bring users into the story of "The Rise of Red" and give them a sense of the characters and conflicts at the heart of the story. The Story Selector ad asked users to pick a card – either the card for Chloe or the other card for Red.
The choice of card plays a specific character-centric video that gives a sense of the personalities of each character. Mixing motion graphics with clips from the movie, the videos highlight what fans need to know about Chloe and Red and give a sense of some of the drama and conflict faced throughout the story.
Disney's use of high-energy videos, some key mic-drop moments that show off each character, and the interactivity inherent in social media helped make the Story Selector video interesting and engaging to new viewers and longtime "Descendants" fans alike. The use of character highlights makes it clear what viewers can expect from the film, whether they're "Descendants" die-hards or coming to the series for the first time.
Disney's TikTok Story Selector interactive ad was a big hit, helping "Descendants: The Rise of Red" to draw 6.7 million viewers in its first three days on Disney+, and to go on to gather 33 million views over 12 weeks. It was the fifth-most streamed piece of content during the week of its release.
