Don't be a Zombie Brand - Walking Dead

1. Don’t be a
zombie
brandlessons from The
Walking Dead
Philip Ellis
B y J e r e my K at z ,
W o r l d w i d e E d i t o r i a l D i r e c to r ,
O g i lv y & M at h e r

2. D o n ’ t b e a z o m b i e b r a n d –
l e s s o n s f r o m T h e W a l k i n g D e a d
P h i l i p E l l i s
MediaCom’s Jon Gittings picked
the delicious brains of The Walking Dead
star Steven Yeun, executive producer
Dave Alpert and AMC network CEO Josh
Sapan, to find out what brands can learn
from blood, guts and zombie attacks.

3. D o n ’ t b e a z o m b i e b r a n d –
l e s s o n s f r o m T h e W a l k i n g D e a d
P h i l i p E l l i s
Storytelling
should be
dangerous
“[Fans] care about characters in a way
that is really visceral,” says Josh Sapan, CEO of the
AMC network. Part of The Walking Dead’s appeal is
that your favourite character could be killed off at any
moment. Nobody is safe, and viewers actually enjoy
having narrative conventions pulled out from under
them – as long as it makes sense within the story.
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4. D o n ’ t b e a z o m b i e b r a n d –
l e s s o n s f r o m T h e W a l k i n g D e a d
P h i l i p E l l i s
Marketing
shouldn’t feel
like marketing
The Walking Dead’s companion show, The
Talking Dead, is popular among fans because
it’s not seen as a premeditated marketing exercise;
the creators of the show are as passionate about
the stories and characters as the viewers.
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5. D o n ’ t b e a z o m b i e b r a n d –
l e s s o n s f r o m T h e W a l k i n g D e a d
P h i l i p E l l i s
Guts and GIFs
Steven Yeun, who plays Glenn, believes that the
wealth of fan-created content online is an untapped
resource when it comes to shaping future seasons.
“It could be terrible, or it could be awesome,” he
says. Stories based on memes? Count us in.
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6. D o n ’ t b e a z o m b i e b r a n d –
l e s s o n s f r o m T h e W a l k i n g D e a d
P h i l i p E l l i s
What the zombie
apocalypse tells us
about consumers
Cultural attitudes will always influence how
consumers engage with a story; for example, an American or
Briton is likely to immerse themselves in a survivalist mentality.
The Europeans, on the other hand, would adopt a more
pragmatic approach, i.e. sit around and wait for orders.
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