Last Wednesday night's back-to-back season premieres of "Duck Dynasty" became the #1 telecasts in network history! An astonishing 8.6 million viewers tuned in to see America's favorite family, making "Duck Dynasty" the #1 nonfiction series on cable. Perhaps even more impressive is the record-shattering 5.0 million adults 18-49 and 4.9 million adults 25-54 who tuned in; as well as the incredibly successful Social Media campaign that led up to the premiere.
The original press release and "The Quack is Back" spot below:
The creative team at A&E called on long-time collaborators at entertainment agency BIGSMACK to help conceive, write and produce a hilarious Season 3 promotional campaign for their biggest runaway hit in the cable net’s history: “Duck Dynasty.” Under the creative leadership of Head Creative Andy Hann and Senior Creative Director Matt Hall, the BIGSMACK team collaborated with A&E’s in-house team to write, produce, and post for an extensive campaign, that is being rolled out now, as a daily countdown to the launch of the third season on February 27th at 10/9c.
Hann and director Scott Whitham co-direct an unbelievable 21 spots in just two days. The BIGSMACK team shot in the deep rural bayou of Louisiana in the dead of winter, up against tremendous challenges. To view a selection of the creative results, go here: http://wdrv.it/VVWojD
“’Duck Dynasty’ has literally become a phenomenon for A&E, being their highest rated show to date,” says BIGSMACK’s Hann. “It has huge fan appeal, so we were thrilled when they asked us to take a crack at what appeared to be the impossible. We jumped right in with the A&E Senior Creatives Maria Pecoraro and Keith Kopnicki, and fleshed out and wrote a mountain of scripts over the course of a week. Kudos to the A&E marketing and creative team, who worked many weekends and late night hours to make sure this was a successful campaign. This project was a great opportunity for BIGSMACK to show what our company can do, pulling from all of our resources to make this roll-out campaign a reality, and a funny one at that.”
One of the most successful reality series currently on television, “Duck Dynasty” features the Robertson’s, a Louisiana bayou family living the American dream as they operate a thriving business while staying true to their family values and lifestyle. After creative concepting and writing In New York and Philadelphia was complete, the BIGSMACK production team flew down south from the east coast. They were met with seven inches rain soaked roads in early January, and show fans appearing on-set to get a peek at the Robertson’s, known for their signature long beards. CD Hann and Whitham directed the 21 spots with just two days to shoot the show’s main characters. Strategically planning the logistics for the shoot, they had two crews shoot simultaneously at an enormous Bayou location in Monroe, Louisiana.
“We went in with a plan of course, but due to the volume of spots, unpredictable weather and an unfamiliar location, a lot of adjustments and improv had to happen in Monroe days and hours before the shoot,” explains BIGSMACK’s Head of Marketing Andrew Kobliska. Mud soaked roads, trucks and equipment coming from hundreds of miles away, and crew arriving the night before were part of the challenges the production team was up against. “While Andy was directing one spot, he had to think about the next two spots so we could have a crew set things up ahead of time. The crew was awesome: great hustle; great attitude. The DP's Andrew Turman and Patrick Loungway were absolutely incredible. Because of the circumstances, the DP's had to act essentially as Co-Directors, and they really came through. The members of the Robertson family were all good sports. They hung in there with us and they were willing to do whatever we asked, which included being submerged in freezing water! They have natural talent, and great comedic timing. They really are a wonderful, funny family, which is why they are loved by so many fans worldwide.”
Credits:
Project: 21-spot promo campaign for the launch of “Duck Dynasty,” Season 3
Client: A&E
EVP, Head of Marketing: Guy Slattery
Sr. Creative Director. Brand Creative: Maria Pecoraro
Senior Writer/Producer: Keith Kopnicki
Director of Operations, Brand Creative: Brett DiPretoro
Advertising Agency: BIGSMACK
Executive Creative Director: Andy Hann
Head of Marketing: Andrew Kobliska
Executive Producers: Heidi Erney, Kevin Lahr
Writers: Tom Pace, Joe Nelms, Bob Shea, Andy Hann, Laura Gillespie
Production Company: BIGSMACK
Directors: Andy Hann, Scott Whitham
DPs: Andrew Turman, Patrick Loungway
Producer/AD: Michael Dean
AD: Nick Conway
Editorial Company: BIGSMACK
Senior Creative Director: Matt Hall
Senior Writer/Producer: Laura Gillespie
Designer/Animator: Rick Malwitz, Jason Harmon
Editor: Rob Graham
Sound Engineer: Bob Schachner