As part of the promotional effort for its new series Yellowstone, set on a huge ranch bordering on the famed national park, Paramount Network turned to the nature lovers at the National Geographic.
Yellowstone will be featured in a social media campaign highlighted by story takeovers on National Geographic’s Hero and National Geographic’s Travel Instagram accounts.
The stories will feature pictures by renowned nature photographer David Guttenfelder, who was embedded on the Yellowstone set in Montana, capturing images of the product, the scenery and of star Kevin Costner. Guttenfelder himself has 1 million followers on Instagram
The big idea, according to Anhelo Reyes, senior VP for consumer marketing at Paramount Network, was to tap into the big audience of people who love the outdoors and nature that National Geographic has because Yellowstone feels like one of the characters in the series.
“We worked with National Geographic to identify a photographer that has a unique perspective on the West,” Reyes said. Guttenfelder “spent some time on the set, taking photos as well as video, of the landscape, the life of ranching, as well as some of our talent, specifically Kevin Costner.”
A combination of the content created by Guttenfelder and Paramount will appear on Nat Geo’s accounts on Instagram, where Nat Geo Hero is the most-followed brand with 86 million followers.
“We continuously challenge ourselves to push the boundaries of how we create interesting and engaging stories for our partners” said Mike Wiese, senior VP of branded content at Nat Geo. “We’re excited to work with Paramount on a multi-platform partnership to bring the story of Yellowstone to life through the lens of National Geographic photographer David Guttenfelder whose photos showcase this iconic landscape.”
There will also be a long-form 60 second video on the Nat Geo site and distributed organically across the Nat Geo Magazine Facebook page and the Nat Geo Channel Facebook and Twitter pages on premiere day.
“They have a huge audience that we thought would be a great fit for Yellowstone,” she said. She estimates the campaign will generate upwards of 150 million impressions in the U.S. “Some will stick around and follow Paramount and Yellowstone for the duration of the series.”
Paramount Network will amplify that part of the campaign with its own social media assets.
The series, premiering Wednesday is about John Dutton, played by Costner, who owns Yellowstone Ranch, the largest ranch in the U.S., bordering on the National Park. The ranch is in constant conflict with its neighbors, including an expanding town and Indian reservation.
The series is written and directed by Taylor Sheridan.
The cast also includes Wes Bentley, Kelly Reilly, Luke Grimes, Cole Hauser, Kelsey Asbille, Dave Annable, Danny Huston, Gil Birmingham, Josh Lucas, Jefferson White, Gretchen Mol, Jill Hennessey, Patrick St. Esprit, Ian Bohen, Heather Hemmons, Denim Richards, and Michael Nouri.
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