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USA Network is going all out at San Diego’s Comic-Con with an ambitious scavenger hunt to kick off its #DigDeeper marketing campaign for its fall international thriller Dig.
Dig, centered on a conspiracy 2,000 years in the making that threatens to change history, lacks the conventional Comic-Con connection, but the NBCUniversal cable network is betting big on the city’s high foot traffic during the annual July 24-27 geekfest as an avenue to create early awareness.
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Through a partnership with Snapchat, USA is inviting fans starting Wednesday, July 23, to scour the Gaslamp district by the San Diego Convention Center for hidden clues. More than 40 clues will be hidden in that area — from wall stencils and car windows to retail store windows and even skywriting. To help them along, USA will post clues on social media to help direct fans to certain places in the Gaslamp. (See one of those clues below.)
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Those who uncover the most will be one of 30 to 40 fans in an intimate meet-and-greet with creator/executive producer Tim Kring, also of Heroes and Heroes Reborn, on the afternoon of Friday, July 25. (USA is counting on Vine star Jerome Jarre, who has more than 614,000 Twitter followers, to spread the word.)
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USA is the first television network to team with Wattpad, a mobile community of readers and writers boasting 30 million users, to release a 12-part serialized prequel to Dig starting Thursday, July 24. Series writers will pen all the chapters.
“Wattpad represents a new frontier in immersive storytelling that enables us to engage its massive audience in the mythology and characters of the Dig television event series well in advance of its fall premiere,” said Alexandra Shapiro, executive vp marketing and digital. “This global platform will help expand our narrative canvas, creating an early and engaged fan base and drive readers to ‘dig deeper.’ ”
USA will continue to have a presence inside the Convention Center, holding a panel for Dig on Thursday, July 24, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Hilton Bayfront’s Indigo Ballroom — where the trailer will officially premiere — with Kring, executive producer Gideon Raff, director S.J. Clarkson, writer Carol Barbee, Jason Isaacs, David Costabile and Alison Sudol.
Email: Philiana.Ng@THR.com
Twitter: @insidethetube
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