You May Have Missed Paramount+ Take Over Roku City

 

Paramount+ had a bit of a getaway over Memorial Day weekend. The streamer built its own “neighborhood” in Roku City, the virtual world on Roku device home screens.

On May 2, Roku announced it would offer advertising opportunities that would involve buying custom placement within Roku City. Paramount+ was the first to take them up. From May 25 to May 29, Paramount+'s neighborhood incorporated Top Gun: Maverick, Transformers, Survivor, Rugrats, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Paw Patrol. Star Trek's Deep Space Nine space station and the original series Enterprise are visible in the skies with an orange Nickelodeon blimp. 1883's wagon is parked at the Yellowstone ranch. They even skirted likenesses even more with a wolf on a perch representing Wolf Pack. Seattle's Space Needle represents Frasier, even if the Paramount+ sequel series is Boston-set, Seattle will always be synonymous. Despite both iCarly series being set in Seattle, Bushwell Plaza is apparently placed in a different part of Roku City. Maybe it's a properly scaled distance, who knows. 

This is according to an Easter egg pointer video that included ten of the 29 incorporated into the presentation. Peter Hamilton, director of ad innovation for Roku was very excited, stating “Millions of people stroll through it every day. It’s a vast city where our users are delighted with changing seasons, unique architecture, and they’re transported to new views they haven’t seen before,” adding that the Paramount+ partnership “demonstrates the way in which Roku allows brands to surprise and delight streamers with advertising that’s meaningful and memorable.”

Meanwhile, Domenic DiMeglio, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Paramount Streaming hyped the Easter egg hunting, saying “Fans are always looking for those Easter eggs and the subtle changes [in Roku City], and the team just thought what an amazing palette to be able to bring the Paramount mountain and many of our beloved franchises to Roku City in something that... was new, fun and disruptive”. In seeking to market the streamer, DiMeglio wants to complement its more traditional media strategy with other options that engage entertainment fans, fostering fandom.

To commemorate, Roku held a sweepstakes where one could win Roku Ultra and Paramount+ swag. While the stay in Roku City may be over, the marketing push has no end in sight.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter