DirecTV's digital comic morphs Serena Williams into Wonder Woman

Dive Brief:

DirecTV extends its "Get Your TV Together" ad campaign this week with a digital comic starring tennis pro Serena Williams as Wonder Woman, per details emailed to Marketing Dive. Rounding out the effort, agencies TWBA\Chiat\Day and Critical Mass developed a Snapchat augmented reality (AR) portal and custom Twitter hashtag emoji.
The comic storyline depicts Williams using tennis skills alongside her doppelgänger from another universe to save a robot-invaded Earth. Four chapters of the "Serving Up Justice" series will debut on a microsite throughout fall, while a print version of the comic will be released later this season.
The comic book and mobile elements are the latest addition to the "Get Your TV Together" campaign to promote DirecTV's Stream product. A larger media effort supporting the new work will span linear and streaming TV, connected TV, out-of-home (OOH), radio and social media through early 2022.

Dive Insight:

DirecTV is tailoring its "Get Your TV Together" campaign for mobile platforms with the launch of a comic book and interactive social elements. Devised with DC Comics, the four-part story that kicks off this week builds on an ad timed to the U.S. Open last month, depicting Williams as Wonder Woman. That spot was the first in a series of movie-themed ads featuring the tennis pro. Now, the comic series is rolling out online over four chapters and culminating in a print edition in November.

By producing a comic, DirecTV hopes to get in front of consumers tuned into tennis tournaments or people interested in streaming superhero movies. The work also supports female artists and writers, including the comic's author Amanda Deibert and illustrator Cat Staggs, per the announcement.

DirecTV isn't the first brand to produce an original comic series to connect with consumers in an entertaining fashion. Unilever's Axe worked with Marvel Entertainment in 2019 to create a set of superheroes based on the grooming brand's Ice Chill products. The video comic series similarly rolled out chapter by chapter and was accompanied an original Spotify soundtrack. Honda also designed an animated comic book series in 2019 specifically for social media, targeting Gen Z and millennial drivers while promoting the work on Instagram, Facebook and in pre-roll ads.

Additional elements like DirecTV's immersive Snapchat portal add interactivity to the comic series and broader campaign, letting users replicate the comic book experience by entering an AR world via posters designed by DC Comics artists. Stepping into the colorful, '80s-inspired world, participants can help battle the robots alongside Williams and Wonder Woman as part of an interactive game.

The campaign extends across social apps to Twitter with a custom emoji triggered by the hashtags #GetYourTVTogether and #DirecTVStream, potentially broadening the effort's reach online.