Nickelodeon Universe Marketing Case Study

Scan

Despite sitting inside North America’s largest mall with 40 million annual visitors, Nickelodeon Universe was losing teens and tweens. They had a “been there, bored that” attitude and attendance was sliding.

Spot

Teens weren't indifferent to thrills. They were indifferent to anything they couldn't share. The park was generating thousands of raw, mid-drop scream moments every day and none of them were being captured or amplified.

Rally

The Scream Collector. A mad scientist obsessed with hunting the city's best screams. In-park scream-cams captured raw reactions and pushed photos to 14x48 digital billboards citywide in real time. Kids posted their scream debut before they hit the exit. One idea. Every touchpoint.

Score

24K+

passes sold in two months

20K+

#NickelodeonUniverse posts to Instagram in one month

19%

increase over goal

OOH

Billboards covered Minneapolis with The Scream Collector's challenge. Traditional OOH drove people in. Digital boards showcased real riders' screams captured that same day, turning raw reactions into citywide proof of the ultimate thrill.

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SCREAM TEAM

Roaming “Scream Teams” hunted reactions across the park. Billboards, the ride, every part of the campaign said the same thing: your scream is worth capturing.

Social became the trophy case of screams

Social media became The Scream Collector’s digital trophy case. “Catches of the Day” turned riders into instant celebrities. An interactive Scream-O-Meter let teens measure and compete. Sharing was effortless, with branded filters, instant photo access, and one tap to post. Teens posted more than 19,500 times with #NickelodeonUniverse, becoming part of the campaign themselves.

“Nickelodeon Universe is a key draw for the 40 million Mall of America visitors each year. Meerkat’s iconic ‘Scream Collector’ has been the most successful campaign in our theme park’s history. It has given our team a concept to build future internal programs around.”

Jeff

Chief External Relations Officer, Nickelodeon Universe

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