The BBC has given advance warning to the public of the return of Killing Eve, its hit spy thriller, for a new season on Saturday.
Killing Eve II is being supported by a darkly obsessive advertising campaign dreamed up by the BBC’s own in-house creative team to put audiences in the right frame of mind to fully appreciate the charms of psychopathic assassin Villanelle.
‘Public Displays of Obsession’ sees a game of cat and mouse play out between Villanelle and MI6 agent Eve Polastri as the tangled pair engage in deadly billboard banter, with accompanying radio and social media awareness bringing people uncomfortably close to the pugilistic pair.
Dedicated fans are being encouraged to track down each billboard – unmarked except for the '#crazy4eve' hashtag – in person and share their discoveries online, or to call Eve’s voicemail on 07788 387000 to hear the character speak.
An uncomfortable Twitter exchange will also play out as Villanelle loses not only her ‘girlfriend’ Eve but also the plot, in a spiral of increasingly desperate tweets.
Laurent Simon, executive creative director at BBC Creative commented: “The traditional objective of mass media campaigns is to talk directly to the audience. It was great fun to put a fresh spin on this concept and let our Killing Eve characters generate the excitement themselves through Eve and Villanelle’s public displays of obsession. We hope viewers find this playful and mysterious promotion for Killing Eve II as entertaining and rewarding as we did creating it!”
Recent BBC billboard campaigns haven't gone to plan with BBC Sport's 'Change the Game' campaign accused of plagiarism by authors Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené.
: 'Public display of obsession'
A new Killing Eve II marketing campaign, made by the BBC’s in-house creative team BBC Creative, takes obsessive behaviour to a new level.
The campaign sees MI6 agent Eve Polastri and psychopathic assassin Villanelle resume their game of cat and mouse through ‘Public Displays of Obsession’ that audiences can now see all around the country on posters, BBC radio and social media.
Alongside the ominous hashtag, ‘#Crazy4Eve’, Villanelle will bombard BBC Radio 1 with song requests for Eve, with the two writing back and forth to one another on billboards. Fans are invited to find all of Villanelle’s billboards across the UK, share their photographs online and of course — call Eve’s voicemail on 07788 387000 themselves.
Audiences will even witness Villanelle having a Twitter meltdown as she frantically looks for her “girlfriend” Eve, exceeding the maximum number of tweets allowed and being locked out of her account.
BBC Creative:
ECD - Laurent Simon
Head of planning - Michael Lean
Head of production - James Wood
Creative director - Susan Ayton
Creative - Emma Brooke
Creative - Stuart Gittings
Producer - Rachel Roberts
Project manager - Astrid Reiner
Planner - Jenny Double
Production manager - Sophie Knott
Production coordinator - Georgina Williams
Head of social - Ashley Temple
Audio - Kate Dinsdale
Senior designer - Eleanor Ridsdale
Designer - Veronica Law
Designer - Joao-Miranda
BBC:
Head of marketing - Chris Hooper
Marketing manager - Harriet Gunning
Marketing executive - Leah Hennessy-Williams
Marketing executive - Elysia Mountain
