Consumer Marketing · Paramount / Nickelodeon · 2020

SpongeBob SquarePants 20th anniversary campaign

A two-month, 360° multiplatform campaign celebrating SpongeBob's 20th anniversary and driving tune-in for the Birthday Special — spanning cinema, OOH, Snapchat, social, and branded partnerships across kids, parents, and superfans.

Nickelodeon logo with orange slime splatter design.
Consumer Marketing
Audience Segmentation
Agency Leadership
360° Campaign
Integrated Campaign

THE CHALLENGE

Make a beloved franchise feel fresh and culturally relevant to three distinct audiences simultaneously — kids who live in the SpongeBob world, parents nostalgic for the original, and entertainment industry stakeholders tracking franchise health. The campaign needed to earn attention across channels, not just buy it.

MY ROLE & APPROACH

As marketing manager, I led the integrated campaign strategy end-to-end: brief development, agency collaboration, partnership concepting, and channel orchestration. The approach centered on building distinct touchpoints for each audience segment while keeping the creative universe consistent — a custom cinema etiquette spot with SpongeBob and Patrick, Instagrammable OOH in New York, LA, and San Diego, 26 custom Snapchat geo-filters anchored to iconic U.S. locations, and branded content partnerships with GoNoodle, SuperAwesome, Complex Networks, and DC Comics.

RESULTS

SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout was the #1 telecast at time of airing across all networks and all kid demos (K2–11, K6–11). #1 Social Show in the Children and Family genre on premiere night.

75M

Total impressions across media (P2+)

24M

Cinema impressions, family titles

8x

Engagement rate on SuperAwesome mini-game

5.8M

GoNoodle Classroom Engagements

420K

Complex x Snapchat Story Views

500K

Social Impressions around premiere night

Promax North America

Children's Program Multiplatform 360 Campaign, SpongeBob Big Birthday Blowout

Line drawing of a trophy with a star in the center to showcase marketing awards.
  • Crowded city street with yellow buses, people walking, and colorful billboards and skyscrapers in the background.
  • A young woman posing for photos in front of a pink Nickelodeon-themed backdrop with a cartoon character, as two women take pictures of her outdoors during daytime.
  • A boat with pink and black coloring sailing on a river with the Statue of Liberty in the background.
  • A yellow Spongebob-themed birthday parade float with the hashtag #HAPPYBIRTHDAYSPONGEBOB parked in front of a historic building with rainbow flags, in an urban city setting with trees and tall buildings.
  • Two women sitting on red stairs at a Times Square event, smiling and posing for the camera, with a backdrop that reads 'The Big Hub' and includes a colorful logo. One woman wears a gray beanie and black jacket, the other a neon yellow shirt. There are animated text overlays, one with 'Broadway' and the other with 'Washington Square Pants,' with cartoon-style water and small figures.