CHICAGO BEARS 2019 SEASON CREATIVE
THE WORK
After the extreme success of the Monsters of the Midway campaign in 2018, the Bears wanted to continue the comic story for the 2019 season, which was also its 100-year celebration season. The plan was for the “Monsters of the Midway” to live digitally in 2019.
THE INTENT
The plan was for the “Monsters of the Midway” campaign to run parallel to the 100-year celebration campaign. The 2018 MOTM storyline left off with “New Monsters Detected,” which allowed for the introduction of new players from the draft and free agency. Another big part of the 2019 campaign was the introduction of Bears “legends” to the universe as a way to tie the universe in with the 100th season celebration. The new wrinkle of “legends” provided an interesting thematic challenge to the comic story. Not only did the art and storyline need to be kept fresh for the fans, the Monsters of the Midway had to interact with the legends of the past in a respectful manner.
THE EXECUTION
Athlitacomics created a council that the “Monsters” would consult with over the course of the season. On that council sat the “Legends” who would provide wisdom to the team in the form of riddles. This was a new fun twist to the comic strips and also gave a chance for the Bears marketing team to unveil the new weekly “Legend[TM1] ” over their social media. Along with the weekly comic strips which ran throughout the season, Athlitacomics also provided all of the artwork for new players, opponents, stadiums and Bears legends. [TM1]Didn’t they feature the legend at each home game in some way too? Or was it just the decade featured?
THE RESULT
Not only were fans ecstatic that the Monsters comic campaign was back, the new “Legends” were an instant hit. Building off the success of the 2018 campaign, the momentum from the 2019 campaign was growing extremely fast as Athlitacomics routinely received requests for memorabilia related to the campaign. Fans were excited to see the continuation of the “Monsters of the Midway.”
