The Astronauts
A TikTok-first launch for Nickelodeon's Ron Howard-produced series — a profile-grid video mosaic, an AR helmet, and a cast of characters introduced one post at a time
A TikTok-first social campaign for Nickelodeon's The Astronauts — a first-of-its-kind profile-grid video mosaic as the launch stunt, an Instagram AR filter that put fans in the shuttle, and character-intro films that built the cast for social.
Before TikTok had a grid feature, the launch was eighteen separate videos posted in order so the profile page assembled into one rocket — every tile a real post that also worked alone in the feed.
Promote Nickelodeon’s new series, produced by Ron Howard, and keep fans coming back week over week across every platform.
A video-forward account that extends the show’s universe online, with TikTok as the primary platform. In early 2020 almost nobody outside Gen Z was paying attention to it — so the launch stunt was built for the one place the audience already lived.
The TikTok Video Mosaic
Eighteen videos, posted in order, so the profile grid assembled into a single rocket launch. Every tile was a real post that also worked on its own in the feed. Screen-recorded from the test account, and below, the live @theastronauts profile.
First of its kind
TikTok had no native grid or mosaic feature. So the mosaic was engineered as a posting strategy: the artwork was cut into a 3-wide grid of eighteen tiles, each rendered as its own vertical video with its own motion and published in reverse so the profile read top-down as one image, with TikTok’s auto-playing profile thumbnails doing the animating. Scroll the profile and the rocket lifts off across the tiles. The story is told from MATILDA’s point of view, the ship’s AI, keeping her mystery intact (is she really here to help?), the look is built around TikTok’s own interface, and paid Instagram and Facebook ads sent people to the verified account.
The AR Filter
A Spark AR filter that scanned fans into the shuttle: helmet and flight suit on, the cabin around them dressed with the premiere tune-in, straight from the Instagram camera.
Scan in, look around
Built in Spark AR: fans scan themselves in, then look around the shuttle in a full flight suit, with a 3D helmet tracked to the face and a lit visor that reads as glass. The cabin screens carry the promo art and the tune-in: new series starts November 13.
Character Introductions
One film per young astronaut — a name, a trait, a glitch pass over the show's footage — so fans met the cast before the pilot aired. Hover to play with sound.
Countdown, paid and on set
The premiere countdown, the paid cuts for each platform, and the behind-the-scenes photography that kept the accounts alive between episodes.
Campaign Elements
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