• by Fern Siegel , November 13, 2023

Hulu’s marketing campaign for “Black Cake,” its book-to-screen series, has introduced fans and the BIPOC community to the show in new ways to boost engagement. The series is both a murder mystery and family drama that travels from Jamaica to Scotland to California.

The in-house campaign, created by Adia Matthews, Hulu’s vice president, partnership marketing, and team are also responsible for work promoting the streamer’s hit show “Only Murders in the Building.” "Black Cakes" work was done during the actors' strike.

"Partners are very important in terms of building awareness among broad audiences and especially specific audiences that we want to target — not just so that someone knows that a new series is about to release, but allowing people to understand this story is for them or it's going to resonate," Matthews told Insider. "We really see them not just as collaborators, but also storytellers alongside us."

Hulu aligned with Barnes & Noble to offer a sneak peek of the show to B&N premium members before its debut. The bookseller highlights the show on its site’s “Page to Screen Collections page.” The page also showcases a curated collection of other book-to-screen adaptations currently on Hulu.

To highlight “Black Cake,” from Marisa Jo Cerar, Oprah's Harpo Films and Kapital Entertainment, Hulu partnered with BIPOC bakeries in various cities, including Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington D.C, San Jose, CA, and Charlotte, N.C. On the show’s premiere date, Nov. 1, Hulu stocked each bakery with its own Black Cakes, along with in-store promotions, cake samples and giveaways of the New York Times best seller by Charmaine Wilkerson.

The bakeries included Black Coffee Co. in Atlanta, Sip and Savor in Chicago, Southern Girl Desserts in Los Angeles, Archive CLT in Charlotte, and Creative Grounds in D.C.

To promote community engagement, early screenings were also held at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, such as Spelman College and Morehouse College, for the first “Black Cake” episode.