How Paramount+’s ‘Dutton Ranch’ came blazing to life at SXSW

Since 2023, Paramount+ has taken up residence at South by Southwest with The Lodge, an interactive, multilevel popup that shows off its latest titles. This year, one particular show got an extra special treatment.

Dutton Ranch, a Taylor Sheridan-helmed Yellowstone spinoff that stars Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser as Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler, takes place in Texas—setting the perfect scene for Paramount+ to announce the upcoming show in a grandiose OOH building projection. For four hours on three nights at the Fairmont Austin, an animated fiery logo blazed across the building’s facade, followed by a message for the entire state: “Texas, you’re on notice. Beth and Rip are coming.”

The streamer also partnered with a number of select steakhouses to serve DR-branded Angus ribeyes and themed cocktails, available for a little less than a week. In all, it was an IRL introduction to an extension of a world that fans already know and love, and the team knew they had to make it count, Shawn Silverman, SVP of program marketing at Paramount Direct to Consumer, told us.

“Dutton Ranch is a massive priority for us,” Silverman said. “We knew we wanted to be [at SXSW] with Dutton Ranch, and in order to do that, we wanted to do it in a really big and bold way that aligns with the spirit of Beth and Rip.”

Everything’s bigger in Texas

SXSW, according to Silverman, is an ideal place for streamers like Paramount+ to bring their brands to life due to its global nature as a gathering place—for industry people and admirers alike—in pop culture, tech, music, and comedy. Though Paramount+ does not disclose campaign budgets, activating at SXSW reportedly can cost between $50,000 and more than $500,000, according to Interactive Dallas, an experiential agency based in Texas.

When it comes to figuring out which IP gets a big moment at such a platform, deciding factors can vary.

“I wouldn’t say there’s a one-size-fits-all approach,” he said. “Sometimes it’s a mixture of, what are the top IP and franchises that we want to make sure that we are supporting in big ways? Other times, it is around premiere dates and timing of what is actually premiering around the time of, in this case, South By.”

Dutton Ranch doesn’t come out until May 15, but another Taylor Sheridan-led title, The Madison, premiered on March 14, which got it a big wall-wrap moment in Austin to capitalize on the timing. With Dutton Ranch’s projection, the strategy was all about making everything even bigger in Texas.

“We want the whole campaign to have this big Beth and Rip energy and do things in big and bold and confident ways,” Silverman said. “We wanted to crash South By.”

It was certainly eye-catching, as evidenced not only by the millions of social views and more than 68,000 new followers across the Dutton Ranch social handles after the activations, according to the company, but also by Silverman’s own text messages.

“I had friends that were having dinner in another part of town on the other side of the river that were sending me photos of the wall projection,” he said.

Table steaks

On the steakhouse side of things, it was all about a classic surprise-and-delight strategy, Silverman said. While the projection was meant to make a statement, the steaks were a subtler, guerrilla marketing moment that “crashed people’s dinners.”

Because of the restaurant partner choices, which included Jeffrey’s, Aris, and Maie Day, Silverman said the team didn’t need to promote the steak stunt specifically, either. “They were all booked out and fully reserved, so it’s not like we had to drive people to these restaurants,” he said. “These are the restaurants that when people are coming to town for South By, they all want to go to.”

The power of Taylor Sheridan could be to thank too when it comes to drumming up Dutton Ranch hype. The formidable executive producer cemented his television legacy with Yellowstone in 2018, which, by the time it ended in 2024, had become the network and streamer’s biggest show, with 13.1 million watching the series finale—until Sheridan’s The Madison most recently took the Paramount+ title, with 8 million views in 10 days just on the streamer.

“Taylor is an amazing storyteller. I mean, his track record speaks for itself,” Silverman said. “I think people just really love [the worlds he creates] because they are authentic. They feel real. The characters have so many layers to them…fans being able to go deeper into this universe with two characters like Beth and Rip that they love is what’fs really exciting.”

Still, Sheridan won’t be around forever. In fact, his Paramount contract is set to end in 2028, before he heads west to NBCUniversal. While Paramount’s got him, it seems to be benefitting just fine from the Sheridan universe—and early reactions to the Dutton Ranch announcement seem to be full of anticipation.

“We’re just focused on continuing to grow our business, and support these amazing shows in-world that Taylor’s created,” Silverman said. “We’re very excited to continue to work on these types of campaigns.”

Growth and in-world campaigns, we imagine, will only be abetted by the pending Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition—a deal Silverman declined to comment on. Still, we can almost see the Harry Potter activations in the future night sky, magic spells perhaps filling the space once held by fiery cowboys.