CASE STUDY · THEATRE
Trafalgar Entertainment
A summer campaign that introduced the world premiere of Death Note: The Musical to manga and anime fans in London, from casting news to a reader offer.
Sector: Theatre · Services: Editorial, Interview, Print, Sitewide Ads, Reader Offer, Newsletter
THE PRODUCTION WE PROMOTED
A cult manga becomes a stage musical.
Death Note: The Musical
Based on the manga by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. Music by Frank Wildhorn, book by Ivan Menchell, lyrics by Jack Murphy. With Xander Pang as Light Yagami, Colin Ryan as L, Stephanie Zaharis as Misa Amane and Telly Leung as Ryuk.
World premiere · HoriPro and Trafalgar Theatre Productions · Barbican Theatre
30 July to 12 September 2026
THE PARTNERSHIP
How the partnership came about
Trafalgar Entertainment's theatre arm produced the world premiere of Death Note: The Musical with HoriPro. Japan Nakama worked with Trafalgar's marketing team and the press agency Neil Reading PR to reach fans of the manga and anime in London. Trafalgar supplied print artwork, access to costume designer Sachiko Nakahara and a reader discount code.
OUR APPROACH
How we ran the campaign
Editorial
We covered the full casting announcement on 29 June 2026 and published our guide to the Barbican run on 20 July, ten days before opening night. Both articles explain the story of Light, the student with a notebook that decides who dies, and the detective L who hunts him.
Casting news 29 June, event guide 20 July 2026
Interview
Costume designer Sachiko Nakahara told us how she turned the manga's famous looks into costumes for living actors. The interview went live on 12 July 2026 and gave fans a first look behind the scenes before opening night.
Costume designer interview, 12 July 2026
A full page advert for the show ran in the summer 2026 issue of ZonePress, the free bilingual Japanese and English quarterly magazine found in Japanese restaurants and venues across London, including Japan House and Japan Centre. It put the premiere in front of Japanese culture readers away from their screens.
ZonePress summer 2026 issue
Sitewide Ads and reader offer
A Death Note banner ran across japannakama.co.uk during the campaign. From 17 August 2026 we promoted the code NAKAMA, which gave readers a discount on selected Monday to Thursday performances until 10 September.
NAKAMA code, 17 August to 10 September 2026
Newsletter
Six newsletter sends ran from casting news to the final weeks: 29 June, 17 July, 6 August, 16 August, 31 August and 7 September 2026. The 16 August send launched the NAKAMA code.
29 June to 7 September 2026
THE IMPACT
What it added up to
What the campaign gave the production, in plain terms.
IN FRONT OF THE RIGHT FANS
Manga and anime readers
The premiere reached London readers who already know Death Note, online and in print.
A SEARCHABLE HOME
Three articles that stay live
The casting news, the costume interview and the event guide stay on Japan Nakama ahead of the return to the Barbican in 2027.
FROM LAUNCH TO CLOSING
Steady visibility through the run
Newsletters ran from casting in June to the final week, so the show stayed in view for the whole summer.
ENGAGEMENT AND INTENT
A reason to book midweek
The NAKAMA code gave readers a direct way to act on what they read for Monday to Thursday performances.
WORK WITH US
Got a production coming to London?
Tell us about your show and we will build a campaign for Japanese culture fans in the UK.