My Role
- Audience Segmentation
- Conversion Funnels
- Visual Marketing
Client
- Warner Bros. Discovery
The Challenge
Marketing a film with highly complex plot elements (multiverse, returning legacy characters) required a delicate balance: revealing just enough spectacle to excite mainstream audiences while maintaining mystery for dedicated fans.
The primary challenge was working in tandem with several other agencies and marketing partners and orchestrating a seamless omnichannel experience that leveraged the film’s unique visual effects and character history to drive significant trailer view conversion and secure premium large format (PLF) ticket sales (like IMAX and 3D).
My Role & Solution
As part of the external agency collective, my efforts were concentrated on maximizing the impact of the film’s core visual assets and driving conversion through specific digital funnels.
- Premium Format Digital Promotion: I developed and executed a specialized digital campaign focused exclusively on promoting the film’s high-fidelity visuals. This included creating unique, high-resolution display ads and dedicated social spots optimized for large screens, emphasizing the need to see the film in PLF formats.
- Legacy Character Content Strategy: We segmented content to appeal to different fanbases. I managed the content stream dedicated to legacy character returns (e.g., Michael Keaton’s Batman), ensuring these assets were strategically targeted to older demographics on platforms like Facebook and YouTube to maximize nostalgia-driven ticket purchases.
- Trailer Conversion Funnels: I optimized the digital ad spend immediately following key trailer drops. This involved rapidly deploying targeted dark posts containing ticket pre-sale links, significantly reducing the friction between trailer viewing and purchase intent across all major social and display networks.
Impact & Results
As part of the external agency collective, my efforts were concentrated on maximizing the impact of the film’s core visual assets and driving conversion through specific digital funnels.
- Significant PLF Conversion: The focused premium format campaign achieved a 45% higher click-through rate (CTR) on ads promoting IMAX/Dolby tickets compared to standard theater tickets, validating the targeted visual strategy.
- Record-Breaking Trailer Conversion: The rapid deployment of optimized ad funnels immediately after the final trailer drop resulted in a 1.8x higher conversion rate (from trailer view to pre-sale purchase) than the studio’s benchmark average for similar summer blockbusters.
- Effective Fan Segmentation: The legacy character targeting strategy delivered a 15% higher ROI among the 35+ demographic compared to general audience targeting, demonstrating efficient use of media budget across diverse fan cohorts.
- High-Impact Digital Assets: I oversaw the creation of several animated GIF and short video assets used in display ads that contributed to over 400 million ad impressions during the critical four-week pre-release window.
The campaign successfully navigated the film’s complex narrative to achieve high-value conversions, notably securing a 45% higher CTR on ads for premium formats like IMAX. By deploying rapid-response ad funnels after trailer drops, we achieved a record-breaking 1.8x higher conversion rate from view to pre-sale purchase. This demonstrated the efficiency of our segmented strategy in maximizing box office revenue across diverse fan cohorts.