Creating a new home for Spiderman fans
THE CHALLENGE
Blockbusters like Spider-Man are more than just films, they’re global cultural events.
Historically the experience has been a one-way street, viewed from behind an unbroken fourth wall, until now.
In a world-first entertainment partnership with the most anticipated film of 2022, we took Spider-Man: No Way Home beyond the big screen, inviting the TikTok community to step into the story in a way only TikTok can.
Known to some as just an app for “lip syncing and dancing” videos, TikTok has now grown into
an entertainment platform where communities connect and creativity is celebrated, trends are imagined, and anyone can be the star of the show. Our challenge for the Spiderman release was to transform perceptions, show new audiences there is so much more to TikTok, and in doing so, take our place as the definitive global home of entertainment and culture.
THE IDEA
To do it, we gave TikTok’s community a never-seen-before all-access pass to Spider-Man – to the film, the plot, characters, cast and IP – democratising the traditional Hollywood blockbuster film release.
Our strategy had four components:
- Fuel frenzy by releasing content that couldn’t be found anywhere else
- Encourage co-creation and interaction (TikTok’s not-so-secret weapon)
- Facilitate once-in-a-lifetime experiences for creators to share with their tens of millions of followers
- Magnetise the Marvel-madness to TikTok, ensuring the world tuned in
Moments after the trailer dropped, we launched the first in-world TikTok account for famed Marvel news outlet, The Daily Bugle. Starring film talent, we interrupted For You feeds, fuelling fan theories, racking up millions of views within hours.
We then unleashed the multiverse IP to our community, inviting co-creation and interaction with talent via bespoke AR effects, exclusive access to the musical score, duets and stitch features.
Cranking it up a notch, we created a TikTok-remixed version of the trailer, putting creators centre stage. This was amplified through high-impact placements worldwide, featuring a CTA to watch the film and head to TikTok for more.
We created opportunities for hundreds of millions to go BTS with talent, and gave the world access to the global premiere red-carpet livestream, hosted by two top creators, where world-famous creator @justmaiko (51M followers) announced his in-film cameo.
The world was tuned in and loving it.
THE RESULTS
As the film hit cinemas, fandom content morphed from hype about its release, to buzz about its impact and people were coming to one place to talk about it.
- Brand love for TikTok +31%
- Trust among non-users +28%
- Users published 3M videos using #Spiderman – up from 731K pre-campaign (+317%)
- Video views hit 32BN – up from 8.8BN (+267%)
- Users published 1.6M videos using #SpidermanNoWayHome – up from 195K pre-campaign (+757%)
- Videos views hit 16.6BN – up from 2.2BN (+668%)
- 2.5M unique viewers on TikTok’s global premiere red-carpet livestream
- Over 1.4M followers in hours for @TheDailyBugleOfficial
- 50+ earned articles in global entertainment media
