Warner Bros. reimagines the trailer drop with innovative Twitter partnership.

Times Square in New York City with digital billboards displaying advertisements and tweets, showing bright lights and skyscrapers at dusk.

BACKGROUND

Warner Bros. and Twitter have a long standing creative partnership and are constantly pushing each other to think beyond standard media tactics and raise the bar of what’s possible.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is a prime example of a truly integrated marketing campaign that broke new ground and created industry wide FOMO.

THE JOURNEY

The partnership started 18 months before the film’s release when Warner Bros. invited a small group of partners to visit the set in London to immerse ourselves in the Wizarding World and get an intimate brief directly from the filmmakers.

The ask was bold — WB expected deeply integrated marketing proposals that created mutual value through exclusive assets and access to talent in exchange for first-to-market innovation and co-marketing support.

Model of a large castle with tall blue spires, situated on a rocky landscape during a display or show with blue lighting.

Rob is standing next to a large poster for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, holding a copy of the book. The poster features a dark, mysterious building with a large nest and wings in the background.

Harry Potter is one of the most valuable entertainment franchises in the world

500+ million copies sold

$25+ billion valuation

But we discovered low follower overlap among the Wizarding World on Twitter

Venn diagram showing follower overlap between @JK_Rowling and @FantasticBeasts with less than 2% overlap.

A graphic with overlapping blue circles displaying social media handles and text about follower overlap at 8%.

MARKETING CHALLENGE

Fans didn’t know that Fantastic Beasts is directly linked to the J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World.

PARTNERSHIP STRATEGY

Twitter launched a global co-marketing campaign to unify the Wizarding World through a multi-platform trailer premiere.

WB launched a teaser on the TODAY Show that drove fans to watch the full trailer on Twitter.

Fantastic Beasts took over @TwitterMovies.

The exclusive trailer included a custom introduction from the cast that was produced by Twitter Studio.

A Tweet heard around the Wizarding World…

J.K. Rowling shared the Twitter Movies exclusive with her 14 million followers.

Screenshot of a Twitter post announcing the final trailer for 'Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald' with a group of people in a film studio setting.

The Wizarding World joined forces to amplify the buzz with a super thread.

Screenshots of Twitter posts promoting the 'Fantastic Beasts' movie series, including images and videos of magical creatures, scenes from the movies, and related tweets.

Digital OOH launched in New York, Toronto, and Tokyo to amplify real-time conversation and drive fans to Twitter to watch the full trailer.

Nasdaq Times Square

Yonge-Dundas Square, Toronto

Multiple digital billboards and screens in Toronto Eaton Centre showing advertisements and a promotional image for Harry Potter with characters and a lightning bolt symbol, with wet pavement and people in rain jackets.

Shibuya Crossing Tokyo, Japan

Nighttime cityscape of a busy intersection with illuminated billboards and tall buildings, likely in a commercial district.

RESULTS

7 million video views

Twitter drove the most views of any social platform during the first 48 hours

55 million impressions

about Fantastic Beasts in 24 hours

+14% increase in association

between Fantastic Beasts and the Wizarding World on Twitter

Time Square at dusk with illuminated electronic billboards featuring advertisements and digital screens, including a large video showing people and various advertisements.