Studios, It’s Time to Own Your Audience

In 2025, the greatest missed opportunity in studio marketing isn’t AI or TikTok virality. It’s this: you don’t own your audience.

Studios are still spending millions to reach people who already love them. Instead of nurturing direct connections, they’re over-relying on social platforms, pre-roll ads, and fragmented influencer campaigns to promote releases, all while losing access to the one thing that actually scales: first-party data.

🎯 Why Email & SMS Matter More Than Ever

According to Screen Engine/ASI, 73% of moviegoers say they’d sign up for exclusive updates from studios or franchises they follow but most studios never ask. Meanwhile, 81% of marketers say email drives stronger ROI than any other digital channel (Litmus, 2023), and SMS boasts an open rate north of 95% (Attentive, 2024). These aren’t just impressive numbers. They’re untapped revenue streams.

Direct marketing gives you:

• Guaranteed reach (not filtered by algorithms)

• Owned insights (audience behavior, interest, and frequency)

• Faster activation (trailers, screenings, and merch launches hit instantly)

🧠 Studios Doing It Right

• A24’s Membership Club (2023) is already a case study in superfandom. For $5/month, fans opt into a steady flow of content, screenings, and exclusives — all building a massive owned audience that doesn’t require a middleman to monetize. The first drop sold out in less than 72 hours.

• Warner Bros. launched a DC FanDome digital registration system that collected over 22 million sign-ups worldwide for its 2020-2021 events. That database became the backbone for marketing future DC properties directly to fans without relying solely on social media.

• Paramount+ and Taylor Sheridan’s team integrated newsletter and SMS activations into every drop around Yellowstone, 1883, and 1923. With that first-party data, Paramount could model engagement, drop teasers directly into inboxes, and cross-promote new series turning viewers into repeat customers.

📉 The Cost of Not Owning the Relationship

Here’s what happens when you don’t build a direct line:

• You’re at the mercy of platforms throttling organic reach (Instagram and TikTok’s organic engagement rates have dropped over 30% since 2022.

• You overspend on paid ads just to re-engage your own fans.

• You lose retention. Without ongoing touchpoints, even big openings can collapse in Week 2.

🔍 How People Actually Discover Movies

According to National Research Group’s 2024 Moviegoer Survey:

• 41% of Gen Z and Millennials say "emails or texts from brands I follow" influence their entertainment decisions — more than TikTok (36%).

• 54% of frequent moviegoers say they’ve bought a ticket from a promotional link in an email.

• 67% of audiences say they miss out on movies because they “simply didn’t hear about them in time.”

Movie marketing intel: This week in trends

LEGACY CAMPAIGNING 🎨 Why Lilo & Stitch’s Marketing Campaign Was Revolutionary (Vulture)
Before virality had a name, Disney understood the value of surprise and subversion. Stitch’s “movie crasher” trailer series which spoofed classics like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast wasn’t just hilarious. It rewired how trailers could build curiosity and personality before a single plot point was revealed.

BOX OFFICE & BURGERS 🍔 Burger King targets families through movie partnerships in latest stage of turnaround (CNBC Business)
Burger King’s How to Train Your Dragon campaign is a savvy, family-first strategy blending limited-edition menu items with an in-app game to drive engagement and align with the film’s release. By merging digital interaction with beloved IP, Burger King deepens emotional resonance and positions itself as a culturally relevant brand for families.