Sony Pictures IT

The objective

Turn high awareness into real intent

Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which would go on to top the Italian box office, arrived as one of the most anticipated releases of the year, into a fiercely competitive theatrical window. Franchise equity, cast appeal and a wave of organic conversation meant audiences already knew the film was coming and were genuinely excited for it. That was the opportunity.

With recognition already high, Sony Pictures Italy could aim beyond awareness and turn all that excitement into qualified ticket intent in the crucial run-up to release. The ambition was clear: meet fans at the peak of their anticipation, then move them a step closer to the box office.

The solution

TopView, now built to drive high-intent traffic

TopView owns the most powerful position on TikTok: full-screen, sound-on, the very first thing audiences see. For this campaign, Sony Pictures Italy was among the first to pair that high-impact visibility with a brand-new capability: CTR Optimization for TopView.

That gave the launch the best of both worlds. It kept every ounce of TopView's attention-grabbing scale, and turned it into a genuine driver of qualified traffic.

The approach

Two creatives, one sequenced journey

The two TopViews were planned as a single narrative, not two disconnected buys. The first landed as presales opened, roughly a month out from release. Built around Zendaya and Tom Holland in a warm, selfie-style cut that felt native to TikTok, it harvested fan enthusiasm and triggered the comments, memes and conversation that signaled the audience was already active.

The second arrived about a week before opening. A more institutional, emotionally direct cut with Tom Holland solo, it sharpened urgency and converted that momentum into stronger click-through in the final days. The sequencing was the strategy: validate that fandom was live, then use that same readiness to drive traffic.

The results

Deeper engagement in TikTok's most visible placement

Against the EU TikTok Industry Benchmark, the campaign's CTR came in +60% higher, an unusually efficient result for an entertainment campaign in a premium reach format. Engagement followed the same pattern, at +63% above the same benchmark, so audiences did not just notice the asset, they responded to it.

Attention stayed intact even as the campaign leaned into click-through. Both 6s and 15s view-through rates held at or above client benchmark, evidence that the creative sequencing preserved quality of attention rather than trading it for clicks. The first flight built genuine social warmth, with strong likes, lively comments and overwhelmingly positive-to-neutral sentiment, including fan-driven memes. The second flight translated that warmth into the sharper action signal, delivering the stronger CTR of the two.

The lift carried through to intent itself. A brand study measuring how likely audiences were to watch Spider-Man: Brand New Day in cinemas found a significant increase, with intent up +6.3% among 18 to 24 year olds and +13.1% among 45 to 54 year olds.

That momentum carried all the way to the box office. Spider-Man: Brand New Day opened as the biggest film debut of the year in Italy and powered straight to the top of the charts, a standout result made sharper still by its timing, in the middle of summer, traditionally the toughest season for cinemas.

The learnings give Sony Pictures Italy a repeatable playbook:

• CTR Optimization for TopView turns premium placement into a driver of in-app engagement and real-world outcomes

• Halo effects pay off: warm up audiences first, then sharpen intent as release nears

• The impact reached beyond clicks: a measured lift in intent to watch shows premium placement can move audiences toward action

With a proven full-funnel approach to TopView, Sony Pictures Italy is set up to turn premium visibility into measurable intent across future theatrical releases.