In the summer of ‘23, the world saw the release of two of the year’s biggest blockbusters—Barbie and Oppenheimer—creating the viral sensation known as #Barbenheimer. As one of our long-standing clients, Universal Pictures trusted Pivott to handle the Belgian campaign for Oppenheimer. And we were ready to rise to the challenge

Our media strategy in Belgium focused on broad-reach platforms like Meta and TikTok, utilising video content that showcased the movie’s plot, historical significance, star-studded cast, and stellar reviews. During the awareness phase we decided to work in two waves. Wave one focussed on qualitative views  where the videos were strategically sequenced to build both anticipation as excitement. To maximise awareness close to the release date, wave two focussed  on reach to increase the number of unique people reached. As the cinematic industry was highly competitive, this approach made sure Oppenheimer gained the love it deserved.

Over the years, our long lasting partnership with Universal Pictures has allowed us to create strong audiences consisting of viewers from similar films and hence target interested individuals from the very start. This strategy improved the quality of clicks post-release, as we focused exclusively on retargeting in the conversion phase. The result? Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer became a major success in Belgium, won several awards worldwide and was even re-released in theatres months later!

While Barbie may have had Ken, Oppenheimer made history.