Animated crocodile singing into a soapy shower head like a microphone against a green wall, with the "SONY" logo below

Sony Pictures Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile Family Creator Campaign

Influencer Marketing

Viral Talent ran TikTok and YouTube influencer campaigns for Sony Pictures to encourage family cinema visits for Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, and reports over 1.26M views.

1.26MViews

Case in 60 seconds

Sony Pictures released Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, a title based on a best-selling book series, and wanted to encourage kids and families to attend cinemas and watch the movie, so it chose to work with Viral Talent's influencers.

Viral Talent treats a family film as two audiences in one, because parents respond to the fun and family tone of family creators while children follow gaming creators, which is why the plan split talent between TikTok and YouTube.

The organizing thesis paired the fun and family side of the movie with a gaming route, so the film reached families through family talent on TikTok and reached kids through games they already play on YouTube.

Family Fizz, Winning With The Wilson's and The Oli Family produced high-energy TikTok videos for families, while Ethan Gamer built the Lyle character in Minecraft on YouTube, worked Roblox into the sponsored content and asked his fans to help construct the New York scene.

Viral Talent reports that its kids and family influencers generated over 1.26 million views across TikTok and YouTube, and says the gaming approach produced a highly engaged audience with a high watch time.

Strategy Breakdown

Kids and families, reached through family TikTok creators for the fun and family message and through a YouTube gamer for children who play Minecraft and Roblox.
A film release depends on getting families into cinemas, so the brief was framed around encouraging kids and families to attend and watch the movie rather than around the book series it was based on.
Sony Pictures supplied the material for creator play, with Lyle built as a Minecraft character, rather than taking the role of an advertiser buying time around the content.
Children spend time in Minecraft and Roblox, which the page calls arguably the two most popular gaming titles among kids, so the campaign met them inside those games rather than around them.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • TikTok
  • YouTube

Partners

  • Viral Talent

Participation mechanic

  • Ethan Gamer built the Lyle character in Minecraft and then asked his fans to help construct the New York scene.

Creator role

  • Family Fizz
  • Winning With The Wilson's
  • The Oli Family
  • Ethan Gamer

Results & Evidence

MetricValue
Views1.26M views

Why Viral Talent's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Asking fans to help build a scene turns a sponsored gaming video into a shared project, because viewers who contribute have a reason to stay, which is how the agency explains the high watch time it reports.

  2. 2

    Splitting a family film across family creators and a gaming creator lets one release reach parents and children on the platforms each already uses rather than asking one channel to carry both audiences.

  3. 3

    Building the film's own character inside a game children already play places the brand inside the activity rather than interrupting it, so the sponsored content works as play before it works as promotion.