Case Study: Sony Pictures Entertainment, JAPAN achieves 709,000 completed trailer views and a $1.8M opening weekend with Vungle mobile video ads

Sony Partners with Vungle to Extend Viewer Reach for Its #1 Blockbuster "Pixels"

Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan partnered with Vungle to promote the film Pixels and faced a twofold challenge: reach smartphone-native teens and 20‑somethings across Japan while also engaging older viewers who would respond to the film’s arcade nostalgia. With more than seven in 10 Japanese users in their 20s on smartphones, Sony needed an innovative mobile-first campaign that felt fun and culturally resonant.

Sony ran the first movie campaign in Japan using rewarded in-app video ads—one-week Android and iOS placements that gave players game rewards for watching the trailer and featured an arcade-style interactive endcard. The campaign delivered nearly 1.4 million impressions, 709,000 completed views (10× the official YouTube trailer), and helped Pixels debut at No. 1 in Japan with $1.8M opening weekend; Sony plans to continue similar creative partnerships.

Sony

Sasagu Usui

Senior Manager of Marketing