ASK: Encourage more users to subscribe to the streaming bundle.
CHALLENGE: People see the platforms separately rather than as a compelling combined offering.
INSIGHT: People connect deeply with stories set in cities they know or love.
SOLUTION: Center the campaign around New York stories, highlighting familiar landmarks, culture, and characters.
IMPACT: Increased subscription intent and stronger emotional resonance with the brand.
Brought New York stories to life, celebrating iconic shows and movies to drive new streaming sign-ups.
Streaming the City
Ask.
Drive subscriptions for the HBO, Hulu, and Disney bundle.
Challenge.
Despite being one of the most culturally distinct cities in the world, New York is often treated as a generic backdrop in streaming campaigns, leading to low emotional connection with local audiences.
Bundled value isn’t clearly communicated to viewers.
Streaming platforms advertise heavily in New York City, but their campaigns feel generic and disconnected from the culture of the city—failing to truly resonate with the people who live there.
Consumers are increasingly experiencing subscription fatigue, with 42% saying they have too many streaming services and nearly half planning to cancel at least one in the next year (Simon-Kucher, Global Streaming Study). As the market becomes more saturated, audiences are becoming more selective about where they spend—making it harder for bundled offerings to feel essential or worth the cost.
Even major players are feeling the impact of churn. The Walt Disney Company recently reported losing hundreds of thousands of Disney+ subscribers in a single quarter (AdExchanger, 2024), highlighting that scale alone doesn’t guarantee retention. In today’s environment, simply offering more content—or bundling it together—is not enough to keep audiences engaged.
Audience.
Primary Audience
NYC residents
Young professionals
Gen Z & Millennials who actively stream content
Secondary Audience
Tourists visiting NYC
Pop culture fans who associate NYC with entertainment
People who don’t just watch New York, they identify with it.
Opportunity.
New York is one of the most recognizable and frequently filmed cities in the world, yet no streaming platform has fully brought that connection into the real world.
The city itself is an untapped marketing channel, filled with iconic locations, everyday moments, and cultural touchpoints that audiences already recognize from the content they watch.
By connecting what people see on screen with what they experience in real life, there is an opportunity to turn passive viewing into something immersive, memorable, and shareable.
Insight.
People don’t just watch content set in New York, they engage with it differently. The city is instantly recognizable, and audiences actively connect with familiar locations, moments, and details that reflect their own experience.
This connection goes beyond the screen. Over 10 million tourists visit film and TV locations in New York each year, with around 60% participating in film-related experiences, showing that people don’t just want to watch NYC stories, they want to step into them (Zipdo, NYC Film Industry Statistics).
When something reflects their version of the city, it creates a stronger emotional connection and a sense of ownership over the experience.
If it feels like their New York, they care more.
Strategy.
Turn New York City into a living extension of the streaming platform, using the real world to bring on-screen stories to life.
By integrating content into the places people already recognize, the brand can create immersive experiences that go beyond traditional advertising and make the value of the bundle feel tangible.
The Big Idea.
“All of New York. All in one bundle.”
Why it works:
Simple, clean, and instantly understandable.
Positions the bundle as comprehensive, you don’t need multiple subscriptions to access NYC-based content.
“All of New York” connects directly to the audience’s mental map, from iconic locations to the energy and stories of the city.
Short, punchy, and highly adaptable across billboards, social, and digital platforms.
“Big city. Bigger stories. Biggest bundle.”
Why it works:
Uses escalating language to create impact and momentum.
Frames New York as a hub of powerful storytelling while positioning the bundle as the ultimate access point.
Catchy, rhythmic, and easy to remember.
Blends the scale of the city with the value of the product in a single line.
Taxis
Taxis are constantly moving through different neighborhoods, turning the campaign into a citywide presence. They naturally connect to the fast-paced, always-in-motion energy of New York while reaching both locals and tourists.
Subway Stations
Stations are high-dwell environments where people are more likely to notice and engage. Large-scale placements can transform familiar transit spaces into recognizable scenes from shows, blending fiction with real life.
Subway Cars
Subways reach millions of daily commuters, offering repeated exposure in a captive environment. Full car takeovers can fully immerse riders in NYC-based stories, turning everyday commutes into part of the campaign.
LinkNYC
Placed directly on sidewalks, LinkNYC screens allow for hyper-local, contextual messaging. They can connect specific shows to the exact locations people are standing in, creating a more personal and immersive experience.