The Lion King

In 2019, The Walt Disney Company and Twitter partnered to turn the platform into a live marketing engine for The Lion King, using real-time culture, fandom, and social conversation to build momentum ahead of release.

As Creative Direction and Strategy Lead, I worked closely with Disney, Twitter, and agency partner BeCore to develop a campaign that moved beyond traditional promotion and treated audience participation as part of the launch strategy.

The opportunity was clear: The Lion King already had global recognition. Our task was not awareness, it was relevance. We needed to reintroduce an iconic story to a digital-first audience in a way that felt native to platform behavior and worthy of conversation.

To spark anticipation, we launched character-led social activations designed to generate hype, deepen fan engagement, and keep the film embedded in daily platform conversation leading up to release. By giving beloved characters a presence within the social ecosystem, the campaign transformed nostalgia into active participation.

Once momentum reached critical mass, we extended the campaign into the real world with an exclusive pre-release screening for Twitter guests, one of the earliest viewings of the film before public release.

The experience continued with a premium hospitality event featuring a filmed cast Q&A and live performance moments, creating content and social currency that carried the campaign beyond a single night.

The result was a launch strategy that connected fandom, platform behavior, and real-world experience into one cultural moment.