Cross-Promotion
Marketing content across a company's owned properties and partner channels to leverage existing audiences for new launches.
Definition
Cross-promotion in entertainment is the practice of using one owned or partnered property to promote another, leveraging established audiences to drive awareness and engagement for new or related content. This can occur within a single company's portfolio or through strategic partnerships between companies with complementary audiences.
Vertically integrated media companies have significant cross-promotion advantages, using their television networks, streaming platforms, theme parks, social channels, and retail presence to create a coordinated promotional ecosystem that independent producers cannot replicate.
Why It Matters
In a fragmented media landscape where paid advertising is increasingly expensive and less effective, cross-promotion offers access to engaged audiences at significantly lower cost. The audience watching one show on a platform is a pre-qualified prospect for related content on the same platform.
For entertainment marketers, cross-promotion strategy determines how efficiently promotional budgets are spent. Smart cross-promotion can generate the same awareness as millions in paid media by reaching audiences in moments when they are already engaged and receptive.
Examples in Practice
Disney promotes upcoming Marvel films through dedicated segments on ABC's morning shows, trailer premieres on ESPN during high-viewership sporting events, themed merchandise at Disney Store locations, and in-park experiences at Disneyland, all owned channels with built-in audiences.
A streaming platform automatically recommends a new documentary series to users who just finished watching a related drama, cross-promoting within their own ecosystem using viewing data to identify the highest-intent audience.