Freestyle Releasing · 2016

Meet the Blacks: the digital media campaign for a breakout comedy

For the April 1, 2016 release of Meet the Blacks, starring Mike Epps, AONE Creative ran the digital media campaign, and Darrick Angelone was an associate producer. The campaign drew more than 136 million impressions, and the film grossed $9.1 million in the US and Canada.

  • Meet the Blacks
  • Freestyle Releasing
  • Breakout comedy
  • 136M+ impressions
  • 2016
  • Meet the Blacks
  • Freestyle Releasing
  • Breakout comedy
  • 136M+ impressions
  • 2016
  • Meet the Blacks
  • Freestyle Releasing
  • Breakout comedy
  • 136M+ impressions
  • 2016
Meet the Blacks · Official trailer · Plays from YouTube · Open the watch page

The brief

Big reach without big spending

  • Distributed by Freestyle Releasing
  • Released April 1, 2016
  • Starring Mike Epps, Charlie Murphy, George Lopez, Bresha Webb and King Bach
  • Associate producer: Darrick Angelone
  • More like this: Film marketing, Digital publishing and Web development
Meet the Blacks (2016) logo

Meet the Blacks needed to reach a national comedy audience without studio-level spending. We ran the digital media campaign across digital, social and traditional media, with influencers and the cast carrying the message.

Five years later we came back for the sequel, The House Next Door: Meet the Blacks 2 (2021).

What we did

Digital, influencers and the cast

  • Digital and social

    The campaign

    Digital media and social content across platforms, alongside traditional media.

  • Influencers

    Reach beyond the paid media

    Influencer partnerships that carried the film to audiences the paid media did not reach.

  • Cast

    The cast on board

    The cast took part in the promotion, planned early and coordinated with the campaign.

  • Media

    Ad buys and delivery

    Our team handled the ad buys and delivery for the release. More on media buying

Results

Impressions, engagement and the box office

  • 136M+Impressions across platforms
  • 49.5MEngagements across platforms
  • $9.1MBox office in the US and Canada
  • Opening weekend: $4.1 million in the US and Canada
Chart: Meet the Blacks campaign impressions and engagements before, during and after launch
Campaign impressions and engagements before, during and after the launch.

Campaign figures: AONE Creative campaign reporting. Box office: The Numbers.

What it taught us

Reach that outgrows the spend

Influencers and a committed cast took the film further than its paid media alone could. We bring the same approach to every release we market, and AI now stretches a lean plan further, finding the audiences that respond and versioning the spots for each one.

Start with AI

Put AI to work on your next release

An AI Readiness Audit maps your marketing workflows and ends with a plan you can act on, whether or not you hire us to build it. Snapshot $1,500 or Blueprint $4,500.

A wet street between apartment blocks at night, a frame from the Black and Blue (2019) cut

Film releases

Opening a comedy in theaters?

Meet the Blacks drew more than 136 million impressions on the way to its opening. Tell us your title and your date, and we will show you what that campaign looks like for your film.