Buzzfeed: Building Hype Around New Films with Gen Z

Buzzfeed, the beloved entertainment and media company, has been a staple for Gen Z, known for its entertaining YouTube content and engaging quizzes. Now, Buzzfeed has ventured into the movie business, producing films like One True Love with Simu Liu and Phillipa Soo and Puppy Love with Grant Gustin and Lucy Hale. As their movie business expanded, Buzzfeed saw a unique opportunity to involve their core audience, Gen Z, in a unique way. They partnered with Home From College to launch content committee gigs for their latest releases, EXmas and Latency, offering Gen Z a chance to be part of the excitement. 

As the holiday season approached and students were returning home for winter break in December of 2023, Buzzfeed strategically launched their campaign for EXmas. The film was set to release on Amazon Freevee, and Buzzfeed aimed to get Gen Zers excited about watching this hallmark-style rom-com with their friends and family over the holiday break. They recruited 30+ students from Home From College to create content showing their reactions to a movie preview clip, effectively building anticipation for the film. 

When Latency-starring Alexis Ren, a Gen Z icon from her days on YouTube, came out in June of 2024, it premiered in select theaters in major cities across the US. Home From College recruited eight experienced content creators in key markets like New York, LA, Dallas, and Tampa to create content around seeing the film in theaters to increase awareness about the opportunity to see this BuzzFeed film in theaters. Students tied Latency into their regular content by reacting to the movie trailer, doing Get Ready With Me videos for the movie theater, and vlog-style content of them watching the film in theaters. Ultimately, this campaign generated 12k+ views and helped drive traffic to theaters. 

By working with Home From College, Buzzfeed was able to create excitement with Gen Z about two of its newest films by allowing content creators to do what they do best: create honest and authentic content around the films.