Crunchyroll Selects

Anime and Crunchyroll have grown up together. What started as a niche export from Japan has become into a cultural powerhouse. And Crunchyroll has expanded from a streaming service to an encompassing fandom hub, helping fans fall deeper in love with anime. Here’s a sampling of recent key marketing beats across our business lines.

My role: Creative Director

Brand/ Rebrand

Anime isn’t for kids, and it’s no longer niche. To reflect anime and Crunchyroll’s emergence into the cultural mainstream, we evolved how we look, talk, and show up.

VP of Creative: Norman Rabinovich

Nominated for 2024 Clio Entertainment Awards

 Kaiju Safety

Kaiju No. 8 is a show about soldiers battling against giant monsters. But in this world, Kaiju attacks have become so routine, our lead begins the show cleaning up their remains. So to launch the show, we set out to imagine what it would be like to live in this extraordinary reality — in the most ordinary way possible: a public safety campaign.

Upleveling Solo Leveling

Solo Leveling was one of our biggest show launches in 2024. To get fans pumped, and cement our position as anime’s cultural champion, we went beyond a traditional marketing campaign. We went all-in on immersive experiences with a decked-out LA Premiere, a first-of-its-kind interactive “ride” at conventions across the world, and bespoke exclusive giveaways.

Demon Slaying in New York

Aniplex wanted to make a splash in anticipation of Demon Slayer’s season finale. So to get anime fans hyped, we staged a massive takeover of Times Square. We took over dozens of screens and created custom content to set the stage for the upcoming showdown. To make it more than a cool ad-buy, we tapped into our feverish fanbase and rallied them to turn it into a full-fledged celebration event.

Cursing McDonald’s

Shueisha wanted to make their hit show Jujutsu Kaisen a household name in America. And McDonald’s wanted to tap into the growing legions of anime fans for some added cultural cache. So we paired them together, and brewed a sinister special sauce inspired by the show. To turn them into collectibles, each of the show’s leads got their own cover. Plus we developed a custom key art and an animatic for Mcdonald’s Time Square billboard.

And to give JJK an extra push, we created a custom immersive experience and toured it at fan conventions across the world.

Feeling Blue Lock

To help promote the launch of our new soccer show Blue Lock, we wanted to tap into the general soccer fan audience. So we partnered with the LA Galaxy to create a special tournament event in LA and Dallas. Fans quickly overwhelmed our sign up capacity, and we generated a surge of new interest in the show, helping turn it into a breakout hit.