How Neon's Gen Z-focused strategy made 'Anora' an Oscar favorite
07 Mar 2025
Sean Baker's Anora won five Oscars at the recent 97th Academy Awards.
This marks independent distributor Neon's second Best Picture win in five years at the Oscars (after Parasite in 2020).
Baker's film's Oscars triumph is largely credited to Neon's innovative marketing strategy.
The distributor reportedly spent $18m on promoting the film, which is three times its production budget.
Let's decode its innovative marketing plans.
Neon's unique marketing strategy for 'Anora'
Campaign approach
Neon's CEO Tom Quinn told Variety that their promotional strategy for Anora was aimed at Gen Z and homemade enthusiasts, not traditional critics and tastemakers.
As part of this strategy, a one-day-only pop-up shop selling Anora merchandise was established in November in an auto repair yard's parking lot on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles.
The shop drew queues of about 300 fans!
'Anora' merchandise included unique items and slogans
Product range
The pop-up shop had everything from clothes to posters, including red branded "little wifey" thongs for $15 and T-shirts with different slogans from the film like "Stay jealous, babe!," "You hit the lotto, bit*h!" and "Fuckin' Cinderella" for $35.
Two limited-edition prints were also up for grabs featuring 70s-style artwork of star Mikey Madison in provocative poses with taglines like "This isn't allowed ... but I like you," and "She'll take care of everything you need."
'Anora' triumphed over rivals with different fan demographics
Oscar competition
The success of Anora's campaign proves that it's a sign of the Academy's changing demographics.
The film's biggest competitors at the Oscars—The Brutalist, Conclave, and A Complete Unknown—were seen to have older, white, male fans, a demographic the Academy has been trying to diversify for years.
Despite being made for just $6m—the lowest budget on the best picture shortlist—Anora has grossed over $40m at the box office.
The film will stream on JioHotstar from March 17.
