Hulu × AYMI

Hulu's hybrid model — ad-supported and ad-free tiers, layered on the Disney bundle and direct-subscription paths — created a fragmented acquisition surface. Each tier had different unit economics, audience profiles, and optimal channels, but the marketing motion was treating them as a single funnel.

AYMI was brought in to rebuild it as tier-specific acquisition flights with shared lifecycle infrastructure.

Five movements: Discovery, Strategy, Creative, Launch, Optimize. Each one feeds the next; the loop closes on Optimize and starts again on Discovery.

1. Step 01Discovery

   Audience and unit-economic modeling surfaced that the ad-supported tier was Hulu's largest acquisition lever — higher conversion rate, lower CAC, comparable retention to ad-free — but was under-marketed because legacy media plans optimized for the higher ARPU of the ad-free tier. The correction: lean into the ad tier as the acquisition motion, and use ad-free as a lifecycle upsell.

2. Step 02Strategy

   Tier-segmented acquisition flights with unified lifecycle. Ad-tier creative leaned price-led ('all the best shows, no full commitment'); ad-free leaned access-led ('uninterrupted, on demand'); the Disney bundle leaned value-stack (Disney + ESPN + Hulu as one ecosystem). Every new sub, regardless of tier, entered the same retention + upsell flow.

3. Step 03Creative

   Title-led but tier-differentiated. The ad tier used social-native short-form cut-downs; the ad-free tier used cinematic anthem creative; the bundle motion used ecosystem-led storytelling. All laddered back to a unified Hulu brand.

4. Step 04Launch

   Cross-platform activation across Meta, TikTok, YouTube, programmatic CTV, and partnered creator content. Tier-specific landing pages ran with hidden source attribution, tying acquisition channel directly to downstream LTV. Hulu's own ad inventory ran cross-promo for the ad-free upsell.

5. Step 05Optimize

   Weekly tier-by-tier reweighting. The ad tier's lower CAC freed budget for retention infrastructure — a lifecycle upgrade nurture, an at-risk save flow, and a multi-title engagement loop. Combined, they kept more new subscribers past the early churn window.

Ad-tier signups grew once the tier was marketed as the front door, blended acquisition cost came down, and more new subscribers stayed through their first months.

The tier-segmented framework now runs as Hulu's default acquisition + lifecycle motion.