I am a HUGE movie critic and enjoy the alternate reality every chance I get.
From self-funded independent projects to big name Hollywood blockbusters, the movie industry has embraced social media….BIG time!!!
Traditionally, this makes a lot of sense. Conventional Hollywood had fan magazines. Modern Hollywood has Facebook, Twitter and mobile phones. From creating viral alternate reality campaigns to using social networks to build awareness, the movie industry is busy leveraging social media to connect with fans and promote its products.
Here’s some of the ways that social media is having an impact on movie marketing and promotion.
- One of the best examples of this strategy was for Paramount’s Paranormal Activity. The film, which was made for less than $15,000 went on to gross more than $150 million at the box office.
- Paramount extensively used Facebook to promote the film, partnering with Eventful to get would-be fans to request a screening of the film in their area. The goal was to get 1 million fan requests for the film to enter wide release. That goal was met pretty quickly, but the real proof came via the box office receipts. I remember Subways having a sign up sheet for the screening in the Boston area.
- The cool thing about this strategy is that it lets fans have a sense of ownership of the film. It also creates a level of appreciation and connection that you might not get just with running radio or TV spots.
A look at some of the biggest hits at the box office this year proves that many of the majority successful films also had strong social media campaigns.
I actually went and saw The Avengers today and man oh man, truly amazing. The hype for this film on TV, and online outlets was extreme. In three days, the film made over 200 million.
There were several previews for highly anticipated films such as The Dark Knight Rises. “Thanks to a photo scavenger hunt social media campaign yesterday that asked the public to help the Gotham Police Department track down the sought-after hero.”
“The site posted a list of locations in a “police file” on thedarkrises.com and asked followers to go to spots around the world, take photographic evidence, and email or tweet their findings. A geo-location setting had to be turned on to ensure accuracy. Together, Batman fans unlocked the third trailer released for the film, seen here:”
One of the new trends are celebrities using social media as a platform to promote their upcoming movies by taking to Twitter and Facebook to encourage their followers to see their films. Entertainment studios like Lions Gate are also diving in to SM. Corp Chief Executive Jon Feltheimer said “Movie studios will likely buy fewer TV ads in the future, and look more to online promotion.” Roughly 55% of moviegoers who saw Hunger Games said that most of the information about the movie was found online. I usually use sites like imbd or yahoo movie reviews from critics and consumers to see what others think before I invest my money.
Every movie has a core audience, and the Internet is the most strategic way to get to those people. This allows you to do the EPK [electronic press kit] and other advertising much later.
References:
http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/blog/2012/05/the_dark_knight.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/04/hollywood-socialmedia-idUSL1E8G3RAT20120504
http://movies.yahoo.com/box-office/
CONNECTING IDEAS AND PEOPLE.... 
Great post, Raquel! I’m actually a big fan of movies myself and I couldn’t agree with you any more. In fact, I think that social media is one of the biggest drivers of the box office today. From the trending topics on Twitter, to the Facebook fan pages, and also the use of trailers and also interactive content, I think production studios use social media as a big leverage push for their films.
Also, I love to see the additional social media campaigns for movies such as sweepstakes promotions, and also eCommerce licensing opportunities also located on Social Network sites. In addition to social networks, the movie sector is also growing very rapidly on the mobile front, especially with smart phone applications. Check out the Mission Impossible App, which I LOVE (www.apple.com)
-Fred Tessier
Absolutely! With some folks, you can only gain their attention on social media sites. Thanks, I can always appreciate a MI app.
Anytime Raquel 🙂
Raquel,
I LOVED YOUR POST! I am a closet “thesbian” so my eyes were smiling when I read your post. So much has been done in the areas of movies and connecting social media. In fact, last Fall, The movie “The Way” came to Virginia Tech with Martin Sheen and Emilio Esteves. My colleague and friend used his class of 3,000 to send a message to the movie’s website to have them stop on their tour and it worked! The power of the people!
If you want to check out the link and also my “thank you to Martin Sheen” (greatest moments of my life) check it out here…
Ignore my cheesy video, and former blond self but you get the idea:))
Best,
Donna
WOW Donna!!! Your post seem to get better and better. I appreciate the videos and glad to put a face to the name 🙂
Several Alaska filmmakers have had success with kickstarter.org to crowdsource funding for their projects. See the story of On the Ice: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andrewmaclean/on-the-ice-the-movie It s a great way for independent projects to get into the market!
Wanetta,
Funny that you mention that! Thats whats my husband is using to start off instead of getting a business loan. There was a man recently who created a watch that connects to your iPhone and he wanted a couple of grand and was funded six figures. Its great to see that people can believe in on another.
Hi Raquel,
Great post on social media and the promotion of films. I brought my girls to a movie recently and was floored that you can go online watch trailers, see what is playing when, and even purchase tickets in advance! I enjoyed your use of graphics and video. You did a great job with their placement within your text. Nice work as always. It was another pleasurable read.
~ Michelle Morin
I love how you tied in social media and films. I also loved the video you were able to add to your blog. Your blog was so interesting to read and I love the theme you used for your site. Awesome blog!
Hi Raquel- Nice blog- I wish I had more time to see movies and partake in the scavanger hunts and other SM driving viewers into theaters. More of my movies have been seen on a plane than in a theater. However, when I do spontaneously get a chance to see a movie, I do go on line and check out what is playing and view the trailers to determine what I and whomever I am going with might like.
Mi