“How Social Media Is Changing the Way Movies are Promoted” |
| How Social Media Is Changing the Way Movies are Promoted Posted: 29 Nov 2010 01:30 PM PST
Historically, of course, this makes a lot of sense. Classical Hollywood had the star system and fan magazines. Modern Hollywood has Facebook, Twitter and mobile phones. Let's look at some of the ways that social media is having an impact on movie marketing and promotion. Crowdsourced Screening LocationsIn the world of the multiplex and billion dollar plus box office receipts, it's easy to forget that not every film comes to every theater. Even films that ultimately go on to make a lot of money at the box office — like 2009's Precious — often start out in only a few cities. The traditional marketing strategy for these films has been to expand to more and more markets as word of mouth, press and publicity propel the films forward. In the age of social media, however, studios can use the InternetInternet 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 FacebookFacebook MGM also used Eventful to have fans request screenings of its comedy, Hot Tub Time Machine. 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 awareness and connection that you might not get just with running radio or TV spots. Going ViralOne of my favorite marketing trends of the past decade has been the rise of viral alternate reality campaigns, especially at the movies. Thanks to social media, elements of these campaigns can get really intricate and really involved. For Inception, Warner Bros. did a lot of viral marketing — including working with the location-based service SCVNGR to promote the film. For Toy Story 3, Disney and Pixar went all out, creating vintage toy commercials for Lots-o'Huggin' Bear, one of the new characters in the film. Perhaps the most impressive — and expansive — campaign has been that of TRON: Legacy. Disney's alternate reality campaign started in earnest in July 2009, just in time for Comic-Con. The film hits theaters on December 17, 2010. Trailers & Poster PromotionsIt used to be that you had to go to the theater to see the trailers for the next batch of upcoming films. Then TV shows dedicated to showcasing previews hit the scene. While watching movie previews online has been old-hat for more than a decade, the rise of social media has changed how information gets exposed to fans. Sure, movie studios still send out press releases and have special websites that news sites and blogs can access to get the latest scoop, but more and more studios are taking to Facebook and TwitterTwitter Again, Disney gets props in this department. The studio used Facebook to debut its first character posters from AliceAlice The irony that Sony couldn't use Facebook to directly promote The Social Network didn't mean the studio had to abstain from social media. On the contrary, the studio was able to use Twitter, MySpaceMySpace The Age of the Facebook AppFacebook is a great avenue for marketers and brands to connect with consumers and would-be customers. For movie studios, Facebook also offers a way to engage audiences and even directly sell tickets. Disney created a Facebook app for TRON: Legacy called the TRONiVerse. The app is still active; it pulls in posts, videos and photos from various social networks, displaying them in an interactive grid. This is just one example of a studio building an app specifically for a film. Fox had a pretty in-depth Facebook campaign for Avatar, including apps and promotional tie-ins. Disney even offered movie tickets for Toy Story 3 via its Facebook Page, as pictured above. Likewise, Sony has created its own in-house ticketing app for many of its films. The great thing about buying movie tickets via Facebook is that you can invite friends along with you. The FutureWe expect to see the movie industry embrace social media even more in the future. A look at some of the biggest hits at the box office this year proves that many of the most successful films also had strong social media campaigns. What do you think of the way movies are promoted using social media? Let us know! Series Supported by DVDVideoSoft The Movies and Tech Series is supported by DVDVideoSoft, which offers a collection of safe and reliable video, audio and image freeware programs. DVDVideoSoft Free Studio is a collection of more than thirty different utilities designed to go beyond the limitations of the standard WindowsWindows More Movie Resources from Mashable:
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