Hollywood marketers are awash in consumer activity data in real time from cyberspace that sometimes point to a need to pivot, according to last week’s Variety Marketing Visionary Awards Presented by Spotify.
Hollywood movie marketers have a full plan at the get-go, but the mindset is to be alert to implementing mid-course corrections as well as planned late-stage new wrinkles. “Those data pointers can be consumer search revealing which characters and plot lines resonate (and which that don’t); consumer engagement with early promotions; linger time on creative materials; signup rates; and big data collected from every nook and cranny of cyberspace,” says the Variety story.
For Disney’s theatrical film “Free Guy” that is set in a video game, an entire mini-campaign coinciding with launching ticket sales revealed Dude, a very muscular alter ego in the movie of star character Blue Shirt Guy; both are portrayed by Ryan Reynolds. A one minute 48-second YouTube trailer introduces Dude with humor (Reynolds flicks is large muscles), and some mystery about Dude’s origins and purpose, according to a Variety story about Visionary award winners.
Asad Ayaz, president of marketing at Disney Studios Content, says in the Variety story that marketing the larger-than-life Dude presents an authentic character resonating with real-life video game enthusiasts, who are a key demographic target of “Free Guy.” “Data and insights including metrics like social volume, search generated by the campaign and sentiment all informed how the marketing was built and evolved,” Ayaz says. “Free Guy” grossed $324 million in worldwide box office, despite pandemic disruptions.
The Variety story also examines Sony Pictures creating commemorative digital tokens for AMC theatergoers pre-ordering tickets to “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” using talent-in-character to create new, in-the-era special content to promote Disney’s “Cruella,” and an airplane banner pull with a message driving audiences to a “Gossip Girl” social media message. All the Visionary Awards winners are at major movie studios or corporate siblings.
With a plethora of smallish audience segments available via digital marketing, don’t lose sight of the primary demographic, which should be flogged relentlessly. “The core advocates, the most passionate fans, are the ones that are first out of the gate to talk about it,” Spencer Kaplan, head of entertainment marketing at video gamer Riot Games, said during the summit. “Do your research, do your homework, know about the characters, and then, what kind of seed do you want to hopefully plant?”
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