New media diet feeds “The Hunger Games” success

March 27, 2012 Leave a comment

"The Hunger Games" trilogy inspires top box office movie“The Hunger Games” $155 million dollar opening is third highest in history notes this NYT article, and portends an estimated $500-$700 million dollar total take.  What’s extraordinary about this “The Hunger Games” box office is that it was not launched during the traditional summer blockbuster period nor was it done in 3D. Even bigger news is the impact of a relatively meager $45 million dollar “The Hunger Games” marketing budget (administered by a smaller than normal staff of a little more than 20) compared with the average big move launch that is generally more than twice that amount.

How did Lionsgate do it?  Careful, thoughtful, strategic marketing that started with the launch of the book series in 2008 (now estimated at sales of 24 million) and culminated with a multifaceted integrated online campaign.  The stunning new media campaign cultivated fans with content development that integrated a website, multiple Face book pages/communities, Twitter streams and You tube.  It garnered over 800,000 registered fans on the website for their custom  for digital ID cards, resulted in over 17.7 million You Tube views inspired fans to participate in a scavenger hunt contest that sent them to over 100 different web sites.

This disciplined albeit dizzying integrated approach was carefully crafted as Forbes reports  “ There is even a formal brand architecture for the franchise that enforces strict guidelines for promoting The Hunger Games:  never show the games themselves, no use of the phrase “Let the Games Begin,” don’t talk about children dying.”

“The Hunger Games” is the poster child of movie marketing in new media.  It’s a study in brilliant and successful marketing strategy and deployment.  Great case example of new media done right.

Room for discussion:

“The Hunger Games” success is also big news for the movie  business which feared the lack of content left by the final Harry Potter release and upcoming final Twilight movie sequel.  What new book franchises are possible entrants into this same space?  Which do you see succeeding and why?

Filed under Film, Marketing, SocialMedia Tagged with ,

For the love of money – be good to your fans!

January 17, 2012 Leave a comment

“In planning a new picture, we don’t think of grownups and we don’t think of children, but just of that fine, clean, unspoiled spot down deep in every one of us that maybe the world has made us forget and that maybe our picture can help recall.” - Walt Disney

Valuing fan love is a sustainable revenue strategy - and the right thing to do.

Valuing fan love is a sustainable revenue strategy - and the right thing to do.

Disney’s perspective of product development and fan respect offers great clarity to the commitment Disney (and Pixar) makes to its fans.  It’s a commitment that continues resounds in a entertainment business where the power of fanship and fandom (the emotional connection consumers make in defining their self concept and in socially connecting around any given entertainment) is often manhandled.

Celebrity and sports marketing is an easy area to illustrate fan manhandling. Be it the bad boy behavior of the overt addict in Charlie Sheen, or the illegal behavior of athletes like Michael Vick or the cheating done by Patriot’s coach Bill Belichick.   Still, those very celebrities thrive and the legalized monopoly of our major league teams continues to flourish and raise prices even in a recessionary period.

Contrast this to the positive effect of an athlete like Tim Tebow and an organization like Disney. They demonstrate just how eager fans are to connect to people and companies that respect the adoration of their fans and show it by how they act in a social responsible fashion.

Entertainment marketers make daily ethical choices that play on the “love” of their core fans who demonstrate their affection with hard-earned dollars.  Just like in a relationship between two people, that love needs to be treated respectfully.  Sure monetization has to happen to sustain sport, music, movies, art and all entertainment.  But ethical consideration and social responsibility in marketing decisions and behavior can go a long way to creating value and insuring sustainable revenue from your fans.  Disney and Tim Tebow  are great examples of the of creating value by valuing fanship and fandom.

Room for discussion:

The CBS Evening News reported in this video on the results of a probe that found 1 in 14 college football players had a criminal record.  If you were the marketing director for the University of Pittsburgh Panther football team under the conditions in the video, what affect would the high presence of criminal records have on your marketing of the team?  How would it affect your position as marketing director? What would you do about it?

Filed under Content Development, Film, Marketing, Sports Tagged with , , , , , , ,

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

January 3, 2012 Leave a comment

Aristotle is reported to have coined this phrase which has been applied to matters of science over the centuries.  It occurs to me that it is very appropriate to apply it to segmentation.  The whole (of an audience) is great than the sum of its parts (segments).    Segment fringe audience extend the reach of the segment

What inspired this thinking were the differentiated ads used to promote “Joyful Noise”, a Warner Brothers film scheduled for a Jan 13th release.  I was watching wayyy too much TV over the holidays (disclaimer: the specific programs noted may or may not be accurate but are my best recollection!)  I saw three different versions of the “Joyful Noise” spot on three different channels.  Each spot was easily recognized as being customized for the respective channel audience.

On BET the spot focused on the gospel show choir aspect of the film.   The commercial airing in Glee reinforced the relationship between the two young choir members.  The ad on the broadcast station prime time showcased the older female appeal of Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah.

In the fringe of each of these segments are additional interested audiences. The fringe of a segment has a higher relevancy and chance of engagement than a non segment.  The whole appeal of these three “Joyful Noise” segments is inclusive of the audiences in the fringe.  The whole result is a greater reach than the sum of the absolute segments.  Aristotle had no idea of his impact on market segmentation!

Filed under Film, Marketing Tagged with , ,

Hulu=TV, Netflix=Movies, Video Stream Future?

August 8, 2011 Leave a comment

A combination of recent Nielsen reports underscores the growing segmentation of online video sites.  More specifically Hulu seems to be dominating TV streaming while Netflix is doing the same for movies.  How differentiated are the segments?  Consider the following:Hulu streams more TV

73% of Hulu’s users report watching TV shows versus just 11% of Netflix users.  Compared to Netflix, Hulu has double the number of unique viewers with 13,505 to Netflix’s 7,976.  Netflix also significantly pales in comparison to the number of streams.  Hulu streams more than 3 times the number that Netflix streams.

On the other hand; 53% of Netflix users report viewing movies to only 9% Hulu user. The result is the Netflix has a clear advantage in e time per viewer difference.  Netflix viewers averaged 8 hours and 34 minutes of computer/laptop video content.  Hulu time per view was 3 hours 34 minutes.

Of course Netflix and Hulu are just two vendors in a growing video streaming marketplace.  YouTube is the dominant generalist with user-generated content fueling their unique viewer leadership.  But in time per viewer You Tube lags both Netflix and Hulu with 2 hours 37 minutes.

Why do we care about time spent viewing?  In the ad world time spent translates into opportunity to build frequent ad exposures.  Nielsen also recently reported stronger than average recall for online ads compared to TV ads.   As the business models for online video evolves, they are likely to reflect the positive time spent (meaning more ad inventory) and strong recall.  The differentiation in segments is likely to matter most in ad inventory and pricing.  And of course; ultimately revenue.

Filed under Film, TV Tagged with , ,

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