Anthony Stokes on Hollywood’s penchant for viral marketing…
Viral marketing is a tool that’s been used constantly by movie studios over the past few years and the trend is showing no signs of slowing down. The first real case of successful viral marketing seems to be The Blair Witch Project, which used the internet to build hype around the movie and it clearly paid off with one of the highest profitability returns in American cinema. But nowadays, how effective is it for blockbusters and genre films to have this as a significant part of their marketing campaign?
In my humble opinion, viral marketing isn’t useful. A little as the first wave before the usual trailers, TV spots, and interviews can be a good way to excite fans, but other than that I don’t see the purpose. Take Pacific Rim as an example. An endless amount of banners and other online promotions flooded the internet. But who is this really for? The fans who have been paying attention are going to see the movie regardless, and anybody not going to see it is not going to be persuaded by a football field-sized poster. Generally speaking trailers sell movies. There are a few other factors that hammered the nail into Pacific Rim’s coffin, but appealing only to fanboys who already decided to see it as soon as it was announced was not a smart move. I would even question why studios put so much money into Comic-Con. It’s just a dick measuring contest between Intellectual Properties. Any information or footage shown at Comic-Con will more than likely hit the internet by the following day. All this effort for a crowd of people who were going to see the movie regardless…
I just don’t understand how studio heads think anymore. If money is the overall goal then they need to focus on making trailers and promotions that appeal to everyone, especially for movies with a niche audience. Why spend millions on something that’s ultimately just going to sit online instead of buying up more air time to raise awareness? Smarter spending will result in much better returns for studios and less heartbreak when everybody’s favorite genre film get manhandled at the box office.
Anthony Stokes is a blogger and independent filmmaker.
Originally published July 24, 2013. Updated April 10, 2018.
