The holidays blockbusters are here! Whether it was Skyfall, Wreck-It Ralph, or Twilight: Breaking Dawn, one of these movies has been the topic of one of your conversations recently. Now, think about it...has social media ignited these conversations? Where you reminded about the movie by a friend’s tweet? Or were you more inclined to go see the movie from a status? When it comes to movie marketing, everything is fair game, and the industry has definitely embraced social media.
From building awareness, to creating full digital campaigns, the film industry is relying on social media to drive the word of mouth. With the viral nature and mass distribution potential for spreading the word, it gives consumers the chance to become a critic and influence others from their experience. Much like brands, movies try to engage the consumer in the hopes of having them go to the theatre. The difference is, a movie has very little time to do this compared to a product or service brand. What they do is capitalize on the buzz and traditional marketing to drive users to their pages, and create interesting and “shareable” content for them to utilize.
Skyfall, for example, did something brilliant in releasing the movie’s iconic song prior to it opening, thus having it go viral. The song went viral, mostly because it’s sung by Adele, but it still served the purpose of attracting users to search for more info on the movie. With Wreck-It Ralph, they actually went out and developed the whole game and made it available on the movie’s Facebook page. An instant classic, that people want to share.
As far as Breaking Dawn, they understood what their audience wanted...pictures, lots and lots of pictures, and they delivered.
So how do you get in on the action? There are some few simple steps for your film to embrace the craze:
Start by creating a Facebook fan page, as well as a Twitter account, complete with branding.
Be sure to include release dates, venues where it will be presented, trailers and teasers.
Tag cast members and/or influentials on your posts/tweets.
Link your accounts so updates are more manageable.
Create content targeted to your consumer, and also content that they will want to share with others.
Box office returns can be made or broken by Twitter and Facebook reviews. Peer reviews are main influencers when it comes to a great recommendation to see or skip a movie. An average box office opening weekend for a new film on the holidays usually has other competing new releases. How does your film stand out from the rest? By having people talk about it!
Talking about business plans and actually doing one are two totally different things. That’s something I’m learning now. Last time, I wrote about Chuck Blakeman and Steve Blank’s views on business plans. They have some very specific view and as experienced professionals and people who have done this several times, you kind of have to read what they have to say and take away key aspects to include in your own business plan. Let’s face it, these guys have done this time and again, might as well learn from the best.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, Chuck Blakeman does not believe in business plans, he thinks it’s “nonsense and fortune-telling, and they keep you from going out and trying to sell your product to see if you have something viable” (Blakeman, 2012). Now, why would I listen to this advice when I am in fact trying to write a business plan? Like I said, he’s got years of experience under his belt. He knows what investors look for and he proposes a “bare essentials” document. After all, him not believing in business plans does not mean investors don’t believe either. With that in mind he designed the “two page strategic plan”. This is, as the name says, a two page document that outlines the business’ commitment (objective, what you want to see as a result) and it’s movement (purposeful directions toward the goal, but not an activities list). His philosophy is that, just as life changes constantly so do plans, and it’s not worth it to spend all this time and effort into something that is going to change from the moment you start writing it.
“As you move with absolute commitment in a clear direction toward the objective – that commitment and that movement will work together to make your so-so plan into a world class one.” (Blakeman, 2010) He says that’s the only two thing you need, commitment and movement, not a 30 page document. You may be asking yourself if I’m considering not writing a business plan at all, well don’t be alarmed, that’s not the case. Blakeman came to this conclusion after he did countless business plans himself, and even though I said we need to learn from others experiences, this is my first business plan after all. It’s like using a calculator before learning how to do equations by yourself, you still need to go through the process to better understand things later on.
Nevertheless, I do plan to include some points Blakeman brings up, a narrow commitment and a straight to the point approach. I believe that Blakeman has learned over the years that investors are not really interested in a lot of “fluff” on business plans, they want to know what do you want do and how you plan to do it. Implementing this kind of thinking throughout my business plans can make it a concise and precise document that’s quick read with relevant information. This means that one of the most important components of my business plans is going to be the Executive Summary. Often times we make decisions on a first impression basis. This section is the chance to include Blakeman’s commitment and movement in such a compelling way that investors make their decision on this segment alone. “You’ll make more money in less time by committed movement than you will by sitting around trying to figure out what might go wrong.”(Blakeman, 2010) Resource:
