Social Films: Wreck-It Ralph is Breaking Dawn over Skyfall

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!