Our marketing team here at Thunderbolt Digital are always keeping themselves busy, coming up with innovative ideas to serve the needs of our clients. Even if you are competing in a popular market we can come up with a marketing plan to help boost awareness for your company. One of the most competitive industries right now is film. With hundreds of releases competing for audience attention every year the challenge faced by their marketing teams is ever growing. Film marketing is getting more and more creative as titles attempt to stand out from the crowd – here are some of our favourite recent campaigns from the film industry.
Zoolander 2 – Hansel and Zoolander at Paris Fashion Week
Last week at Paris Fashion Week 2015, Derek Zoolander and Hansel graced the catwalk for the first time in over a decade. Selfies posted to Twitter from backstage hinted that the really, really, ridiculously good looking male models would be making an appearance, and during the Maison Valentino show this was confirmed. The video from the show went viral and Twitter was full of users tweeting their excitement over the announcement of Zoolander 2, which is due for release next year, after years of speculation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLjyvzMCQaY
Monsters University – University Website
The marketing team for Pixar took the time to design and build an entire website around the fictional university featured in Monsters University. Visitors can browse courses on offer, read testimonials from students, have a look at the clubs available and even read into housing and eating facilities. The whole website is wonderfully in keeping with the tone of the film, with subtle content references to monster life – especially in the food section. Talk to our in house web design team today to discuss your own website needs.
The Dark Knight – “I Believe In Harvey Dent”
The marketing team behind The Dark Knight came up with one of the most elaborate viral marketing campaigns ever – using internet games to reveal the first image of The Joker and a real life detective trail laid for fans. The widest reach however came with the creation of a campaign website for Harvey Dent, where users could download campaign materials and follow the schedule leading up to the elections for the DA. A stroke of creative genius came when The Joker appeared to deface the entire website – setting the scene for the eventual film.
Chronicle – Flying People Over New York City
During the promotion of Chronicle, human shapes were seen flying over the New York skyline, causing an explosive response on Twitter and even coverage on national news. The flying people were later revealed as a creative publicity stunt for “found footage” superhero movie Chronicle. The response on social media was huge, and with onlookers uploading their videos of the flying people; the marketing team were able to allow the film’s found footage image to spread organically.
Anchorman 2 – Ron Burgundy Appears on Conan
During a 2012 broadcast of Conan O’Brien’s talk show, Will Ferrell made an impromptu appearance as Ron Burgundy to announce the sequel to the cult comedy hit “Anchorman”. He played a trademark jazz flute solo and took the time to criticise Conan’s hair, before telling the audience that his new film would be released the following year. The clip received over 6 million views on YouTube and reminded audiences of the comedy style they had loved from the first film.