Entertainment and Online Promotion – Capturing A Consumers Attention via Word of Mouth
Last night, one of my close friend’s 14 yr old daughters messaged me (via MSN) with links to the much hyped, “Kardashian Reality Show Wedding”. As far as I know, the show has yet to air here in Canada (but I stand to be corrected on this). As fast as it was promoted—via word of mouth—I found out where I could watch the show online right now. She provided me with a couple of options and the link I picked was via Youtube.
One of our key team members has built several social media based campaigns for the entertainment industry—from music to theatre. You can click our “Creative” tab to see some of our work which includes promotions for the likes of Pink, Avenue Q, Bryan Adams and more. Fascinated by the social media/entertainment connection, I wanted to explore (on a broader scale) what the impact is beyond what we as a marketer have begun in our efforts thus far. As a participating business, what kind of results are being identified and where is social media entertainment going in the future? Huge questions for which all the answers would most likely not fit into this article! Here are some of the things that I have discovered thus far.
On the blog Mediashift, Author Nick Mendosa did an interview with Doug Neil of Universal Pictures. One of the questions he asked was ”What do you think is Universal’s most successful digital marketing campaign to date — whether defined by online buzz, consumer participation, box office or other metrics?” “Fast & Furious” and “Bruno” were two of the most successful campaigns this year. “Fast & Furious” had over one million Facebook fans by the time the film opened. In addition, the content that was released — trailers, photos, clips, an iPhone game — had significant traffic. Similarly, “Bruno” built a tremendous community online — 700,000-plus fans on Facebook, 350,000-plus friends on MySpace, 60,000 followers on Twitter — which demonstrated the interest in the film and the character.”
In June 2009, E-marketer had a report titled “Digital Media Meets Entertainment”, which explores the three pillars of entertainment: music, movies and video game. Which “are all facing disruptive changes prompting them to explore opportunities in digital distribution, digital marketing and social media.” The report analyzes the the usage and economic trends that are fundamentally altering the ways consumers spend their leisure time—and money.
“With these dynamics in play, all three industries are adopting new business models centered on digital content and distribution—and social media is a key link in the chain.”
Cisco’s Media Solutions Group attended conferences around the US that focused on “Discussions About the Social Entertainment Experience.” In this article, which included the E-marketer stat that I provided above, “is an excellent chart that demonstrates how artist driven communities like allseanpaul.com develop over time—how the artist/fan relationship develops given the social media tools that allow a two-way dialogue between artist and fans. Again, it’s about content and how the technologies that facilitate artist to fan relationships enable further commerce, and fan engagement. The blog Hit Singularity offered a nice chart below that illustrates that point.”
Our experience (along with the knowledge I gained while writing this post), points to how necessary it is (particularly for those in the business of promoting) to manage all of these platforms and to track fan engagement. Which will also help to decipher how social media leads to ROI for whatever your goals may be. This could include listening to your community, promoting a movie, album or event, creating an audience for an advertiser and so much more. Add to that an understanding of your target market’s social computing behavior so that the channels you are using are the ones that will be utilized. A lot of food for thought….ultimately the social entertainment experience has clearly become a joint partner in capturing a consumers attention. Wonder what my 14 yr old early adopter will be messaging me next!
Best Nicole
Hi – I want to say thanks for an interesting post about a subject I have had an interest in for a long time now. I have been lurking and reading the posts avidly so just wanted to express my gratitude for providing me with some very good reading material. I look forward to more, and taking a more proactive part in the discussions here, whilst picking up some knowledge too!!