How 'Paranormal Activity' Has Changed Online Movie Marketing
Hollywood loves remakes, but when it comes to the marketing campaign for Paramount Pictures' "Paranormal Activity," there'll never be an identical do-over, says Amy Powell, executive vice president of interactive marketing strategy and film production. But she expects social media will continue to play a crucial role in creating fervent fans for Hollywood releases. The way she sees it, Twitter and Facebook are already as important to movie marketing as TV spots and trailers. The success of "Paranormal" proves it.
How exactly did a $15,000 fright flick became a $100 million plus hit? "Paranormal" started popping up in cities and college markets for select midnight shows. Positive buzz went viral via Twitter and Facebook, and Paramount teamed with entertainment planning site Eventful to submit demands for the movie to be screened in their hometowns. From there, cities with the most demands got the movie, and the online buzz grew louder. The big breakthrough came after Paramount and Eventful dared 1,000,000 people to submit demands to see "Paranormal" in order for the movie to go national, which it did, just in time to scare up a high gross during Halloween season.
If there's one thing Hollywood loves more than remakes, its crowdpleasing formulas. Repeating the "Paranormal" strategy step by step won't work, Powell admits, but elements from the campaign are still playing in movie marketing campaigns. Twitter buzz was crucial for the "Paranormal" phenomenon, Powell says, and Paramount's own "Up In The Air" campaign acknowledged the social media site users with a flashy custom collected tweets page. Other studios are using Eventful to spread the word: Roadside Attractions for instance is hosting free screenings of its thriller "Cash" in the five cities that accumulate the most demands, with one person in each city winning $2,500. And even after "Paranormal" left theaters, Paramount turned to Eventful users again, encouraging them to submit their names to be included in the credits for the DVD release. (Full disclosure: my wife submitted our names. You can find me in this list, between Pierson Ochoa and Pietari Karppinen). When "Paranormal Activity 2" comes out this fall, Powell promises there'll be major user-generated online marketing behind the effort.
As for how "Paranormal Activity" may have opened Hollywood's eyes, Powell says the campaign illustrated the tangible results digital can deliver, and made the entire company recognize the power social media has in creating fans and driving profits. Powell wants to push fervent fan advocacy even furthur, such as through crowdsourcing (read MN staff writer Elisabeth Sullivan's story to brush up), to strenghten the collaboration and bond between movies and moviegoers.
There's much more from Powell about the "Paranormal Activity" campaign - including the critical role event marketing played - in the March 8th edition of Marketing News Exclusives. Access the story itself here. You can also read more about the campaign, particularly Eventful's role, in the Marketing News article "Digital Dozen," appearing in the March 15 edition, Marketing News' very first special digital issue.
