As we welcome in a brand new year, you would be forgiven for letting your mind wander as you start to think about how to beat those January blues.
With entertainment very much top of the agenda, this year's movie blockbuster is often a great conversation starter. With so many exciting new releases like The Theory of Everything, Exodus: Gods and Kings and the thrilling new installment of The Woman in Black, you have a lot to look forward to. But as you do so, spare a thought for the efforts of the movie houses in influencing your decision.
Never before has it been important for movie makers to think outside the box when advertising a new movie. What is rapidly becoming the frontline option for many movie marketers is programmatic advertising. Here we detail the progression from old school movie posters to the blockbuster movie trailers made today and how programmatic advertising is playing a vital part in making these box office hits.
It's more than just a preview
In a world with increasing competition from television and video games all competing for a limited resource - your time and money - the role of the trailer, as a moving breathtaking representative of a film - easily consumed as a preview before a main attraction or as easily sharable content on social media has never been as important.
With the internet and immediate global distribution, a movie trailer is very much a genre in itself with boutique editing houses focusing solely on crafting that perfect piece of movie advertising. So, with the growth in digital and online distribution, the movie trailer has also needed to adapt.
Enhancing the standard trailer experience, movie makers now deliver digital enhancements to engage viewers such as interactive material, behind-the-scenes footage, bloopers and take-outs, as well as interviews with production and cast.
Dynamic content goes viral
With the movie industry adapting to digital and the rise in streaming services, captivating audiences online has become an important battleground. Cultivating a 'viral' online audience that then spreads news via word of mouth is essential. Marketers must be able to think multi-channel and multi-screen, capturing consumer attention across multiple touch points in sync.
Of course, there are multiple ways to do this by using online advertising, PR and direct marketing to build suspense through advanced screenings, social media, as well as providing 'leaked' trailers and set details. But one way that has become vitally important due to the unique role that it plays in providing the movie trailer experience for a digital generation is programmatic advertising, and particularly on mobile.
Programmatic advertising provides a new way to deliver a dynamic trailer and it is perfectly adapted for a mobile consumer. Whenever a viewer sees it either as an in-app advert or on a publisher's website it will play automatically, giving them a gripping insight into the film. Adding to this, unlike in the movies, the viewer has a direct link through to the film's website where they can learn more and view more media.
Are you right for this film?
Perhaps the most significant benefit of using programmatic advertising however is clearly the way in which marketers can target the right audience. Rather than taking a broad stroke approach of mass market billboards, TV spots and print ads, programmatic advertising allows advertisers to define and reach specific audience segments. Not only does this enable a more discerning allocation of movie marketing budgets, it also results in better returns on ad spend because fewer pounds are wasted reaching disinterested consumers.
This is also leaps and bounds ahead of the current model in place at the movies, where trailers are aired based on the genre of the feature film. Advertisers can now hone in on just those consumers who are likely to be interested in the movie based on a host of targeting parameters, including demographics, behaviours, psychographics and location.
The role of mobile in movie marketing
Taking the mobile app industry as an example, where most of the top 20 grossing apps on iOS and Android are big spenders on programmatic, it is clearly just a matter of time before it becomes the key audience driver for the movie industry. Today's growing mobile screens and high definition features make mobile an excellent vehicle for marketing a film.
Considering how people consume content on their mobile phones today-scrolling through news feeds and viewing short form videos-it is easy to see how movie trailers can seamlessly work on this channel. In fact, mobile's interactive rich media, video and native ads units are all ideal for promoting the next big blockbuster. So, next time your friend mentions what they will be watching over the winter break, spare a thought for where they might have heard about it first.
By Charlie Faulkner, Head of EMEA and APAC at Manage.com.
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