Commenting Rules: Keep the conversation civil and on topic. If your comment does not add to the conversation, it will be removed. Debate intelligently. Insulting the author, /Film, or other commenters will result in comment removal and possible ban. If you want to point out a typo, correction, suggestion or criticism for /Film, please email us instead. Please use your name or nickname and not your business name (ie Discount Car Parts) as we might confuse and mark it as spam. If you would like to have your own Avatar show up with your comment, sign-up for a free Disqus account. Any Links will go into moderation before being approved. Anything we deem as spam will not be approved.

42 Entertainment’s Why So Serious Viral Campaign: The Future of Movie Marketing?

Posted on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta

I was just reading an interesting article in the new issue of Maxim (not available online, as far as I can tell) about 42 Entertainment, the marketing comapny behind The Dark Knight’s viral campaign when I stumbled across this video created by Alternative Reality Branding (via: FSR).

The bottom line effects of viral marketing on a film’s box office and DVD sales have yet to be proven. But watching this video on 42 Entertainment’s Why So Serious campaign will help make you a believer. It will be interesting to see how companies like 42 Entertainment and CampfireNYC (the film behind Terminator Salvation’s SkyNet campaign) will use the next few years to create a connection between the film and the potential audience. One can’t deny that the interactive experience is cool, but the arguemnt is if a viral is actually is worth the millions of dollars that it costs a movie studio.

For a film like The Dark Knight, I believe a viral keeps the fans excited and causes a word of mouth stir that is worthy of the investment. Fans feel like they are a part of the movie and take it upon themselves to promote the movie to friends, family, and anyone who will listen. On the other hand, Sony hired 42 Entertainment for The International. The resulting alternative reality game was just as good as the company’s Why So Serious campaign, but fans just wen’t interested and the turn out was minimal in comparison. My conclusion so far is that Virals only work in two arenas: 1. With a project hidden in mystery that fans are eager to uncover (ie Cloverfield) or 2. A Highly anticipated property that has a year or more runway to develop a connection with it’s audience.

Comments 

Related Posts

Tags

Comic Book/Superhero, Movie Marketing, Video Clips, Viral Marketing, , ,

  • will
    Wow.
  • Very interesting. I can't see this as being the catalyst behind the film's sales though. It definitely would have hyped people up (whomever participated at Comic Con, etc.), but I believe the majority of people who saw TDK in theaters were there for two reasons: critical acclaim and Heath Ledger.
  • I definitely saw it IMAX'd (as opposed to waiting for Blu-ray) because of the critical acclaim (ie: insane IMDb rating). Chris Nolan and maybe a bit of Bale/Ledger helped as well. The "Batman" series and viral marketing didn't make much if any difference for me. In fact, had the film been merely mediocre, the intense marketing and hype would have only made it much worse, and me very sick.
  • Zinc
    Right, just reading Maxim...
  • I get my issue tomorrow. Woo! It's really nice to see companies go all out for the fans and 42 Entertainment's Why So Serious Campaign was top notch. Coraline's campaign this year was also, in it's special way, very successful. I think Viral Marketing is a new thing, and if abused, could be done away with, but in the right hands and targeted for the right audience, could be a powerhouse.
  • Jordan
    all i know is i probably spent almost $200 on viral stuff on ebay because of that movie. hahaha. they came out with some pretty cool stuff. t shirts, masks, posters, buttons oh my!
  • Zinc
    I have to admit though, the viral campaign for TDK was very fun, and was very rewarding in the end (with the free IMAX screening).
  • Yah it was genious. I even got involved and sent some pictures in. Nothing like what some of the people did tho haha
  • I know someone who was a part of some of TDK's viral promotions, and they were mentioned in the video. It is definitely an exciting experience for fans, even if it doesn't raise profits TOO much (though I'm sure they would at least get a payback from it), and I do hope that they do it for more movies in the future!
  • I do see it as being the future of movie marketing it's not as expensive as the other means like print ads or commercial time....you can reach more people and countries online and these viral campaigns speak to those who may not watch tv or people who don't notice regular film ads....it brings a lot of people together and then they tell all the people they know about the events and it's nothing but promotion of the movie....you never know it could have had a bigger impact on the opening box office than most are giving it credit...I'm sure participants thought, if the viral is that complex imagine what the film is going to be like....
  • MrBabyMan
    I should've know this was 42 Entertainment! I participated in their viral campaigns for 'A.I.: Artificial Intellegence' and Halo 2, and this has all the earmarks of their thorough, engaging, detailed work. Well done, guys.
  • Holy sh!t that was interesting
  • Haha, that's me at 1:05, at the forefront.
  • Viral marketing is a stupid notion. Every successful film marketing campaign that I know if is targeted. These targeted campaigns only become viral at the hands of their users. You cannot create a viral marketing campaign. More thoughts in my blog post here: http://blog.sceneclips.com/film-marketing/viral-m...
  • To understand Cloverfield, you really had to know/check out all the viral info on the net.

    having watched it before you went into hte movie also gave watchers indications of what to look for throughout the film, and allowed them to pick up on minute details that would have otherwise been missed.

    I wasn't even aware that The International had such a campaign.
  • Yeah def about Cloverfield...I got so involved, that it made the movie THAT much better to me...
  • Did this really cost MILLIONS? I doubt it. The campaign consisted of a few websites, a skywriting plane, some cell phones, cardboard signs and cake. I doubt all that even came close to $1mil. Even if it did, a drop in the bucket compared to the $50mil WB probably spent in regular promotion.
  • The Maxim article says that 42's campaigns have cost anywhere from $1 to $5 million, and considering The Dark Knight has been the biggest and most extensive viral they've done to date, I would say it cost around $5 million
  • Sounds like a lot of "administrative" fees were tacked on LOL
  • stooge
    three million dollars, all to appeal to people who were going to the movie anyway.
  • I think that the whole mystery aspect was a good reason why so many turned out and also at one point in the viral for Dark Knight, it was possible to win prizes. One more reason why so many turned out for the Dark Knight movie and for the viral is because it was a sequel to a good film.
  • Sigh. This takes me back. Amazing campaign for those who knew about it. Cheering for Harvey Dent on the streets of San Francisco made TDK a bigger film than it was already going to be.
  • If there's one thing viral marketing does right, it's get you involved and very, VERY interested in whatever it is marketing. I got in the TDK one a bit late, but I was there from the roar on 1-18-08.com to Alyse Hanssen's blog and the usgx pictures of Clover. Cloverfield is one of the best movie experiences I have ever had because of the viral marketing, and I hope that viral will stay around for a long time.
  • 42 has a whole team of writers, graphic designers, web designers, programmers... all of them get paid.
  • Jon
    I saw it because Peter told me too. Thanks, Peter!
  • Haha, at 1:06, that's me with some friends at city hall in Philly... I'm wearing the orange jacket.
  • wow that's cool. I paused it to have a look. What was going on that day with the viral stuff?
  • Baconface
    i think viral marketing would work great for big summer blockbusters and not so good for smaller flicks. if the movie already comes w/ a built in audience that is already aware of a films "fictional universe" like Terminator 4s dystopian future or TDKs Gotham City it gets people even more willing and excited to visit those worlds. plus, i dont know, it just seems like a summer thing to me. when WB integrated San Diego Comic Con into TDKs viral marketing that was genius
  • PETER!!!!

    is that advertisment on the site for "Skynet Research" an ARG for Terminator 4?
  • I can't recall exactly how it came about, but we were told to get as many people as possible to dress up and take a photo near a landmark (or at least something recognizable in one's city)... Unfortunately, my roommate and I were only able to wrangle two other people that morning... That's right, there are only four of us in the photo (we doctored it)... Funny story- We had altered the photo with no false intent, but surprisingly, we were leading in a "large groups" category... Once they understood that we had Photoshop'd the image, we were moved to a lower section.
  • That's a good story. It sucks though that they found out about your picture. But I guess in the end, you get the last laugh because you were featured in a video documenting the whole thing. Congratulations.
  • Thanks!
  • luke_test
    The only people who cared (or even knew) about the TDK viral campaign were going to see it anyway.

    Cloverfield made near half it total gross in the opening weekend. That is a terrible multiplier for a movie. .
  • Viral marketing is going to be having a big play on all industries not just movies. Movies is just one way to really build the buzz before hand and after to keep the fun going for merchandise, DVD's etc
  • I was at the Columbia Rally for Harvey Dent. It was pretty awesome.
  • deadmike
    hello im dead mike ,42 entertainment got their qaute from the dollar bill i defaced and a couple years ago that had been circulating or somehow got into their fun-knee clutches,im a writer i play music i do make up wardrobe etc.love hallowwen making crazey props for halloween always did always will,"why so serious" i wrote that on money as a joke because of the fact:people take $ so seriously,lol.its pretty simple.catch phrase?lol i gotta million.money?i got none!i made alotta of art money over the years.im glad someone finally caught on to my many many mucho~ ideaz.your welcome 42 entertainment.heheheheh sincerist wishes while swimmin' with the fishes,new world order soundz so delishes........................hey-doe-it own-lee me,im watchin in shadowz canja see?its amazing how the smallest things can make sucha big impact.were all important,that was my message in a bottle 4 duh world"why so serious" your welcome everyone ,why so serious" by dead-mike....ask anyone who wrote that.youlle never find out who,because it was me ,and it was not you.:O)got 2 luv-ette
blog comments powered by Disqus

gorilla nation

/Film

Copyright © 2010 /Film. Web design by Pro Blog Design. Logo Concept by: Illumination Ink

All names, trademarks and images are copyright their respective owners.