Warner trials social media for Hangover release
Warner Home Video is to make one of its first forays into social media-based marketing with a Facebook competition to promote this month’s DVD, Blu-ray and On Demand release of The Hangover.
Sydney-based Daemon Group’s digital arm won a competitive pitch to cary out the campaign which aims to tie in with the film’s plot by asking consumers to submit party photos via Facebook to win a trip to Las Vegas.
Daemon’s digital planning director Mandi Bateson said: “As the brand has had limited experience in the social media space previously, it’s an exciting opportunity and should prove an important yardstick for future digital campaigns. Ultimately however, the success of this campaign will be judged on its ability to establish valuable long-term relationships with the target audiences.”
The agency will also look to seed content across Twitter and Facebook feeds.
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I am interested how you are going to establish a long term conversation on a single release. Surely the brand has to establish a presence which would fetaure each individual release and build up a knowledge base on its consumers.
I dont disagree with what is being proposed, its certainly more engageing than a banner but how are you going to continue the conversation?
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Phil that’s the question no one wants to answer! What happens after the promotion is over? Who’s going to own it, what are they going to do with their user base to create these long-term relationships?
My view is that the mistake most companies are making is in treating these initiatives as marketing driven instead of part of customer service/relationship management (not saying that’s the case here).
I also wonder how they are going to convert an activity that is movie/title based into something that Warner can own and leverage for future launches? Surely the buzz around this movie will die in a couple of months and the question is will we end up with another abandoned community on Facebook?
Having said all of that there’s nothing wrong with the idea and I wish them all the best.
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Hiya Phil and Rog,
The team are set to start filming the sequel in 2010 so there’s plenty to talk about long after 25th Nov! The fans have connected with the film, not the release date, and the community will be managed with that in mind. Anchorman fan sites are a great example – 5 years after the release date and still regular interaction with the cult favourite. Daemon Digital hope to work with WHV in the future to support other releases to their diverse audience.
Thanks for your comments!
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Nice idea and well executed.
Well done Mandi.
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I believe the key here is not that consumers are developing a flippant relationship, they understand that films are typically single releases, and that a films lifetime can be substantial with further sequels – in particular if they reach a cult or semi-cult status, they create their own momentum. In any event, this is a great exercise (if executed correctly) in developing a relationship with Home Ent consumers that will also be attracted to future similar releases.
Never underestimate the willingness of users to engage if the process is easy, offers value in some form and provides open access to like minded community members.The value of influence from like minded community members sharing views and content is powerful.
In this case, I would suggest an easy entry mechanism, great prizing and awareness of this film will guarantee a solid response and I look forward to seeing the campaign fly. I am however surprised that this is Warners first foray into social and applaud them for accepting the power of social. However I don’t believe you should be using the analysis of this campaign as a yardstick, you should get a few under your belt and review the usual metrics/demos – before offering any baseline of results to build longer terms strategies around.
I’m sure it will be a huge success and all the best to Mandi and the team at Daemon!
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