To top record-breaking 2009, Hollywood dials up virals

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To top record-breaking 2009, Hollywood dials up virals

Submitted by Brian Skepys on May 27, 2010 – 8:37 amOne Comment

Hollywood has defied the global recession, scoring impressive year-on-year box office gains while the rest of the media industry grapples with the uncertainty of getting the public to pay for content. How are the kings of the Silver Screen doing it? For starters, they pay a lot of attention to the little screen you’re squinting at.

Online “viral” marketing is now the mainstay for studios with a big budget blockbuster in the can, and their channel of choice again as we near another summer blockbuster season is YouTube. The Independent looks at a few of the biggy premieres–including Tron Legacy, Toy Story 3–to reveal their marketing strategy to score a bit hit. The secret: building talkability before and after the release, a lesson marketers everywhere would be wise to replicate.

In Hollywood buzz-building is an old practice that predates Twitter, the blogs and Facebook. Still, the studios are cannily adapting these social media channels to build awareness, and even sales.

We took a look at the top grossing movies of 2009, according to IMDB. Eight of the ten incorporated a detailed viral marketing strategy that utilized the latest social media marketing. (You can click on each one to read a bit on its viral marketing).

“Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” ($177.2 million)

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine” ($179.8 million)

“Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” ($196.5 million)

“Monsters vs Aliens” ($198.2 million)

“The Twilight Saga: New Moon” ($255.3 million)

“Star Trek” ($257.7 million)

“The Hangover” ($277.3 million)

“Up” ($292.9 million)

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” ($301.9 million)

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” ($402.1 million)

Just two–”The Hangover” and “Up”– skimped on pre-release viral marketing but still ranked third and fourth at the box office, a nod to good content is still the only sure-fire way to make money in the media biz. Still, “Tron Legacy” and “Toy Story 3” are taking no chances this year. They are employing some serious viral marketing tactics in the hopes of scoring a hit.

Hollywood topped a record $10.6 billion in sales last year. They’re doing something right.

One Comment »

influenceagents says:

May 27, 2010 at 9:18 am

To top record-breaking 2009, Hollywood dials up virals – Hollywood has defied the global recession, scoring impress… http://ow.ly/17w63m

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