Top 5 Movie Marketing Campaigns of All-Time: Key Elements of Success
Creative movie marketing campaigns can be the differentiating factor between a box office hit and a failure.
For example, did you know that Marvel Studios shelled out more than $200 million in marketing the superhero movie, Avengers: Endgame? That's double the average cost of making a big-budget movie in Hollywood, which tells you how even the biggest movie studios want their marketing campaign to go viral.
There are different concepts behind a viral film marketing campaign, and we’ll explore those elements in a minute. First, let’s look at these five movies that boldly took their marketing campaigns to the next level.
5 Best Viral Movie Marketing Campaigns
As we mentioned right off the bat, a viral movie marketing campaign could catapult a film to greater heights at the box office. We've seen the success of low-budget films like Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project, thanks to their extraordinary marketing campaigns. There's more where that came from, as we listed below the five best film marketing campaigns of all time.
5. The Simpsons Movie
Since airing its first episode in 1989, the animated TV series The Simpsons has been a fixture in most households. It's the longest-running American sitcom for a reason, and its characters and quotes have generated references in pop culture.
It was only a matter of time before The Simpsons became a movie, and it finally happened in 2007. Led by James L. Brooks, the production team started developing the film six years prior. The movie itself garnered high ratings across the board, but people still remember its unique marketing campaign.
Three weeks before the movie's scheduled release, they partnered with 7-Eleven, Inc. to transform 11 stores into Kwik-E-Marts, the popular convenience store often seen in the series. It's not just the aesthetics, though, as The Simpsons theme also appeared in products, packaging, and Slurpee contests.
4. The Last Exorcism
If you're still doubting the power of YouTube as a marketing channel, look no further than the promotional video campaign behind the 2010 horror film The Last Exorcism by Lionsgate. The video involved young guys and a girl chatting it up on Chatroulette, a popular video chat website. Then, just as the girl was about to take off her shirt, she transformed into a monster, scaring the men out of their seats.
It was a brilliant campaign that garnered millions of views on YouTube and a whole lot on other platforms. The Last Exorcism movie was a successful horror film; some people learned about this the hard way.
3. The Dark Knight
Released in 2008, The Dark Knight is easily one of the favorite movies ever. Along with a brilliantly-written story centered around Gotham City superhero Batman, the movie is also famous for its viral marketing campaign that spanned over a year.
From letting millions of people play an Alternate Reality Game to integrating the elements of Transmedia, Warner Bros. used everything in the playbook to promote The Dark Knight. It was an exceptional marketing strategy that involved people rallying for Harvey Dent, becoming a member of Joker's henchmen, and seeing the ever-famous Batman signal across New York City.
2. Toy Story 3
In yet another marketing strategy that went viral on YouTube, the promotional campaign for Toy Story 3 is one of the best. The story of Woody and Buzz Lightyear was introduced to the public in 1995, and the sequel hit theaters in 1999. However, fans waited a long time — ten years to be exact — for the next installment, and Walt Disney Pictures used this to their advantage.
They put up toy commercials from the 80s on YouTube, creating a buzz of nostalgia among older audiences. It was a classic example of diversifying your audience base as much as you can, which the marketing team behind Toy Story 3 did to a great extent.
1. The Blair Witch Project
If you're looking for a game-changer in the film marketing sector, the campaign behind the 1999 horror film The Blair Witch Project is always an excellent reference. The movie's marketing team distributed missing person flyers and fake police reports around a fictional story of three missing persons. They even put up a website containing details about the rumored disappearances.
By stirring a unique blend of confusion and curiosity, The Blair Witch Project remains one of history's best marketing campaigns in the cinema industry.
What are Movie Marketing Campaigns?
As you can observe in the unique marketing campaigns above, there is no one way of describing its structure in the film industry. Much like generating leads for people to purchase a specific product or avail of a particular service, a crafty marketing campaign can turn more eyes to a new movie.
Even before a film starts its first day of shooting, the marketing team spends months brainstorming an effective promotional campaign. Independent filmmakers may have a more difficult time because they start from scratch, but even famous film studios must invest in marketing.
There's no such thing as having enough audiences in the cinema industry — just ask top-grossing movie production companies like Warner Bros. and Marvel Studios. These major studios still spend boatloads of cash on assembling a creative marketing team who will take full advantage of the current trends in the market.
How Important Is the Marketing Campaign To the Success of a Movie?
Let's look at these numbers to highlight how vital a brilliant marketing campaign is for a movie. Despite a momentary decline when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2020, the film industry is up and running again. Statista said the film production and distribution industry raked in $76.7 billion in revenue worldwide in 2022.
From a global standpoint, there are more than 57,000 businesses in the film sector. In Hollywood alone, 4,912 film studios are fighting their way to gain traction in the market. Film studios in Canada and the United States produced a combined 449 movies last year, which is down from the 792 movies made in 2019. Still, how will one movie stand out from its 449 counterparts?
Needless to say, the film industry is a big sector that's brimming with competition. People browsing through movie listings would literally see hundreds of new titles lined up each year, and it will be impossible to keep track of every upcoming film. Even if it's coming from a major production company, people won't necessarily remember a new film just because Warner Bros. or 20th Century Fox produces it.
History tells us that viral marketing campaigns have translated to a film's massive success at the box office. But, of course, these campaigns come in different forms, too.
So, on the one hand, you have the unique trailer that Alfred Hitchcock made for the 1960 thriller Psycho; on the other, there's the night vision footage of the audience that Paramount Pictures used to build suspense around the 2007 horror film Paranormal Activity.
Both films earned much more than they were projected, especially considering their relatively low expenses. Psycho spent $800,000 to produce the film, yet the movie made north of $40 million at the box office.
Meanwhile, Paranormal Activity was shot for only $15,000, earning at least $194 million worldwide. A killer marketing campaign almost always leads to a wildly successful film, which is why movie studios invest a lot of resources and effort to create a brilliant marketing strategy.
There has to be a loud buzz around an upcoming movie, and that's where its marketing campaign enters the picture.
How Do You Create a Film Marketing Campaign?
A film marketing campaign is not just centered around the film's plot or the movie's characters. If we're being honest, it should be the other way around. A good marketing campaign should be audience-driven; your ultimate goal is to make people feel they're part of the journey.
Of course, a marketing campaign is dependent on the budget that the team is working with. For example, independent filmmakers typically promote their movies by joining film festivals, while a more extensive production franchise usually collaborates with interested brands. But no matter how much the movie marketing budget, an audience-driven strategy should follow these three steps.
By the way, if you want to discover the strategies to successfully market your independent film, check out our comprehensive guide on independent film marketing.
Analyze the market
Before you observe the market trends, you likely already have an idea of your movie's general theme. You already have a target audience in mind, but the key to promoting a film is to widen your scope as much as possible. You try to reel in both younger audiences and older audiences but not at the risk of making your movie too broad.
You can do this by analyzing the market and taking advantage of the current trends. For example, can your film speak to a diverse demographic? How can you deepen your film's relevance to its target market if not? You must answer these essential questions months or even years before the movie's release.
Diversify your campaign on different marketing channels
After identifying your niche audience and genre, it's time to get into the actual creation of your marketing campaign. Creating content for the consumption of your niche audience could involve movie posters, trailers, behind-the-scenes updates, film reviews, and interviews with the film's actors and actresses.
The Internet era has made it easier to publish all these marketing materials. Some movies even make their own social media accounts, while others regularly post trailers, interviews, and acting footage on their YouTube channel. Big studios like Marvel even take the long road of using popular streaming services like Disney+ to show limited series whose stories would build anticipation for an upcoming movie.
Evaluate and re-engage
The work doesn't stop after you push your promotional content across different forms and channels. There's always a trial-and-error process in marketing, so you must evaluate your campaigns' performances. Feel free to pull the plug if a particular campaign is not working for a significant period.
Moreover, it's also vital to continuously re-engage with your audiences. This helps build affinity and loyalty, which could boost your word-of-mouth value.
The Creative Minds Behind a Film Marketing Campaign
As you can see by now, the importance of a smart, adaptable marketing team is unprecedented in the cinema industry. They are experts in capturing the interests of both niche and general audiences, helping filmmakers expand the reach of their movies.
For this reason, Gruvi is continuing to assist filmmakers in marketing their products. With our expertise, tools, and influence in the cinema sector, we can help you develop a customer-driven marketing approach for your content. Contact Gruvi today to learn more about our marketing services.
