Buzz Marketing for Movies
Business Horizons (2007) 50, 395–403
www.elsevier.com/locate/bushor
Buzz marketing for movies
Iris Mohr
Tobin College of Business, St. John 's University, 8000 Utopia Parkways, Jamaica, NY 11439, USA
KEYWORDS
Motion pictures; Movies; Marketing; Promotion; Buzz marketing
Abstract In today 's dynamic entertainment environment, movies are struggling to stay afloat and remain profitable. Challenges such as piracy, digital theft, competition, overlapping movie campaigns, media fragmentation, and audience saturation are forcing marketers to stretch their film budgets and make every dollar as effective as possible. With more and more entertainment options crowding peoples ' lives, marketers must search for innovative ways to reach movie audiences. By breaking through the daily clutter and noise, and capturing peoples ' attention to the point that talking about a movie becomes an enjoyable experience to share, buzz marketing is one such promotional posture that drives audiences to theaters. In order to achieve success with buzz marketing, however, marketers must recognize the role it plays in the context of movie differentiation strategies to support the company 's overall approach. To that end, this article analyzes buzz marketing as it pertains to six movie differentiation strategies (differentiation with cosmetic movie features, differentiation to reach market segments, growing a movie segment, positioning to support the movie image, positioning to extend the movie image, and differentiation via non-traditional channels) and offers steps for its successful implementation. © 2007 Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. All rights reserved.
1. The marketing challenge
Today 's movie marketers confront a difficult reality: the game plan by which they 've played for years is being challenged and there is a call for new, innovative ways to drive box office sales. Under the historically used traditional model, corporate marketers spend marketing
www.elsevier.com/locate/bushor
Buzz marketing for movies
Iris Mohr
Tobin College of Business, St. John 's University, 8000 Utopia Parkways, Jamaica, NY 11439, USA
KEYWORDS
Motion pictures; Movies; Marketing; Promotion; Buzz marketing
Abstract In today 's dynamic entertainment environment, movies are struggling to stay afloat and remain profitable. Challenges such as piracy, digital theft, competition, overlapping movie campaigns, media fragmentation, and audience saturation are forcing marketers to stretch their film budgets and make every dollar as effective as possible. With more and more entertainment options crowding peoples ' lives, marketers must search for innovative ways to reach movie audiences. By breaking through the daily clutter and noise, and capturing peoples ' attention to the point that talking about a movie becomes an enjoyable experience to share, buzz marketing is one such promotional posture that drives audiences to theaters. In order to achieve success with buzz marketing, however, marketers must recognize the role it plays in the context of movie differentiation strategies to support the company 's overall approach. To that end, this article analyzes buzz marketing as it pertains to six movie differentiation strategies (differentiation with cosmetic movie features, differentiation to reach market segments, growing a movie segment, positioning to support the movie image, positioning to extend the movie image, and differentiation via non-traditional channels) and offers steps for its successful implementation. © 2007 Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. All rights reserved.
1. The marketing challenge
Today 's movie marketers confront a difficult reality: the game plan by which they 've played for years is being challenged and there is a call for new, innovative ways to drive box office sales. Under the historically used traditional model, corporate marketers spend marketing
References: Baker, B., & Lobdell, W. (2004). A tie-in made in heaven: Mel Gibson tapped into a church-based marketing network that has been waiting for a religious film like his ‘Passion of the Christ.’ Los Angeles Times, A1.