April 14, 2006
free movie tickets
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One of the things I'm going to recommend to the Hallam Foe execs is that they hand out free movie tickets to bloggers.
As with my Stormhoek meme from last year, I would utterly insist that bloggers would be under no obligation to write anything, good or bad, if they didn't want to.
Last September the movie "Serenity" gave out free tickets to bloggers, but only on condition that they write about it. I think that was a big, big mistake.
Here's my question: Assuming [A] the movie turns out great and [B] is worth talking about, how many bloggers do you think would need to see the movie for it to make a sizable difference to the idea-virus/buzz/marketing efforts?
100? 1,000? 5,000?
I think the more bloggers see it, the better. But of course, I would say that.
[UPDATE:] Just posted my thoughts onto the Hallam Foe blog. That ought to start a few conversations etc.
Posted by hugh macleod at April 14, 2006 1:04 PM | TrackBackDefinitely agree. At the Irish Blog Awards, V for Vendetta tickets were given away as part of a raffle from the tickets stubs all attendees were given. It was a great way to get people talking about the movie at the event itself, talking about the giveaway online and then the movie itself after the people had seen it.
People's decision mking process when deciding whether to see a movie or not often depends on word-of-mouth because there are so many movies out there. This is a bog standard tactic that companies should be using to promote their movies. It doesn't matter whether they're bloggers or not. If they happen to blog, then it's a bonus because more buzz will be built up about it.
Posted by: Piaras Kelly at April 14, 2006 2:46 PMMarketing by guilt again? :)
I have to admit I will look for Stormhoek wine because I've met you and Nick, and I had a free bottle. (Now if they could get the reds in waitrose then I would get more of it), however a movie is a one time deal. You might have fun convincing people about this simply because you don't get repeat business.
Posted by: Barry Dorrans at April 14, 2006 2:48 PMWhat about, instead of a set number of tickets, what about giving out as many as possible to bloggers, but only for a set amount of time. Like for the first 2 weeks (or first month, whatever), give out as many tickets to bloggers as you have requests. The idea being, get the bloggers out to the movie as soon as it comes out, then immediately blogging about it. This would go a long way toward creating the initial positive WOM that every successful movie needs. Also, the bloggers would realize that if they wanted to see the movie for free, it would have to be at the start.
Also, what about only inviting bloggers to the premiere? Not sure if this is something the studio would want to do, but would certainly help with WOM, and should generate some buzz in the media.
Posted by: Mack Collier at April 14, 2006 3:22 PMMack, if 10,000 bloggers wanted tickets, I'd be utterly delighted. Whether it took 2 days or 6 months, I wouldn't care.
Posted by: Hugh MacLeod at April 14, 2006 3:34 PMHugh - Movie buzz tends to generate well before the red carpet is rolled out. You'd be better off sending them a link to a special-access, first viewing of a trailer.
Consider the ill-fated, poorly named, Snakes on a Plane. It already has a Wikipedia entry dedicated to this meme.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_on_a_plane
This movie is sunk and hasn't even hit theaters.
You SHOULD engage bloggers, and can still invite them to the premiere. But I'd give them the ability to talk about the movie earlier.
Posted by: Kevin Dugan at April 14, 2006 4:17 PMAgreed, Kevin: my main mantra for movie blogging is "Start Early":
http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/000509.html
Posted by: Hugh MacLeod at April 14, 2006 4:24 PMThat's a solid list. Thanks. I love this line: "Give it time to seep into the Zeitgeist, like absinthe on a sugar cube."
And we can add the train wreck known as "The Dukes of Hazzard" to our examples of what not to do.
http://tinyurl.com/z2tjo
Snakes on a plane, and Dukes of Hazard are not great examples. I would argue that Blogging would be the worst sort of marketing for these films.
Lets face it, the vast majority of people who would like and enjoy 'snakes on a plane', are not the sort that are going to be reading and writing blogs.
Where as Hallam Foe is far more likely to appeal to the blogging community.
Hugh your an ad man, what's the average demographic for bloggers?
Posted by: Phil Dale at April 15, 2006 11:56 AMPhil, this is a really good demographic survey:
http://www.blogads.com/survey/blog_reader_survey.html
Posted by: hugh macleod at April 15, 2006 3:06 PMThat's brilliant thanks.
Posted by: Phil Dale at April 15, 2006 4:28 PMFree tickets rock of course.
But I could not agree more with you Kevin, start early and release often.
Giving away free tickets when the movie is done does not do much to create an acctuall connection with the bloggers.
Blogging as far as I see it is an relationship.
Something that grows into something wow hopefully.
Like me always looking for Stormhoek wine in the stores, even though I live in Sweden and Stormhoek have probably never been imported here.
I say free tickets rock.
But what if the bloggers acctually get to decide the ending.
Or create the website.
Or write a scene in collaboration with the script writer.
Or see the movie a month earlier then everyone else.
Something real.
Something big.
Something that's acctually worth talking about.
What would happen then?
*I'm acctually working on something like this, something big, something that hopefully will rock your world*
André Hedetoft
A 22 year old geek on a quest to become a movie-god!
www.oddlife.se