Professional Documents
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Lindsay Mueller
marketing campaigns until the release of The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is being adapted into a film series over the next three years by Lionsgate.
The Lionsgate competitive market includes other leading entertainment companies such as DreamWorks, Imagine Entertainment, and MGM. The Hunger Games franchise faces competition from other fantasy/sci-fi series. Twilight and Harry Potter are mega-franchises that also began as book series and were adapted into films. With the acquisition of Summit Entertainment, Lionsgate no longer competes with the production studio, but the Twilight franchise still poses competition to The Hunger Games films. The latest Twilight film grossed $340.9 million worldwide, and the entire franchise has grossed $2.5 billion in aggregate (Mendelson). The last film in the Harry Potter franchise grossed over $1 billion, making it the 9th movie in history to pass the $1 billion mark. Both Twilight and Harry Potter target similar customer segments: teens to mid-20s. Harry Potter reaches a broader group of consumers, while Twilight focuses on young women by playing up the love triangle in the story. The Hunger Games and Harry Potter franchises avoid confining their fans to one segment by offering elements that appeals to a range of consumers. Both feature a young hero/heroine that breaks through barriers and unifies a population against an oppressive figure. As a longer book series, Harry Potter has an advantage over The Hunger Games in that they can build a relationship with consumers over the course of ten years. In terms of marketing, the Lionsgate marketers likely spent $15 to $20 million less than other Hollywood studios have, using more television advertising for their campaign, said Lionsgate Entertainment Corp Chief Executive Jon Feltheimer (Pomerantz). Lionsgate therefore must compete with the vast amount of television advertisements plus all of the information people are exposed to on Social media sites for their advertising campaigns.
campaign. The traditional marketing campaign included the distribution of 80,000 posters, 50 magazine cover stories, and advertising on 3,000 billboards and bus shelters. Of the $45 million total marketing budget, Lionsgate devoted 10-15 percent of its budget to online promotion (Richwine). By generating online hype and promoting the film across platforms, Lionsgate maximized its potential in advertising for the Hunger Games. The senior VP for Marketing, Danielle DePalma, outlined a day-to-day plan for the online campaign that utilized the digital space and social media platforms (Pomerantz). The campaign established a virtual space for the society of Panem. The marketing team registered the domain name .pn to represent the government of Panem, and developed an interactive site entitled thecapitol.pn, where fans can be sorted into Districts. The site thecapitoltour.pn brings the world to life with a virtual tour. The world of Panem is further personified in the digital space with the Tumblr site, Capitol Couture (See Exhibit 7). Capitol Couture updates fans on the latest fashions for characters in the film and holds contests for outfit recommendations. The interactive sites on the .pn domains help users to affiliate with online communities based on the Districts in the films. The Tumblr site reaches a niche segment of young consumers interested in fashion and the Hunger Games, and allows them to create their own content. In addition to the .pn sites, Lionsgate created a Twitter account and Facebook profile to release updates from the Capitol (See Exhibit 5). The Capitol PN Facebook profiles addresses the citizens of Panem and offers sweepstakes to honor a few lucky loyal fans. Fans who have determined their Districts from thecapitol.pn site can like and post on their Districts Facebook pages. The interactive sites and social media profiles afford fans an active role in the online community. Fans digitally express themselves by identifying as different characters and join online communities based on the Districts in the film. By re-posting on their own pages and
re-tweeting official messages, fans join the online conversation and become active brand ambassadors. To further push customers interest, in the 100 days leading up to The Hunger Games opening, Lionsgate released two posters in 100 puzzle pieces across Twitter (See Exhibit 3). Fans engaged in a treasure hunt to assemble the necessary pieces and share information, organically. As a result, The Hunger Games generated more than 3 million conversations on social websites and successfully created the cross film synergies. The Hunger Games fans achieved a sense of community through virtual connections with other fans creating a social affiliation with other fans.
emphasizing the novelty of the Games and Panems society to Katniss Everdeen and the rebellion. A weakness however from the current promotion strategy is that it is tailored to the plot of the first two films. The current promotion strategy highlights the novelty of the Games and the futuristic society: the Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr paint a clear image of Panem. As the plot progresses, the book series shifts its focus from the portrayal of the society itself, to the progression of the rebellion. The plot emphasizes the political struggle against the oppressive Capitol. The first two books build Katniss as a symbol of hope, while the last book - which will be made into two films - fully capitalizes on her strength as the Mockingjay. She embodies the spirit of the rebellion, inspires districts to take up arms, and joins the fight in the Capitol itself. In preparation for the release of the first film, the online campaign focused on generating buzz about the society of Panem. The campaign introduced the thematic elements to the film in order to target both fans of the book series and the consumers new to the story. Another weakness in the current promotion strategy is that Lionsgate does not have control of the overall message they are trying to send to its consumers about the film using a marketing strategy based mostly online. As anyone online has the freedom to post about the film, Lionsgate risks diluting their message as users communicate on their online portals. Additionally, the current online strategy only hits a certain demographic of young teens and Millenials. Since the film holds a wide demographic audience (with half of their fans over the age of 25), Lionsgate must figure out a way to continue marketing to the older consumer demographic. This also leads to the point that Lionsgate is going to have to find a way to maintain interest in the film through its marketing strategy over the course of the next three films, as people will lose interest in its current social media strategy over time.
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screen.1 This strategy was visually engaging and disrupted the viewer from normal browsing instantly attracting their attention. This strategy was so effective it even garnered media attention. Lionsgate could easily replicate such a highly engaging banner ad and give it a Capitol theme on a traditional site such as Amazon. This would be a highly effective way of engaging non-social media users in their own online space, immersing the segment into the world of the Hunger Games. Lastly, Lionsgate should work to promote the book series with the untapped 25+ year old demographic. By promoting book sales, Lionsgate would be advocating for more people to become invested into the story of the trilogy. As the book holds a wider audience than the current promotion strategy, the books themselves could serve as a powerful potential marketing device. A targeted advertisement for the books on Amazon, for example, would be a simple way to engage untapped consumers through the raw power of the story.
Tumblr, Twitter handle, Facebook page, YouTube page and website. The Twitter handle would release information in character, perhaps sending out updates on the progress of the revolution. The Facebook page could release engagement pieces, such as the ability to register with the revolution and take part in overthrowing the Capitol. The YouTube channel could, for example, release video diaries on the life of a rebel and progress of the revolution. This second online personality opens up another entire world of interaction - between the Capitol and the revolution. Lionsgate could take advantage of this marketing opportunity by having a conversation between Twitter handles, for example. There could be a virtual back-andforth argument where both virtual personas antagonize the other, completely bringing the story of the movies to life. The Capitol persona, across all platforms, could attempt to undermine the revolution, perhaps releasing wanted photographs of fans. On the other hand, the revolution persona could attack the Capitols opulent way of life, criticizing the Capitol fashions Tumblr page. The opportunities for creating rich interaction are endless and spawn greater fan involvement. Fans could even be forced to choose sides, forming alliances with the capitol or the revolutionary districts. This would allow fans to identify further with the culture of the Hunger Games universe. With this interaction, there are multiple opportunities to develop minicampaigns to drive sudden spurts of activity and awareness. Such mini-campaigns could be used for film releases or any other important dates for the film trilogy.
four months, Lionsgate should establish their online revolution persona to mirror the already existing capital persona. With the next movie being released in late November that begins to allude to the revolution in the plot, Lionsgate must build up the hype for the second movie in time for the release of the film. In the next four months, Lionsgate can also continue promoting the book sales through targeted reviews online and advertising on Amazon. In six months, Lionsgate should display interactive banner style advertisements on Amazon.com or the New York Times. This advertising will reach the untapped online consumer segment in time for Catching Fire. In one year, Lionsgate should be ready to release the full online cyber character of the revolution existing across all platforms in order to prepare consumers and raise the hype for the release of the third film Mockingjay. This film is all about the revolution and these online interactions between the Capitol and the revolution will further re-engage consumers to want to see the film. In eighteen months from now, or the beginning of the year 2015, Lionsgate should increase the final momentum for the film with the promotion of the Internet Explorer website to the 25+ consumer market. In addition, they should continue heavily promoting the book sales and release Facebook engagement pieces for fans to register with the revolution to overthrow the Capitol, which follows closely with the plot of the book. Based on previous estimates of the Lionsgate marketing budget from the first film being $45 million, with 10 to 15 percent going toward their online marketing strategy, Lionsgate should expand their budget for the subsequent films by another 5-8 percent in order to accommodate the new online advertising and promotion of the film. Lionsgate should continue its traditional advertising, but divert 5-10% more of their resources to the online marketing campaign as more consumers are responding favorably to these new creative approaches.
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Appendix
Exhibit
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