This summer has been an exciting and interactive season for mobile marketing and blockbuster hits. We’ve seen a lot of adoption of and utilization of the “third screen,” as our VP of Sales and Marketing Spencer Brannan calls it, allowing movie and television producers to bridge the gap between their viewers and the screen they’re watching.
Several fall movies that are being promoted right now include a mobile marketing approach to attempt to virally increase movie attendance, including one of our own with the movie House at the End of the Street.
Another prominent and upcoming movie is Parnormal Activity 4, which introduces a text call to action at the end of the released trailers. This call to action prompts a viewer to opt-in to the movie’s campaign, then sending an exclusive trailer (see the image to the left) not released to the public, as well as methods to make sharing this campaign and trailer with friends more easy and convenient.
While the Paranormal Activity series isn’t world renowned for it’s artistic film-making qualities, one thing they are good at is engaging their audience, and marketing in a viral way. By encouraging participation in their mobile campaign with the promise of exclusive trailers and details about the upcoming movie, the marketing minds behind Paranormal Activity are starting off a successful mobile campaign to the tee, and will likely see large participation rates across the country.
But we’ve also seen that mobile campaigns aren’t just for movies and that television shows can engage an audience just as well (if not better).
The popular television show Breaking Bad, though seemingly controversial, has always gotten rave reviews for it’s place as a “social” television show.
The show has been able to generate buzz on social networks like Twitter and Facebook by engaging viewers in contests, questionnaires, and conversations while everyone is guessing what Walt will do next. But while it’s no question that Breaking Bad has gotten Social down, their entrance into mobile with the show’s fifth and final season has been exciting to see unfold.
With AMC’s newly released “Story Sync” app for Android and iOS devices, viewers are provided with “supplemental content” before, during, and after each episode is aired. As John Paul Titlow notes,
“In many cases, [Story Sync] was as simple as a poll asking viewers for their opinions about something that had just happened in the show. The auto-refreshing feed also included graphics and quotes from previous episodes, which provided pertinent context and details at precisely the right moments.”
AMC’s Story Sync has proven that mobile marketing can be used for far more than just advertising. They are using the mobile channel as a way to communicate exclusive content and additional details to the viewers of their beloved shows – and as a self-pronounced Breaking Bad fanatic, I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed the Story Sync experience.
So what does all this mean to you? How does Hollywood’s adoption of mobile affect the customer base of small to medium sized businesses and restaurants? Hollywood’s adoption of the mobile channel is an introduction. Consumers and viewers are one in the same – both are looking for ways to feel that they are getting exclusive content and special treatment from a brand that (otherwise) probably doesn’t even know their name.
That’s what utilizing the mobile channel is all about. It’s about connecting with your customers at quite possibly the most personal level – their mobile phones – and then using that connection to foster a relationship that not only increases brand awareness and loyalty, but eventually lands your business more customers due to the adoption of mobile.
While we are set to see more and more mobile interaction with each passing day, it’s not too late to check it all out. Give us a call today to learn more about how you could be engaging your customers on the mobile channel and capitalize on the adoption of mobile throughout the country.