Film Promotional Campaign Case Studies

 

1.)    ‘X-MEN: First Class’ digital magazine- The 2011 Marvel superhero film used an innovative and interesting approach to generate interest. They decided to release an iPad app named “X-MEN Extra”, the app was an digital and fully interactive magazine, the magazine is full of audio clips, videos and animations. The app is highly immersive and uses figures such as JFK and Fidel Castro to engage the reader and focus on the 60s theme. The app was a free gift from Fox, it functions like a print magazine except you literally have to flick through the pages, and there are even subtle hints at the plot for the hard-core fans. The campaign was a piece of brilliance, it enabled fans to put themselves back in time and make them excited for the release of the film, it was even free making it fully accessible to all users. Also released were a series of trailers showcasing the new characters, such as Mystique to build interest. The DVD and Blu-ray release was on September 9, 2011, it sold around 575,000 disks in the first week! Here is the theatrical film poster:

 

 

2.)    ‘The Maze Runner’- The 2014 epic featured a group of young adults who were unknowingly involved in a government experiment. The viral campaign for the film focused on this surveillance aspect, people could go on wckdisgood.com and see the characters themselves as they do their daily activities, the design of the website made it seem as if the video was a live stream creating a real sense of immersion and interactivity. Recently the website has been updated to create attention for the second film ‘The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials’. Character cards were released in July 2013, there were eleven in total, and this was to build up the release of the trailer on April 16, 2014. Furthermore, the original book was re-released with a brand new cover to link it to the film's poster. Nissan released several new car models to help promote the new film; this included the Infiniti Q50, Nissan GT-R and the Juke Nismo RS. The bonus pack for The Maze Runner’s DVD and Blu-ray combo pack included two hours of bonus features, extras and an exclusive comic book. Here is the theatrical film poster:

3.) ‘The Blair Witch Project’- The 1999 indie horror film grossed over $248m worldwide. The film was one of the first to use the internet as a main source of marketing; an official website was released, it featured fake police reports and interviews, an interesting device which was used was the fact that it was never mentioned whether or not the film was fictional or a real documentary, sparking debates across the interest, creating hype. Fliers were handed out at the Sundance Film Festival, asking viewers if they had any information regarding ‘missing’ students (in reality they were just the film characters). On the website, immersion was created through the use of childhood photos of the actors, giving the film an extra dose of realism. A soundtrack was released: ‘Josh’s Blair Witch Mix’, the collection of tracks is supposedly hand-picked by student Joshua Leonard, one of the characters from the film. The tape was allegedly found in his car after his disappearance. Comic books, video games and books also followed the film’s release. The Blair Witch Project was released on DVD on October 26, 1999, it included exclusive special features such as newly discovered footage. In 2010, Lionsgate released a Blu-ray version, showing the film still has relevance today.  Here is the theatrical film poster: