Filmmaker J.J. Abrams (the man behind popular television shows like Lost and Alias) has been working on his latest movie, Cloverfield, with Paramount studios for over a year. Using a veil of secrecy and tease marketing tactics made popular by brands like Harry Potter and Halo 3, the team behind Cloverfield has generated an online buzz and word-of-mouth clamor that reached a fever pitch just before the movie came out on Friday.
From the beginning, Abrams has stated that his plan was to create a monster movie for the YouTube generation, so viral marketing was a natural extension of that vision. The Cloverfield website, itself, was a blatant form of tease marketing. The site was called 1-18-08.com and included a few teasing pictures that got people talking about what would happen on January 18, 2008.
Social media marketing quickly followed with the online buzz flowing to blogs, fansites, forums and more.
People were curious about Cloverfield, and like classic tease marketing of brands before it, the Cloverfield marketing team made sure that people were left wanting more. That led to fans speculating about the movie and attempting to fill in the gaps. One way they tried to fulfill their perceived need for more information was through artwork where people tried to guess what the monster in Cloverfield would look like.
To keep the momentum going, the marketing team behind Cloverfield continued to release bits and pieces of information. Trailers were soon discovered online, but they were shot from what seemed to be a shaky camcorder (turns out the entire movie is shot like this imitating news coverage), again adding to the hype, tease and inevitable speculation that would follow.
The marketing strategies and tactics used to promote Cloverfield before it was released on January 18th are not new to the marketing world, but as several popular brands before Cloverfield have proven, when those strategies and tactics are put together, they can be very powerful.
Can you think of any other brands that have successfully merged viral marketing, social media marketing, word-of-mouth marketing and tease marketing to create a powerful fanbase for that brand prior to its launch (or early in the brand's lifecycle)?
» Cloverfield and the YouTube Audience from LandingTheDeal
There's a great article over at MarketingBlurb by my colleague Susan Gunelias. She talks about the new movie "Cloverfield", which looks kind of like "The Blair Witch Project" on Godzilla-caliber steroids.Susan makes ... [Read More]
Tracked on: January 21, 2008 11:40 PM | Permalink to Trackback