Trailers don’t provide the viral marketing the studios believe they do
By Grant Keller
19 october 2018 - Los Angeles, California. USA: Hollywood Sign between Palm trees from central Los Angeles
It’s December 18th, and I am standing in line at the IMAX at my local AMC waiting to be let in for the first public screening of “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” I’ve waited three years for this movie, and the last hour is killing me.
Once I’m seated the trailers begin. 28 minutes and counting. The Odyssey IMAX preview ends, we go through the slew of Disney trailers, and hit the AMC bumpers. First I’m told how “light is our hero”, then I see a Coca-Cola dance battle get a couple together before Nicole Kidman finally appears.
I sigh in relief. It’s movie time.
Except… it isn’t.
The green banner trailer approval sign appears. What’s going on?
It’s “The Avengers: Doomsday” trailer. Ugh.
My “ugh” has nothing to do with the trailer itself or the film it’s promoting, it has everything to do with the pomp and circumstance I had to view this advertisement with. I just had to endure nearly a half hour of trailers, why wasn’t this included there?
The answer is the same reason the “Supergirl” trailer was screened for the press and introduced by DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran, director Craig Gillespie, and star Milly Alcock at an actual event in New York City. This type of viral marketing is a way the studio attempts to drum up excitement for the movie in a way footage from the films can’t. Influencers tell their viewers why they need to be there opening night. But unless you are already deep in the fandom for these things, this type of marketing and behavior pushes viewers away.
If studios want to do viral marketing right, they should look to what A24 and Timothée Chalamet did with “Marty Supreme”. Instead of making the trailer an event, they made the movie the event, making it already one of the studio’s highest grossing films ever thanks to their various stunts from the movie star appearing atop The Sphere in Las Vegas, the launching of a clothing line and blimp, all leading into the mantra “Marty Supreme Christmas Day,” with no film footage required.
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