Findability and Attracting Audiences - Christy Dena

August 2005

Findability & Attracting Audiences

Findability & AttractingAudiences

Christy Dena‘The Business of Digital Distribution’ Seminar,

AFTRS Melbourne11th April, 2006

All comments in this box explainwhat I spoke about inconjunction with the slides. Inthis talk I outline, at each stageof production, the creative waysthat film & TV producers havemade themselves findable &attractive to audiences usingnew media.

August 2005


• Blog, podcast and RSS advertising are thefastest growing segments of the alternativemedia industry.

• These segments, known as user-generatedonline media, expanded at an aggregate 198.4%to $20.4 million in 2005, and are expected togrow another 144.9% to $49.8 million in 2006.[Alternate Media Research Series 1 Report]

I showed these stats on where advertisingspending is being directed, to illustratewhere marketers see the audiences asbeing

August 2005


[Adapted from AlexWipperfürth]

Blair Witch Project• Target niche audiences first for “ripple effect”;

• Internet Junkies• Hardcore Movie Buffs• Art House Movie Goers

• Added traditional marketing techniques afterlaunch to capture mainstream (whilst stilladdressing niche audiences);• All marketing “in-game”/within storyworld (missingposters @ Sundance, IMdb;• Website 2 years before release:

• In-game• Range of media (text, video, stills, audio)• Bite-sized content• Leads into movie time

The immensely successfully campaign forthe Blair Witch Project used techniquesthat are still highly relevant now, such astargeting niches audiences first, makingall advertising an in-story experience…

August 2005


Development

Cho

ose

a go

od to

p le

vel m

eme

“I ask Agent the name of theproject, what it's about, etc. Hesays: Snakes on a Plane. Holyshit, I'm thinking. It's a title. It'sa concept. It's a poster and alogline and whatever else youneed it to be. It's perfect.Perfect. It's the EverlastingGobstopper of movie titles.”Josh Friedman, 17th Aug, 05

One way to facilitate your property to stand out,be attractive and inspire audiences is to create agood core idea and even a title that capturestheir imagination. Audiences, for instance,joined in with the screenwriter Josh Friedmanand embraced the title of the ‘Snakes on a Plane’film to the extent that they…

August 2005


Development

Citizen Marketing:

• film trailers (24,000)

• movie posters

• Blogs,

• T-shirts

• 150+ photos on Flickr

• poems

• songs

• audio trailer

• 14,000 posts+ on Technorati

• 4.5+ mill results in Google

…created huge amounts of content, and became‘citizen marketers’ of the film. Audiences showtheir excitement by creating content. They arewell versed in media languages, they want toshare in the creation of the storyworld. So, whatdid New Line Cinema do in response?

August 2005


Production

Invi

te P

artic

ipat

ory

Des

ign

New Line Cinema invited the fans toparticipate in the creation of the film evenfurther. They gave the fans an authenticway of being a part of the film. Of course,the competition helps keep selling the film& spreading the word too. But New LineCinema didn’t stop there…

August 2005


Production

Ackn

owle

dge

Fans

Went back, after production hadfinished, & shot another 5 days,to address the fansexpectations:• Turned it into an R-rating• Added “more gore, moredeath, more nudity, moresnakes and more death scenes”• And shot a scene whereJackson utters their favouriteadopted line: “I want thesemotherfucking snakes off themotherfucking plane!”[Hollywood Reporter]

August 2005


Production

Blog

& P

odca

st P

rodu

ctio

n

• Blogs and Podcastsare most appealing topeople between theages of 18 and 34.[Jupiter Research]

Share your production process withaudiences through a blog and/or podcast.You need to create an online presence longbefore a launch of your property, sharingthe production process starts a conversationwith audiences. Peter Jackson did it withKing Kong. It facilitates a valuable bondwith audiences who will grow with yourvision and gives them a fan status before theproperty is released.

August 2005


Pre-Launch

Prov

ide

Con

tent

for M

ashu

ps

"Our assets becometheir assets, and that's

how they becomefans of the movie.“

Russell Schwartz, president fordomestic marketing,New Line Cinema

[New York Times]

New Line Cinema (again) have recognisedthe desires of audiences: they want toparticipate in the creation of a product.They’ve offered songs from an upcomingfilm & a special player so that fans cancreate their own mashups. Appropriationof your content is a compliment.

August 2005


Pre-Launch

Arra

nge

Pres

ence

in H

igh

Traf

fic P

orta

ls

• IMDb (Internet MovieDatabase)

• Homepages: NineMSN,Yahoo!7…

Get details about your property onto keysites that have a high search-engineranking, and those that are used ashomepages. Then refer the audiences toyour own site.

August 2005


Pre-Launch

Neg

otia

te P

orta

l Pos

ition

ing

• Print

• EPG

• Mobile Phone

• Online Aggregators

• iTunes

Negotiate, where possible, positioning inthe menus of aggregators. And, of course,include all your meta-data to ensure youcan be retrieved when searched for.

August 2005


Be Y

our O

wn

Porta

l

• Mobile Friendly Website

• Bluetooth, WiFi

• Viacom Outdoors BluetoothCampaign for Channel 4’sfourdocs

Or, be your own portal! Go direct toaudiences by creating a mobile friendlywebsite using free technology such asWinkSite.com, or use wireless distributionlike the documentaries that weredistributed from posters via bluetooth.

August 2005


Messenger Services

– MSN® Messenger

• World-leading free consumer instantmessaging (IM) service

• Serves 155 million MSN Messengerconsumers in 26 languages.

• Facilitates 2.5 billion instantmessages and 15 millionsimultaneous IM connections everyday

• Used in nearly every country in theworld

[Guide to MSN IntegratedCommunication Services, 2005]

Targ

et Y

our A

udie

nces

Thr

ough

Thei

r Tru

sted

Por

tals

: Mes

seng

er

Serv

ices

“Ticket sales foropening weekendtotalled over £10million – a fantasticresult. The richmedia campaign onAOL played no smallpart in achievingthis.”

Patrick Affleck,Senior AccountManager, Zed Media

There is a much wider range of places thataudiences congregate online. Many usethe Internet for chatting via email &messenger services. Many films, likeBridget Jones, have been marketedthrough targeted campaigns on messengerservices.

August 2005


Targ

et Y

our A

udie

nces

Thr

ough

Thei

r Tru

sted

Por

tals

: Gam

es

"The study provides continued evidencethat in-game advertising is a medium

which brand managers across categoriesshould be exploring, particularly if theywant to reach the highly valuable 18-34year old male audience." Henry Piney, Managing

director for Europe, Nielsen Interactive Entertainment[Games Industry Biz]

In-game advertising is another area thatyou can reach audiences who are not, forinstance, watching TV or reading papers.

August 2005


Pre-Launch

Vira

l Cam

paig

n

You can try and create a viral campaign,sending out highly intriguing videos andemails to create a buzz. ‘The Secret’campaign engineered over 75,000 hits ontheir website since Nov 05.

August 2005


Pre-Launch

Vira

l Cam

paig

n

Why Are Ideas Sent?:

• they understand it – based on known concepts,visuals, short jokes, micro content

• they want it to spread

• they believe that spreading it will enhance their power(reputation, income, friendships) or their peace ofmind

• the effort necessary to send the idea is less than thebenefits – easy to send

[Seth Godin]

How Are Ideas Spread Now?

• Email

• Social Bookmarking sites likewww.del.icio.us

• Links (Banners)

To be viral, your content needs to havethese qualities, and make it easy for usersto spread the information – provide quicklinks for them to email, linkback and indexyour site in their social bookmarking sites.

August 2005


Adve

rgam

es

http://diefirst.com.au/

Advergames (flash games that are short,easy to master & are part of your property)are another form of viral advertising.They are usually light jokes, but The HillsHave Eyes film has a scary game forAustralian audiences.

The Death Jr. advergamegenerated over than 1.5million unique visitors in itsfirst month online [eROI]

A month-and-a-half afterhitting shelves, Death Jr.sales are exceedingprojections by 135%[Adverblog]

http://www.deathjr.com/c4hamstergame/

August 2005


Pre-Launch

Inte

rnet

Hun

ts“Never before has anyone tried to orchestrate ascavenger hunt with the breadth of ours and thediversity of partners we have involved. […] Thehunt combines the best of two worlds: fans ofTom Cruise and the franchise will now have theopportunity to get personally involved with themost exciting ‘Mission’ so far, and fans of J.J.Abrams...”Amy Powell, the vice president of interactive marketing,Paramount Pictures[Paramount Pictures Press Release]

You can also run an online scavenger hunt,encouraging audiences to be a part of thestoryworld (like an agent on a mission forinstance), and using search engines to findclues that give them more informationabout the property & builds buzz.

August 2005


Pre-Launch

Alte

rnat

e R

ealit

y G

ames

(AR

Gs)

•Art of the Heist:• 500,000 story participants• 2 million unique visitors to AudiUSA.com• 45 million+ PR impressions (McKinney-Silver)• Gold for New Product Launch, IAB/AdWeek Mixx Conference, 2005• Gold for Online Integration, IAB/AdWeek Mixx Conference, 2005• Silver for Viral/Word of Mouth, IAB/AdWeek Mixx Conference, 2005• Best in Show award, IAB/AdWeek Mixx Conference, 2005 •The Beast:• 3 million+ players all over the world• With ‘well over 300 million impressions through coverage in mainstream media’ • Best Idea, New York Times Magazine• Best Website, Entertainment Weekly• Best Advertising Campaign, Time Magazine• I Love Bees:• 2 million+ players worldwide• “[w]idespread coverage in the gaming press and beyond, including stories in theNew York Times, CNN, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Wired, La Presse,and the London Times”• $125 million opening day [of Halo 2] eclipsed “Spider-Man” record for biggestopening weekend box office take (Becker, 2004)• Best Games-Related Site, Webby Award, 2005• Innovation Award, Game Develops Choice Awards, Game Developer Awards, 2005

(All stats from 42 Entertainment unless otherwise indicated)

ARGs are forms of cross-mediaentertainment that capture the imagination& time of millions of players worldwide.They create buzz and are a dramatic andplayful experience in themselves.

August 2005


• Set 40 years after the movie time;• Websites, faxes, emails, phone calls…• Described by Internet Life magazine as the ‘Citizen Kane of onlineentertainment’ [cited on seanstewart.org]• Played by over 3 million people (evenly male and female) all overthe world;• With ‘well over 300 million impressions through coverage inmainstream media such [as] Time Magazine, CNN, and USA Today,as well as from niche outlets such as Slashdot, Wired, and Ain't itCool News’ [4orty 2wo Entertainment]Awards:

• Best Idea (New York Times Magazine)• Best Website (Entertainment Weekly)• Best Advertising Campaign (Time Magazine)

The Beast, Microsoft & Dreamworks, 2001

Pre-Launch

They involve players rummaging throughwebsites, receiving emails, faxes, listeningto calls, watching webcams, anything tohelp solve cases and save characters. Thekey lesson here: provide content, providean enjoying & compelling experience atevery step of your relationship withaudiences, not just advertising as it hasbeen known…

August 2005


Pre-Launch

Free

Pre

Rel

ease

at T

arge

ted

Audi

ence

siTunes: First episode of NBC’s Conviction offered for free viaiTunes before broadcast, then charged $2 afterwards

Google Video: Launched UPN's Everybody Hates Chris

AOL: Launched Jack and Bobby

Own portal: The Secret feature film offered for free usingVividas technology worldwide

Many TV shows have been launched online,for free even. This targets audiencesdirectly, builds a fan base, facilitates buzzand satisfies users’ craving for new andcool content.

August 2005


Launch

Cro

ss M

edia

Dis

tribu

tion

“Twelve years ago, you could reach 50percent of the [American] audience with

three TV spots, and today, it takesseventy. Media fragmentation has

absolutely forced advertisers to rethinkthe way to build brands.”

Chuck Porter, co-founderCrispin Porter + Bogusky

[Quoted at BrandingUnbound]

I’ve made this point many times: youcannot reach your audience through onemedia channel and through one arts type.People are using a wide range of mediaand their peculiar tastes are being satisfiedwith niche outlets. You’ll need yourwalking shoes…

August 2005


Launch

Cro

ss M

edia

Dis

tribu

tion

“Simultaneous release considered for films.DVDs now provide 59% of studio's featurefilm revenues, compared with 48% in 2004.Last year, only 15% of worldwide revenuescame from cinema attendance, comparedwith 55% in the 1980s, when cinemas hadto battle against the introduction of videos

and pay television.”[Sydney Morning Herald]

Audiencesare global –networked

Audiencescan accessany content,anytime

Consider releasing your property simultaneouslyacross media channels. Audiences expect theircontent on-demand & know when it is available inother parts of the globe, they also have mediadevice preferences – at times wanting to watch ontheir iPod and other times on TV. Why not offer abundle of distribution channels together so thataudiences are driven between them & experiencethe benefits of each? 1 price = 3 portals.

August 2005


Launch

Net

wor

ked

Pivo

t Poi

nt

Provide a site that acts as a pivot point, asignpost, to all the platforms your product isavailable• This increases your search engine status(also use meta-tags, cross-link with high-trafficsites & update regularly, etc);• Drives traffic between your distributionchannels & therefore adds benefits toadvertisers & affiliates;• Adds order to your disparate universe;• Audiences feel in control because they’reaware of all places your property exists;• Is an enticing list of things to do…

TV

Film

August 2005


Launch

Cro

ss-P

rom

ote

• Don’t waste a single opportunityto refer your audiences to yourpivot point or some othercomponent in your property• Glue your Universe together• EVERY asset distributed shouldhave a URL.• The best referrals are primed,they give the audience a reason tomove between platforms

For the secret of life,

go to

www.lamp.edu.au!

August 2005


Post-Launch

Cro

ss M

edia

Rel

ease

: Pod

cast

s Lost total audience rise 14%and ratings for adults 18 to

49 are up 28%

Desperate Housewives'total audience is up 7% and18 to 49 ratings are up 3%

The Office up 31%for adults 18 to 49

[TV Week]

Offering your content over the Internetdoesn’t decrease your TV & Cinemaaudiences, it increases them. Remember,start with online audiences and then moveto traditional forms of media & advertising.Target the early adopters first.

August 2005


Post-Launch

Satis

fy O

n-D

eman

d Vi

ewer

s

Google Video

iFilm

YouTube

ReelTime

Maven…

Audiencesgravitate toplaces thatprovideunmediatedcontent

So satisfy those on-demand viewers byhaving your content available online, at keyportals. These portals have high traffic,and so they’ll be the first point-of-call formost searchers. If they can’t find youonline, they’ll give up on you pretty quickly.Places that offer content, for free is wherethe action is.

August 2005


Post-Launch

Satis

fy O

n-D

eman

d Vi

ewer

s

BBC’s iMP (integrated Media Player) 4 month Trial:

• Download TV shows within 7 day of transmission window

• Appealed to both males & females

• All genres downloaded, with comedy, drama and documentaries (most popular)

• 5,000 users downloaded 150,000 programmes

• Niche content was big too

• Most of the viewing took place between 10.00pm and 11.00pm, after the traditionaltelevision peak viewing hours [informitv]

The BBC realise how important on-demandviewing is. They even found that the theywere watching the content out of peakhours. On-demand viewing is not acompetition.

August 2005


Post-Launch

Not

ify F

ans

Dire

ctly

• Veronica Marscharacter left a voicemessage on fans’phone 45 mins beforethe show;

• Ratings climbedfrom a 1.4 share to2.7;

• Traffic to the show'swebsite jumped500%

[Third Screen Media andCarat Fusion]

Be creative, people are busy, give them anin-story invite to join your property again.

August 2005


Post-Launch

Addr

ess

Pers

onal

ised

Por

tals

• Opposite to Walled GardenPortals

• Personalise Google

• RSS (Really SimpleSyndication) Feeds:

• they can own you

• stay informed

• push content

RSS/XML feed users aremost likely to be in theage range of 35 to 44

[Jupiter Research]

Once an audience has found you need togive them a compelling reason and theability to keep you close. Update regularlyand supply content through RSS feeds.Personalised portals mean audiences arefeed your updates directly, rather thanthem coming to you. RSS is also being usedto push mobile phone content..

August 2005


Post-launch

Extra

s Po

dcas

ts

Don’t want to or cannot supply yourcontent in new media forms? Share metacontent, podcasts about the music, makingof, scripts, interviews and so on about yourshow. Give authentic & generous content.

August 2005


Audiences• Are fragmented: reach through multiple media

channels;

• Use multiple media channels: compliment andcross promote;

• Have their own sites of trust: reach throughtrusted communities;

• Have too many choices: rise above the crowd;• Are global: be accessible worldwide;• Want unimpeded access: be accessible 24

hours a day, from anywhere in the world;• Are busy: help us find you quickly and enjoy the

search;• Have a voracious appetite: keep supplying

more;

August 2005


Laboratory of Advanced Media Production

www.lamp.edu.au

Christy Dena

www.cross-mediaentertainment.com

Findability and Attracting Audiences - Christy Dena

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