Dive Brief:
- Movie studios are turning to social media apps like Whisper, Kik and Snapchat to promote new releases. The idea behind the social app campaigns is to encourage sharing by the apps users.
- Pixar used mobile messaging app Whisper for a five-day campaign marketing “The Good Dinosaur.” In October, Twentieth Century Fox bought the first Sponsored Lens on Snapchat to market “The Peanuts Movie.”
- "Even very simple marketing with GIFs or messages are something that have a lot of social currency and can get passed along from one fan to another," Miguel Caballero, creative director at Trailer Park, told Adweek.
Dive Insight:
In an effort to reach a millennial and Gen Z audience, Hollywood is advertising on social media apps like Snapchat, Whisper and Kik.
The first Sponsored Lens on Snapchat was a one-day campaign promoting “The Peanuts Movie” on Halloween, and Pixar ran a five-day effort on mobile messaging app Whisper for “The Good Dinosaur.” The first Promoted Moment on Twitter was for the movie "Creed" in late October.
Pixar’s Whisper campaign was designed to look more like native content rather than an ad and took advantage of keywords to help users find branded posts about the movie, including stills from the film and the hashtag associated with the movie.
Using social apps for marketing does come at some risk because allowing users to share the content takes control over the message away from the marketer. Also, the millennial and Gen Z audience has shown a certain amount of aversion against being blatantly marketed to.
Trailer Park's Caballero told Adweek, "Generally, we're interrupting someone's day to get a message out, even for brands that are well-loved. But when you're in entertainment, there's a natural affinity as part of culture. It's something that you want to spend part of your day with."
