Warner Bros. puts 'Matrix' tweets at center of global DOOH campaign

Dive Brief:

Warner Bros., in partnership with Dive Networks and Twitter, is showcasing tweets from fans of the "Matrix" franchise on digital billboards in the U.S., Mexico and Japan, according to a press release emailed to Marketing Dive. With the Dec. 22 premiere of "The Matrix Resurrections," each city that's part of the effort is seeing a different set of tweets from fans who live in that market.
The billboards, located near movie theaters where the film is playing, show a video of Keanu Reeves, who stars in the film as the hero Neo, summoning tweets from fans. Twitter Billboards, which extends Twitter campaigns into the physical world with digital out-of-home (DOOH) billboards, powers the effort.
By bringing local tweets to digital billboards in real time, Warner Bros. hopes to engage fans in the excitement surrounding the first "Matrix" film in nearly 20 years. Fans can tweet #TheMatrixResurrections for a chance to be on a billboard in their city.

Dive Insight:

The Warner Bros. DOOH campaign is designed to entice film fans who may be out and about into theaters. Marketers' interest in outdoor advertising has gained strength this year with the expectation that more people would be leaving their homes to shop, go out to eat and return to movie theaters as concerns around the pandemic waned. However, the "Matrix" effort arrives amid a spike in COVID-19 infections due to the omicron variant, which could dampen the impact.

By leveraging the real-time nature of the Twitter timeline and extending it to the real world via digital billboards, Warner Bros. hopes to engage and immerse fans in the excitement surrounding the upcoming release 20 years after the last Matrix film. Tweets will be refreshed on the billboards throughout the campaign. People whose tweets are featured will be sent photos of them.

"Using jaw-dropping digital out-of-home placements and custom captured footage from Keanu Reeves, casual travelers can get immersed in 'The Matrix Resurrections' and share the excitement with the community of fans both online and in the real world," said Bryan Warman, senior vice president of worldwide digital marketing for Warner Bros., in a statement.

Nearly nine out of 10 advertising executives agreed that people have increased alertness outside of their homes that translates to receptivity to outdoor ads, according to research from Alfi. In particular, young, affluent consumers who interact with DOOH ads are more likely to spread the word and to conduct mobile searches compared to their interactions with other media.

The top reason (61%) that new DOOH campaigns were introduced over the last year and a half was because of creative flexibility enabled by programmatic, according to DPAA research. Marketers were empowered by schedule flexibility and newly available inventory they could access through their preferred platform. Interest in DOOH is expected to remain strong in the coming year. Eight in two marketers said they would recommend DOOH in their media plans in the next year, according to DPAA.