Twilight is a Vampire movie based on the bestseller novel of the same name and series by Stephenie Meyer. The film makers ‘Summit Entertainment’ expected at the most for Twilight to be a cult movie, but based on the film’s opening night in London’s Leicester Square last night, which saw scores of fans camping out overnight just to see the cast, this movie it set to become a blockbuster.
What we have witnessed here is a great example of word of mouth marketing. This film has experienced what Malcolm Gladwell would call ‘The Tipping Point’ whereby the consumers have created buzz far beyond any pre-designed marketing hype.
The buzz surrounding the film has been helped through online user generated content such as YouTube videos, photos, etc… as well as the gap in the market left by Harry Potter.
When a community such as the Twilight example, takes control and creates folklore around the brand it is magical and what social media buzz marketing is all about.
However, what Summit Entertainment need to do is engage more with this community immediately as to ignore this buzz would be a sin and one hell of a wasted opportunity.
Engage with the community and continue the buzz marketing
Summit Entertainment should look to get involved with the community and its devoted fans, they need to engage in conversation with them, listen to what tools they want and play in the sandpit alongside their consumers, not only to support the momentum of the buzz but also to build trust and ultimately brand loyalty.
The film company could offer to include some of the best user generated videos and content to be included on the DVD release – how cool would that be! Why not create a virtual world where consumers can create their own characters within the Vampire world and interact with one another including the brand. Within this virtual world the film company could set up an online shop selling merchandise such as T-shirts that have been designed by members and chosen by the community via rankings, ratings or polls - think the Threadless model.
Looking to the future, Summit Entertainment is already planning a sequel so they will have an already engaged social graph yearning for more and there is great potential for the film company to generate social capital. The community surrounding the brand should be invited by the film company to preview the sequel online and online mini films should be created to continue community engagement leading up to the new release.
There are hundreds of opportunities to support engagement and continue the buzz through social media with the ultimate payoff being brand loyalty.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Damla 07.26.09 at 4:37 pm
Yes, I think you are really right. When they continue to do such activities that you mentioned, they will continue to become more and more popular. I saw that they gave chances to the fans to make theır own small films of what twilight mean to them as ‘be part of new moon’ for the second film. As it’s nowadays my research topic, I’m really interested how they going to proceed wıth the rest 3 or 4 films?
Regards,
Damla