Movie Studio Turns to Internet Instead of Super Bowl Spot For "2012" Film
In an interesting, yet not unexpected turn of events, a major Hollywood summer blockbuster has decided to forgo the typical 30 second Super Bowl ad spot for a cheaper and infinitely more creative digital campaign.
Director Roland Emmerich's (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) latest foray into the disaster genre, 2012 is attempting to harness the power of Internet conspiracy theorists to market the upcoming film.
What's interesting is that in the current version of the film's teaser trailer (view below), instead of directing viewers to the film's official website, they are instructed to run a google search on 2012. Notice the official website for 2012 does not appear until halfway down the results page.
According to a recent AdAge article, the motives behind this move is a "sneaky viral plan" that includes a plot to seed the Internet with various conspiracy websites and information about the year 2012, and the role it might play in the end of the world.
With most 30-second television ad spots rising in cost and providing lower ROIs year after year, it's not surprising that more and more industries are turning to the Internet for marketing opportunities. We've seen Hollywood trend towards the Internet for several years now, most recently with the detailed viral campaigns for Cloverfield and The Dark Knight.
It's my opinion, and frankly, the opinion of many others - that we'll see more and more advertising and marketing dollars move from traditional forms of advertising (newspaper, television, etc.) to digital/interactive forms. Plain and simple - it works, and it works cheaply.
What are some of your favorite examples of digital or interactive marketing campaigns?
