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Universal have posted the first 9 minutes of Serenity for people to see for free on the net. It's unedited with every second being what you see in the cinema. Now, I'm not going to make this a "You must all see Serenity" post because while I think the film is great that's not what this post is about. This strategy is fantastic - actually I'll go as far as saying that in the wider scheme of of the movie industry this strategy is vital. Why?
This is finally a marketing technique that I wholeheartedly approve of because it's a studio putting its money where its mouth is.
There's a lot of films that come out during the year that I'm suspicious about. Trailers, as we all know from the Phantom Menace, can be deceptive and sometimes be infinitely more enjoyable than the film they advertise. Other times, unless you are are confident with the actors or a director, it can be hard to commit yourself to a movie. I haven't seen the Wedding Crashers, for example, because comedy can be incredibly hit or miss for me. I loved Starsky and Hutch but it's not the same production talent, just similar cast. Had I been able to see the first 9 minutes of Wedding Crashers I'd have been able to make up my mind as to whether the humour was on my wavelength.
I think it's an incredibly important strategy these days. We can't rely on advertising. We can't rely on critics all *that* much either. We can rely on our friends but if they haven't seen it then you're out of luck. What I can rely on is watching the first 10 minutes of a movie and seeing if I'm hating it or not. That's putting your money where your mouth is. That's a movie studio saying "We think this movie can stand up on its own and a lot of people will like it, here take a look and see if you want to see more".
I'm pretty cinema savvy but I'm certain that there's a lot of movies that I'd really enjoy out there that I avoid simply because I dont have enough to go on. I don't buy albums unless I've listened to it first so why not the same with cinema?
I hope more movie studios start doing this. I want to go to the cinema, so give me a reason to believe that the money I'm spending is going to be worth my night out. If it's not, that's ok because it might be good for someone else. If I like what I see then that's one more movie that I might not have discovered until it came out to rent... or even never.
Bravo, universal. Let's hope this technique catches on.
This is finally a marketing technique that I wholeheartedly approve of because it's a studio putting its money where its mouth is.
There's a lot of films that come out during the year that I'm suspicious about. Trailers, as we all know from the Phantom Menace, can be deceptive and sometimes be infinitely more enjoyable than the film they advertise. Other times, unless you are are confident with the actors or a director, it can be hard to commit yourself to a movie. I haven't seen the Wedding Crashers, for example, because comedy can be incredibly hit or miss for me. I loved Starsky and Hutch but it's not the same production talent, just similar cast. Had I been able to see the first 9 minutes of Wedding Crashers I'd have been able to make up my mind as to whether the humour was on my wavelength.
I think it's an incredibly important strategy these days. We can't rely on advertising. We can't rely on critics all *that* much either. We can rely on our friends but if they haven't seen it then you're out of luck. What I can rely on is watching the first 10 minutes of a movie and seeing if I'm hating it or not. That's putting your money where your mouth is. That's a movie studio saying "We think this movie can stand up on its own and a lot of people will like it, here take a look and see if you want to see more".
I'm pretty cinema savvy but I'm certain that there's a lot of movies that I'd really enjoy out there that I avoid simply because I dont have enough to go on. I don't buy albums unless I've listened to it first so why not the same with cinema?
I hope more movie studios start doing this. I want to go to the cinema, so give me a reason to believe that the money I'm spending is going to be worth my night out. If it's not, that's ok because it might be good for someone else. If I like what I see then that's one more movie that I might not have discovered until it came out to rent... or even never.
Bravo, universal. Let's hope this technique catches on.
