Let’s start with a topic near and dear to my heart - The Hunger Games.
The beginning of what is sure to be a massive movie trilogy did more than blow box office sales out of the water ($155 million in the first weekend), it launched a viral social media campaign that captured current and future fans weeks before the premiere. And as a complete Hunger Games fan girl, I loved it.
- The campaign included 13 Facebook pages - each representing a district in the film that interacted with its “citizens” through photos, posts and questions. Each interaction was tweaked to represent the uniqueness of that district and drum up a sense of true community.
- The Capitol had its own Twitter handle that has more than 62,000 followers, tweeting promotional tweets as well as questions and comments as if it was truly the Twitter account of the ruling city of Panem.
- Websites popped up for everything from securing your name and how you died in the Hunger Games to assigning fans a district, name, and allowing you to compete for the role of mayor.
- A Tumblr was even created to highlight the fashions of The Capitol and their citizens. Showing sneakpeaks at the over-the-top look that came to life on screen.
And this is just the beginning. Due to my interactions with the sites above I got frequent, but not overwhelming emails from President Snow himself, urging me to get my tickets and prepare for the 74th Annual Hunger Games. Everywhere you looked online people were talking about the movie, posting links and photos and tweets about their excitement and the information leaked in advance.
The Hunger Games was not the first movie to turn to digital and social media to generate buzz and will not be the last, but their ability to capture the essence of the movie, the characters and The Capitol also captured the fans. And while we’ll never know the direct correlation between the social media push and massive ticket sales, it’s hard to argue that it didn’t help. I’ll admit, I’ve already seen it twice.
May the odds be ever in your favor.
Did you see the Hunger Games or interact with the movie via social media before it came out?
Notes
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nicolleashley answered:
I actually read the BOOKS when they first came out.Then I was just uber excited for the movie.
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natyandcesar reblogged this from everythingissocial and added:
♥
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kandiekittens answered:
No actually. :/
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everythingissocial posted this
