Warner Home Video is the home video division of Warner Bros. Wokosin’s position as Executive Director, Interactive Marketing grants him worldwide responsibility for B2B, B2C and e-business initiatives for the division. On the B2C side, this involves online marketing, promotion and advertising for franchises such as Harry Potter, Matrix and Scooby in addition to generating awareness for the extensive 7,000+ title library.
For B2B, Warner Home Video has a Website that will be globalized for over 15 territories by year-end that speaks to the needs of its retail, distributor and business partners worldwide. In regards to e-business, the brand has a number of ongoing initiatives that involve content management, digital asset management and workflow. Recently, Wokosin shared his perception of the interactive space and rich media with iMedia.
Meet Mike at the iMedia Brand Summit, September 21 – 24 in Tamaya, New Mexico.
iMedia Connection: Has your company executed any online campaigns recently? If so, what did it involve and what made it successful?
Wokosin: We’re constantly launching B2C campaigns. Warner Bros. has between 25 and 35 theatrical releases each year, which subsequently migrate into the home video window and are supported online to some degree. We typically have a mix of online outreach (PR), a media buy and promotion. We’ve had good success with rich media and trivia to engage hard-core fans and allow fringe fans to see a sample of a film. We’re very fortunate in that we have great content to work with and an audience or demographic that seeks that content out.
iMedia Connection: Have you learned any lessons from these campaigns?
Wokosin: As part of the ongoing process, we review and evaluate every campaign we run and tweak the placement and format of media based on performance.
iMedia Connection: What does your company have planned for the future in order to approach the interactive space in different and unique ways?
Wokosin: I don’t think we specifically approach planning with the objective to do things different, but we do believe in continuous improvement. That may be in the form of different types of content or delivery methods or placement that we tweak based on prior performance. The benefit of this learning process is that we continue to move along the learning curve and deliver more value to the brands and franchises we represent.
iMedia Connection: How did online advertising contribute to your company's overall sales goals last year?
Wokosin: Because marketing campaigns necessarily consist of so many components both online and offline, that’s a tough question that our own executive team loves to ask because of the targeted, traceable nature of the online space. We try to focus in on the efficiency of the spend -- what we get out of it and who it reaches compared to offline. There is a direct correlation to sales or click through when we include e-tailers in an online promotion or email but we keep those numbers between WHV and our e-tailer partners.
iMedia Connection: When do you expect interactive to take a larger share of the total marketing budget?
Wokosin: Quite frankly, the online penetration numbers across a broad spectrum of demographic strata are already there to support it here in the United States let alone in some countries worldwide. For some business segments it’s already happening. I think it will be interesting to see what happens as we move out of this most recent recession and how marketers begin to re-evaluate their marketing mix and the role of interactive.
iMedia Connection: You mentioned that you’ve had good success with rich media. Can you elaborate on how you perceive rich media? Do you think the benefits make up for the cost?
Wokosin: For our business, rich media is a great tool, and the cost is justified by the response we get. We are always looking to incorporate it into a campaign. Then again, we are talking about Harry Potter and Matrix and not canned meat.
iMedia Connection: Have you tested out any of the emerging technologies such as wireless, iTV etc?
Wokosin: We’ve looked at wireless but for the experience, it’s still kind of clunky. However, it’s absolutely something to look at in the near future.
iMedia Connection: How do you evaluate different sites for media placement?
Wokosin: Each of our titles has a unique demographic appeal be it “Bogart”, “Babylon 5” or the first series of “ER”, and there are sites that match up to that demographic that can deliver the audience.
iMedia Connection: Is there any knowledge you can impart to traditional advertisers that may be hesitant to enter into the online space?
Wokosin: Get in and start learning what works for your brand. Experiment and continue to learn. Believe me, there is a way to reach your audience even if it is canned meat. Be creative and take risks because the risk isn’t all that great.
