Berens: The Free Fall site explicitly states that user information entered on the site will only be kept for the 10-minute duration of the experience (in fact, deleting of personal data is worked into the content of the promotion, and the film itself). How are you planning to use other interactive media to spread the word about the site, without retaining contact information or offering an explicit "send to a friend" call to action?
Powell: The Free Fall experience encourages users to share the experience with their friends via a "share bar" for Stumbleupon, Facebook, Digg, Yahoo Buzz, Reddit and email. We all know that a recommendation from a friend to check out a new campaign is much more impactful than banner advertising. With that said, we do have an advertising campaign across the top social networks encouraging game play.
Berens: In the end, "Eagle Eye Free Fall" leaves the user hanging. I might be contacted again, the screen said, and if so, I'd better do whatever I'm asked. Will there be additional components of this campaign leading up to the premiere of the film?
Powell: That I cannot reveal!
Berens: Time and again digital marketers complain that they don't get access to the original shoot, but you are known for flying to a set with a camcorder when you need to. Were you on set during filming? Did you have to find folks after they dispersed?
Powell: The Free Fall experience is all completely original content which follows the themes of "Eagle Eye" and creates a similar experience for the user, but is not derivative of the film. Rain of Madness (the mockumentary making-of "Tropic Thunder") was also completely original content.
Both projects are what I envision as the next evolution of digital marketing -- the ability to create compelling content which can engage a user for 10 minutes (as is the case with Free Fall) or 30 minutes (the length of Rain of Madness) is an amazing way to generate awareness and interest in a feature film.
Berens: Moving to "Tropic Thunder," it is a movie within a movie, and Rain of Madness is a documentary outside of that movie within the movie. There's an almost Tom-Stoppard-quality to the ever-enfolded boxes. What was the inspiration for this?
Powell: The inspiration behind Rain of Madness was "Hearts of Darkness," which is Eleanor Coppola's documentary about the making-of her husband, Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now." We wanted to offer fans a look behind the scenes of the making of Tropic Thunder and all of the chaos and drama that ensued.
Berens: How challenging was it, creatively, to develop the Rain of Madness site, with all its fake trailers, mini-sites for the actors' other "works," etc.? Were there any concerns about developing a mini-universe that lives above and beyond the world of the film itself? Were there any creative lessons you learned from the experience?
Powell: It was challenging to create all of the content behind the Rain of Madness site. Luckily I have an incredible team who worked tirelessly at maintaining the authenticity of the characters and the tone of the site. We also worked very closely with the filmmakers to extend the characters' back-stories and relationships so they would remain true to the actual feature.
Berens: Are there any interactive tactics you haven't tried yet, but you are dying to find the right film to fit them? Any that you are hoping to retire in favor of more targeted or personalized efforts?
Powell: I'm really excited about the opportunity to build applications both across social networking platforms and mobile outlets. We've been testing a lot of different creative applications and having fun working with new developers, vendors, partners and distribution platforms.
We're reaching the tipping point of being able to create content as an effective means of marketing and advertising, and then allowing the audience to become the mouthpiece of our campaigns. We're even creating segmented content that speaks directly to specific audience segments and then using surgical behavioral targeting advertising techniques to deliver that content to specific users.
<< Previous page
Brad Berens is chief content officer and editor at large at iMedia & CMO Executive Summits.
