Paramount Pictures and Millennial Media
So how are advertisers currently spending their mobile dollars? On movies, of course.
We know that mobile devices allow advertisers to engage in one-to-one advertising directly with consumers. The advance campaign for movie "Eagle Eye" provides a stellar example of this one-to-one engagement.
In September, Paramount Pictures Corp. teamed up with Millennial Media Inc. to design and launch a mobile advertising and promotional campaign surrounding the release of the DreamWorks film "Eagle Eye." The media component of the campaign consisted of a series of mobile banners delivered across Millennial Media's mobile advertising network over a four-week period. The campaign's objectives were twofold: generate buzz and boost overall awareness, while engaging consumers with a rich interactive experience that mimics concepts from the film.
In "Eagle Eye," two strangers are thrown together by a mysterious phone call from a woman they have never met. Thus, a mobile promotion was a natural fit. Participating consumers are taken to an opt-in mobile landing page where they register and are immediately entered into a sweepstakes for a chance to win a $1,000 gift card.
Registered consumers then immediately receive a call on their mobile device. The message, recorded by the same actress in the film, in conjunction with subsequent SMS messages, directs consumers through the entire mobile interactive experience, which is similar to the plot of "Eagle Eye."
The campaign featured interactive voice response (IVR) and SMS elements. The campaign also contained viral elements, allowing registered consumers to invite their friends to participate in the campaign. An estimated 17 percent of participants joined the campaign through an invitation.
"This campaign provides an excellent example of how advertisers can creatively use today's mobile technologies to connect to their consumers," says Michael Rosenberg, manager of national advertising at Paramount Pictures. "By introducing a comprehensive mobile promotional campaign that is compelling and entertaining, we are delivering a highly distinctive theatrical marketing vehicle which brings our film experience to consumers in a new and exciting way."
With box office competition and film budgets at all-time highs, studios and their agencies have realized that they must elevate their marketing and promotional efforts to higher levels to reach and engage users.
"The 'Eagle Eye Mobile Challenge' campaign actively harnessed the power of mobile devices and cutting-edge technologies to engage consumers in a unique, never-before-seen fashion," says Paul Palmieri, president and CEO of Millennial Media Moreover. "The program readily embraced a multitude of creative technological elements that result in an exciting and highly personal means of experiencing one of the hottest films of the year."
And the storyline from "Eagle Eye" is not all that farfetched from a technology standpoint. Mobile has reach and immediacy that other advertising media can't touch. Remember "Minority Report"?
