Warner Home Video's exec. director of interactive marketing talks to iMedia about what it takes to keep an entertainment property fresh and engaging throughout its lifecycle.
Joseph Eibert is the executive director of interactive marketing at Warner Home Video. Since 2001, he has managed all facets of online marketing, including creative, advertising, promotions, publicity, content, media research and retailer support. Each year, Eibert oversees 100+ campaigns, ranging from multi-million dollar blockbusters, such as the Harry Potter films, to evergreen TV franchises like Scooby-Doo, to classic movies like "Ben-Hur", "Casablanca" and "The Wizard of Oz".
Jodi Harris: Joe, what are your interactive responsibilities at Warner Home Video?
Joe Eibert: My responsibilities focus on five different areas-- media, PR, promotions, content and retailer support. There's media, which is, obviously, buying advertising. With online PR, we use content to get editorial coverage on entertainment, media and fans sites. We have promotions that we integrate with our advertising campaigns. There's the content itself -- developing websites, games-- anything that engages consumers. Lastly, we have retail support, such as clips that we can provide to an Amazon.com, or other etailers to help sell our products.
Harris: What would you say that Warner Bros. does very well, or that you are involved in specifically, to make its brands stand out from everything else that is out there?
Eibert: Warner Bros. does a great job of engaging consumers. For instance, three of our most successful films last year were "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", "Batman Begins" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". With each of those films, we took well-known characters and storylines and enhanced them in a way to make them must-see movies and must-own DVDs.
Another example is the "Polar Express" "Wish It and Win It" giveaway we launched last year. Consumers could create and win everything on their Christmas wish list and instantly win gift certificates by finding hidden bells or playing games on the site. The promotion was successful for a few reasons. First, it was relevant and useful for our consumers (young children). Second, it created excitement and engaged our consumers' imagination. Lastly, it reinforced core themes from the film and, in turn, increased product awareness and interest.
Harris: As far as social networking, and blogs, and other forms of it are concerned, is Warner doing anything specific with MySpace, or its counterparts?
Eibert: With social networking, it's really about "community". The big opportunity is to create word-of-mouth and buzz around your product. With MySpace and fan sites, you can reach hard-core fans and turn them into product evangelists.
For example, we created a "Corpse Bride" DVD MySpace profile with clips, podcasts, love advice and a poetry contest. We reached Tim Burton and animation fans, and they started placing the clips on their profiles, posting messages and submitting poems-- in other words, building buzz and re-igniting the excitement around the film.
Harris: Speaking of "Corpse Bride", as well as another recent Warner success, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", there were very distinctive branding campaigns for their DVD releases. On their own, they had really engaging, interactive components. What advice can you give about making the user experience integrated, but unique, through the lifecycle of the film?
Eibert: The key is to maintain a consistent and constant message that's true to the brand while leveraging the distinct mechanisms that allows for unique user experience.
Interactive marketing is a powerful tool, as it's a dynamic medium where fans of movies can become more engaged and participate through contests, sweepstakes, blogs, et cetera. It's something that books or movies alone cannot offer. So we use interactive to creatively engage and enforce the same brand message throughout the lifecycle of a film.