If you’ve ever made a film or worked on promoting one, you know that one of the most important marketing components is word of mouth. Whether it’s a mention of the movie you saw last weekend to your barista, a Facebook meme about your child’s new favorite video, or the very latest film that your friends saw… you probably have given or received recommendations! As part of our mission to draw together faith and family in modern culture, FrontGate recently completed work to promote the family movie Smurfs: The Lost Village to the faith-based audience through our Blogger Network… where we engaged our bloggers to review the film because there is no better recommendation than a personal one!
Smurfs: The Lost Village released on April 7, 2017 in the US and across the world with varying global release dates. The animated tale was well-received by younger and older viewers alike. “In this fully animated, all-new take on the Smurfs, a mysterious map sets Smurfette and her best friends Brainy, Clumsy and Hefty on an exciting and thrilling race through the Forbidden Forest filled with magical creatures to find a mysterious lost village before the evil wizard Gargamel does. Embarking on a rollercoaster journey full of action and danger, the Smurfs are on a course that leads to the discovery of the biggest secret in Smurf history! (Source)”
Campaign Goals and Target Audience:
FrontGate was hired to create awareness of the film for opening weekend, and to give parents and moviegoers personal and tangible inspiration to see the movie. The target audience was families who would be taking children to the movie or seeing it together. We added a secondary goal to the promotion: to collect email addresses.
About the campaign:
FrontGate utilized our Blogger Network, social media platforms, and our unique “Christian Freebies” email list to comprise a multi-faceted, ten-day campaign.
Results:
Nineteen bloggers generated 487,313 impressions across social media through personalized blog posts about the movie, and social media messages across platforms such as Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus. We provided the bloggers with a fun discussion guide which was also used on their posts. FrontGate also secured 150 new family email addresses from the promotion. A bonus email to our “Christian Freebies” subscriber list of approximately 5000 subscribers earned 730 opens (an amazing 14.6% open rate) and generated 92 clicks.
A few examples of the blog content are included below:
Another thing that has me super excited about this new Smurf adventure, though, is the faith-based discussion guide that you can download here. It’s set up almost like a devotional, with scripture, a short lesson, and questions for discussion, and I like that a regular, secular movie is being examined this way.
~A Nest in the Rocks Mom
One of my all time favorite cartoons of the 80’s growing up was the Smurfs. Their cute little homes and adventures had me fixed on the T.V. Saturday mornings. I am so honored to help promote my little pals. The Smurfs are back from the 80’s land of la la lala la la to 2017 with the most EPIC adventure you could ever imagine a Smurf or any human for that matter to take. All the old favorite characters are back in all their lovable cute glory.
~Suzie’s View Mom
Related links:
Contact us if you are interested in our Blogger Network or other Social Media Mangement and Promotional services.