Hunger Games' Social Media Lesson? The Need for Real-Time (Data) and Longer Lead Time

The word of mouth and promotional frenzy around Lionsgates' Hunger Games has been deafening. It helped the film break box office records -- before it even opened it seemed.

While I may never see the movie (I'm not the target audience), one thing I'm first to admit is that I really like how the movie was marketed.

According to this article in Forbes, the key to The Hunger Games' social media success can be attributed to the use of real-time input from fans and a healthy lead time to build momentum for the film.

"Lionsgate adopted a ongoing continuous process for  improvement based upon user data from their social channels. This is part of a trend where smart marketers are adopting a new approach, one that leverages dynamic customer input instead of the old style of phased, programatic marketing campaigns," says Vince Broady, CEO of thismoment.

Built for Change
It's easy to say, and no secret, that planning cycles and other operational processes need to be more flexible. We need to plan for change. And a steady stream of relevant data makes a more iterative cycle possible.

Whether they're in the digital or offline worlds, our efforts can be optimized for effectiveness and efficiency through real-time data much in the way Lionsgate did.

My data and analytics co-workers take this a step forward and suggest that data equates to a digital persona of the consumer. In a recent presentation entitled, "Humanizing Big Data for Insights & Action," they note that marketers must humanize this data if they are going to learn from it and act upon it.

Whether You're on Real-Time or Internet Time, Social Media Takes Time
For me,  the best part of this article is about midway through when the 10 month promotional build was revealed.

"It was back in June 2011 that Lionsgate and thismoment launched a series of social promotions on YouTube, Facebook, and other social sites to begin the social drumbeat around Hunger Games."

10 months. More than three quarters, but just shy of one full year. We've discussed the need for a committment as opposed to a campaign approach for social media. You cannot flip the switch in the way you can with paid media and create instant engagment with consumers.

So while people may tout social media's role in the success of The Hunger Games, I hope those same people acknowledge that it takes time to build a sustainable level of momentum.

Old Spice All Over Again?
The marketing sex appeal of the Old Spice case study created unfortunate misinformation shortly after Isaiah Mustafa took YouTube by storm. But P&G and its agencies worked long and hard to get things in place ahead of the online campaign. This includes a TV spot on the heels of the Super Bowl and its agency team embedding themselves in Reddit to build the street cred it takes to float a URL there with any success.

Tone Down the Infographic Pr0n
The 10 month factoid may not sex up "that infographic" you can bet we'll see wallpapering Pinterest as soon as I hit publish, but it's critical.

It's also another facet of social media's paradox. Real-data may be more important than ever to inform ever-changing marketing efforts, but it can't speed up the amount of time most marketing efforts require to get results.

Comments

[Michael]

I can absolutely say that I became interested in this book and movie franchise due to the word of mouth effect caused by all of the social media hype surrounding it. Marketing via social media was absolutely the best way to target this movie's target audience; I rarely watch television, and have only seen one commercial for the movie, but because so many of my friends were posting on Facebook and Twitter about the Hunger Games, I decided to read the first book and am now an avid fan. A perfect example of the power of social media!

Michael Marchese
Tulane University

[Matt]

Great article and I agree with you that the movie was marketed beautifully. I think the best thing Lionsgate did was begin to market the film on social media 10 months early like you said. This gave the target market enough time to read the books which only fed their excitement for the movie enough more. As the premiere came closer, you really noticed the increase in social media traffic and commercials which further heightened the excitement. By the time the movie was released, fans were fighting for tickets and the excitement made it a box office legend.

[Taylor Titus]

I really liked this post about the Hunger Games and social media. I know I became interested in The Hunger Games books when I first saw talk about it on social media. After reading the trilogy, social media fed my Hunger Games obsession. I liked the Facebook page and Twitter accounts related to it. They were really good about frequently updating the pages for Fans. Great post!

[Maggie]

I completely agree about the time it takes to create an effective social media campaign. Businesses need to create enough buzz about its products so by the time the product is released, the audience is well-aware and ready to utilize it. The 10 month build-up of The Hunger Games movie had me counting down the days until the movie was actually released, which is the intended reaction to these promotions. The 10 month period also created enough time to allow the audience to read the book series. These movie companies need to be ready to adapt and change to the biggest marketing trends in order to stay on top of the market place and to create memorable and successful brands.

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