In 2010, the science fiction movie, Avatar, brought a visual feast to this world. The audience were shocked by the creative plot, IMAX technique and fabulous image design. In North America, it won 42.9 millionsbox office; and 1.33 billions boxoffice in the world.
How did this movie won the honorable reputation?
1. Word-of-mouth Marketing
Before the release of “Avatar,” James Francis Cameron attended to most movie conferences.
His well-known film “Titanic” is a miracle in movie history. The reorganization of James’s profession and great impression of view of the movie create the positive world-of-mouth.
Most audience suggested “Avatar” to friends and families to create a successful circular
marketing chain to promote this movie.
2. Information Marketing
In 2010 November, Fox signed a contract with MTime, a movie promotion website to promote
“Avatar.” MTime designed a specified page and set a program that the film related information
will only be released when click rates are over 10 millions. This aroused the audience’s
curiosity and interest to click; thus, every click will become once effective promotion.
Except the brief introduction of plots, MTime also offered some 3D pictures and movie clips to attract the audience and make them understand how necessary to enjoy a 3D Avatar in cinema
instead of watching a 2D films at home. Meanwhile, most cinemas launched a ticket competition
to stimulate people to buy tickets. Also, related online games drove up people’s interest.
3. Celebrity charm
Owning or being appreciated by influential celebrities is a key to promote products. Lucky,
“Avatar” has them all:“Golden Partner” director,James F. Cameron and producer,Jon Landau;
the hero and shero were acted by Sam Worthington who acted in “Terminator 2018” and Zoey
Saldana acting in “Star Trek.” This combination gave the audience hopeful expectation.
Also, “Avatar” was appraised by a lot famous industry insiders.
How do you think Avatar’s marketing tactics have helped the movie, even in present day (3 years after its release!)? Do you think that marketing helped them to win the countless awards they did?
Thanks for your comments. Basically, I wrote about their marketing success in the past before and during the movie released time(not now). Actually, I mainly focused on China’s movie market and by using that tatics I mentioned above, they won a really huge business success. As for you mentioned about the awards, yes, Avatar is an amazing movie I loved it so much. It deserved that much of prizes. However, in some degree, we cannot perfectly link the prizes with box office and success. In reality, movies are evaluated by professionals who don’t have the exact same degree when they watching those movies as most audience. From my experience, most movies released before winning the prizes; thus, the box office and reputation have less connection with the prizes they win in the future. Thus, before Avatar released, the promotion and marketing tatics helped them a lot attract the audience.