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December 09, 2004
Creating pre-release evangelists
A slimmed-down Peter Jackson isn't making "King Kong" in secret; he has a rather elaborate blog and a video-based "production diary" of the film's creation. It's like "Project Greenlight" without all of the amateur filmmaker pettiness.
Jackson's videoblog entries treat viewers like VIPs. We're given elaborate behind-the-scenes mini-tutorials on specific filmmaking subjects. The most recent entry, which Jackson says blog readers requested, was about cameras and lenses.
By letting fans watch the making of the film as it's being created, Jackson is giving us a cool backstage pass that's a fractional cost of the typical Hollywood marketing budget.
Great, great stuff from a movie industry guy who gets it.
UPDATE: John Michlig writes to say that KongisKing.net is a fan site, not Jackson's movie blog (although it certainly seems like it; I didn't notice the disclaimer at the bottom of the site.) While not even his own site, Jackson contributes a vast amount of content, making this backstage pass idea an even more powerful marketing strategy. (Thanks for the heads-up, John!)
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» KingKong marketing is cheap and successful from BusinessBits
The Church of the Customer reports on KongIsKing.net and its influence on visitors. Ben McConnell says "entries treat viewers like VIPs" and "Jackson is giving us a cool backstage pass that's a fractional cost of the typical Hollywood marketing bu... [Read More]
Actually, the kongisking.net site that Peter Jackson uses as an outlet for King Kong "Production Diaries" represents a much more sophisticated marketing angle than you indicate. It is NOT Jackson's site, but he has in fact encouraged the creation of the site by fans who did the same with his RING films (i.e. he and the studio didn't send out "cease and desist" letters).
The reward for his "I'm one of you" stance is a slick website (NOT a "rather elaborate blog" by any means - - a blog is a wholly different animal) where he gets right in the sandbox with the fans. Resistance is futile; now the audience feels that they're part of the process, and the viral marketing sprouts here, there and everywhere.
John, thanks for the good clarifications. I'd not noticed the disclaimer found at the bottom of the site's pages saying it's in "no way affiliated with the official King Kong production or film."
Because Jackson is seamlessly integrated into the site (and speaks directly to it), it's easy to assume it's his own. That it's not makes his role with it even more powerful.
John's comment is spot on. That's actually what I was coming in to comment on.
Being an evangelist for a company is as much about creating and stoking fan motivation than it is anything else.
I'd actually have lambasted Jackson if this was his site... because, as we see, the same site can be done better, cheaper (i.e. for free), faster, and longer term than ANYTHING Jackson could do himself.
The heart of community interaction between fans/consumers and companies is creating relationships. Real, honest relationships. I'd bet money that Jackson and this site's Webmaster would consider themselves to be friends, not co-workers.
Jackson hasn't created some view into the movie... he's created the basis for believing in something - this movie. People are going to want to talk about this movie (even if it was bad) because they feel an emotional connection to it. They're going to be excited about this movie like a parent is about a child's ugly finger paint because there's a relationship with a real person (not a corporate entity) there. Jackson doesn't treat "viewers like VIPs". He treats movie fans like friends. HUGE difference. Friends come back over and over, even if you slip from time to time.
It's so much more than just selling a single movie.
