The best TV and film marketing to maximize the experience is foreign series

Why do we have to look abroad for the best film and television marketing experience? This article will show you how foreign films and television marketing works. At the same time, this article is also recommended for film and television companies or individual business owners.

Recently, the New York Stock Exchange hung a black and red flag, announcing its support for the "Black Party" and pledging allegiance to Queen Renilla, attracting passers-by to stop and watch.

However, this is not a political activity abroad, but a joint promotion of the recently launched second season of "House of the Dragon". The two major camps in the play are used as a marketing gimmick to directly raise the atmosphere.

Compared with the stereotyped marketing of domestic film and television dramas, there are always some very innovative marketing ideas abroad that are worthy of reference and learning in the industry.

1. Competitive marketing to create buzz

Recently, two TV series broadcast abroad have attracted special attention - the second season of "House of the Dragon", a derivative series of the Game of Thrones IP, and the fourth season of "The Boys", adapted from the comic of the same name.

The two series were launched successively on Warner's two major streaming platforms, HBO MAX and Amazon Prime Video. As the trump cards in the hands of the two large media companies, they are highly valued.

Long before the release of "House of the Dragon", there were signs of the struggle between the camps. HBO released two trailers, starting from the perspectives of the "Black Party" and the "Green Party", letting the characters tell why they must be king.

Dragon Family Two trailers

Judging from the playback data of the two trailers, the Black Party has completely defeated the Green Party. On YouTube, the Black Party trailer has been viewed 10.15 million times, with 130,000 likes and 2,431 dislikes, while the Green Party trailer has been viewed 8.7 million times, with 83,000 likes and 2,773 dislikes. The same is true for the viewing data on social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, X and Facebook.

Data source: Houson

On online social media, HBO also invited people to post with the hashtag #TeamBlack or #TeamGreen to vote for the king in their hearts.

HBO Backs BlacKkKlansman

Offline marketing activities are mainly based on spectacular arrangements, such as the flag-hanging activity mentioned at the beginning of the article. It is worth noting that the marketing method of "Dragon Clan" of hanging flags to choose a camp is not only seen at the New York Stock Exchange. Landmark buildings such as Pennsylvania Station, the Statue of Liberty, Washington Square Park, the Eiffel Tower, and the Sydney Tower have also expressed their opinions and hung black or green flags (some of these landmark buildings are AI-generated scenes).

Flags were hung at various landmarks to promote the series

To celebrate the launch of the series, the studio also placed a 270-foot-tall dragon on the top of the Empire State Building. This dragon is the dragon Vhagar, the dragon of the character Aemond in the play. Although it received mixed reviews , many viewers thought it looked a bit rough, but it still attracted a lot of attention with its spectacle .

According to reports from many foreign media, the marketing cost of the first season of "House of the Dragon" exceeded 100 million US dollars, which was the most intense marketing offensive HBO has ever launched.

At the time, Warner CEO David Zaslav wanted to implement a $3 billion cost-saving plan at the newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery, which meant spending money where it counts - on content that pays off, including HBO's "House of the Dragon," which cost nearly $200 million.

David said that the promotional campaign for the first season of "House of the Dragon" has reached 130 million people in the United States alone, which also represents that most brands in the Warner Bros. Discovery Empire are united in their promotion of this new series. Pia Barlow, executive president of HBO original marketing, said that the marketing campaign aims to "inspire new and existing fans" and is mainly aimed at men and women aged 18-54.

Judging from the promotional feedback for the second season, this marketing campaign can be said to have been very effective, with 1.3 million American households watching the premiere of the second season on HBO Maxon.

2. Be bold enough to attract attention

Of course, the great success of the marketing of "Dragon Family" may rely to a large extent on Warner's powerful business empire and substantial financial support. But it is undeniable that the marketing of foreign film and television dramas is really bold and creative enough .

For example, the fourth season of "The Boys", which was launched at the same time as the second season of "House of the Dragon", is a marketing genius among foreign TV series.

In this series, "Vought International" is a marketing company that is good at packaging superheroes into superstars. Amazon's cleverness is to extend Vought International to reality , making it another way to market film and television dramas and link dramas with brands.

Before the second season of "The Boys" was launched in 2022, Vought International created its own accounts on Twitter and Youtube, which not only released all the unreleased materials in the show, but also linked with the plot in real time , greatly enhancing the audience's sense of involvement .

For example, in the fourth season, the main characters are divided into two camps: Homelander and Starlight. The production team opened accounts for supporters of both sides to act as opinion leaders. The audience also bought into it and actively joined the debate.

Image source: @Fearless Manjing

This absurd behavior not only became a part of the series , but also elevated the plot of the series .

In addition to relying on high-frequency online interactions on social media, overseas TV series and movies also use eye-catching content as their primary purpose in offline marketing. Before the fourth season of Stranger Things was released, Netflix posted a billboard covered with vines that read "Protect Steve (a popular character in the show)", sparking speculation among viewers about the plot .

After the series was aired, the character of Steve was not harmed in the series, which also proved the cunningness of the production team in using gimmicks to gain attention .

Netflix officially released a billboard

Looking at the marketing of TV series at home and abroad over the years, we can find that there are obvious differences in creative styles. Take "Dragon Family" and "The Boys" as examples. Under the themes that are already rich in discussion space, marketers found a unique style and stuck to it to maximize the attention of the series.

Interestingly, these two dramas, which belong to different platforms, also interacted outside the drama - the actor who played Homelander sat on the Iron Throne at the SDCC Comic Con and announced his support for the Green Party, allowing the audience to feel the fun of marketing that breaks dimensions.

Two series linked

Domestic TV dramas tend to be conservative and cautious when promoting themselves, hoping to win the audience's favor by not offending any party. Foreign dramas, on the other hand, extend the plot to create more topics, continue to "offend" and hype up the popularity.

Different cultural contexts require different marketing methods, but if domestic film and television drama marketing explores marketing methods other than social media content output, I believe it can also bring higher popularity to the series.

Author: TOP

WeChat public account: TopMarketing (ID: 1082248)