Movie marketing is not about putting all your eggs in one basket

What movie did you watch on Chinese Valentine's Day this year? According to the box office data of Chinese Valentine's Day, the most popular movie on Chinese Valentine's Day this year was the crime film "All or Nothing". In this article, the author uses this as an example to analyze and draw out what movie marketing should focus on. Recommended for people who are interested in movie marketing.

Which romantic film is the most popular movie during the Chinese Valentine's Day? No, none of them.

The only dark horse in this year's Chinese Valentine's Day season is not the educational film "Learning Dad", nor the youth love story "Forget Me Not", nor the controversial art film "Burning Winter", but the crime film "All or Nothing" which was released on August 8.

Qixi box office data (data source: Maoyan Professional Edition)

This realistic crime film not only won at the box office, but also had the effect of "one movie making a city popular."

1. Will “All or Nothing” bring popularity to northern Myanmar?

“A movie makes a city popular” is, in most cases, a good thing for both the movie and the city.

However, the recent hit "All or Nothing" has doubled the pressure on northern Myanmar: judging from the changes in Baidu Index data, the popularity of the two keywords "northern Myanmar" and "telecommunication fraud" has increased with the release of the movie. Many viewers were visually and mentally shocked after watching the movie and said they would not consider traveling to northern Myanmar in the near future.

Baidu Index Keyword Data Comparison

But for a country committed to anti-fraud, it is particularly important to prevent more people from falling into the trap of telecommunications fraud. The release of the movie undoubtedly has a driving effect on anti-fraud. So how popular is the movie "All or Nothing" which successfully promoted anti-fraud propaganda?

According to data from Maoyan Professional Edition, six days before the film was released, the total box office of previews and pre-sales exceeded 100 million; as of 9:30 am on August 22, the total box office (including pre-sales) of the 2023 summer season exceeded 19 billion, among which "She Vanished", "All or Nothing", "The First Part of the Gods", "The Octagonal Cage" and "30,000 Miles from Chang'an" ranked in the top five of the summer box office.

Top 5 summer box office and film rankings (data source: Maoyan Professional Edition)

In this summer season, the movie "All or Nothing" also set a record for a single-day box office of over 100 million yuan, breaking the 100 million yuan mark for 15 consecutive days, setting a new record for the number of consecutive days of breaking the 100 million yuan mark for a single film in 2023, and entering the top 3 of the consecutive 100 million yuan record in film history.

The Chinese film industry has recorded consecutive days of breaking the 100 million yuan box office record (data source: Maoyan Professional Edition)

The box office record of "All or Nothing" can be said to be a small highlight moment for domestic films in the summer season. Behind its popularity are the blessing of the actors' acting skills, the attractiveness of the subject matter, and more importantly, the topicality of the long-term hot spot itself.

In terms of the movies themselves, suspense and crime films are already one of the most attractive themes in Chinese films. Chen Sicheng's "Detective Chinatown" series and the "The Accidental Murder" series adapted from Thai movies have both achieved impressive results. (It is worth noting that the backgrounds of these two series of films are almost all set in Southeast Asia.)

In addition, realistic themes seem to have become a very popular type of film in the Chinese film market. In 2018, there was the tear-jerking "Dying to Survive", and this year's "Gone Girl", adapted from a case of a pregnant woman falling off a cliff in Thailand. The film synopsis of "All or Nothing" says, "The film is based on tens of thousands of real fraud cases, and the shocking inside story of the entire overseas online fraud industry chain is revealed for the first time", which also makes people curious.

Whether it is out of curiosity or the close connection between the incident and life, movies adapted from real crime stories are often attractive to the audience. After all, movies satisfy the curiosity and voyeurism of some people, just like the fight against spies in the TV series "Rivals", and the "500,000" joke is still talked about with relish.

As for the impact of All or Nothing on reality, before the movie was released, it was an established fact that the country had been vigorously cracking down on telecom fraud crimes. From the perspective of social reality, the country has long been cracking down on crimes such as gambling and fraud, and the theme expressed in All or Nothing is consistent with this legal policy. Rather than saying that the movie really "set a city on fire", it is better to say that it took advantage of the trend of cracking down on fraud crimes and added fuel to the fire.

2. Mobile short video marketing

From a social perspective, the movie "All or Nothing" has brought about heated discussions about northern Myanmar and telecom fraud. It has created a wave of enthusiasm for combating fraud crimes, allowing more viewers and the public to see the real situation behind telecom fraud and avoid being deceived. This can be said to be something of great social significance.

Just as the movie slogan says, "One more person watching the movie means one less person being cheated", such popularity makes people sigh at the power of movie promotion. The popularity of "All or Nothing" stems from the choice of social issues, and is also supported by marketing and promotion in the sinking market.

From "Red River" at the beginning of the year to another suspense film "The Vanishing Lady" in the summer, marketing on short video platforms has become the main way for movies to attract the sinking market. Although these movies have been criticized for bugs in the plot or because the details offend some groups, it has to be admitted that behind the high box office, their film marketing strategies are exemplary.

In fact, judging from the early publicity, the focus of the film's publicity is still on simple "handsome men and beautiful women". First, Zhang Yixing, who has a large number of fans, plays a migrant worker who goes abroad to seek gold but is abused, and then Jin Chen, who has a beautiful face, plays a "sexy dealer, dealing cards online".

The promotional method dedicated to attracting the audience with good looks has not yet caused much splash, and the abuse of the young man in the fraud group does not seem to arouse the audience's desire to watch. But in 2023, when the acting school has become the "Purple Star from the Sky in the Domestic Entertainment", the fraud group leader Manager Lu played by Wang Chuanjun has become a hit on Douyin. So far, the promotional video of "Fraud Group Morning Meeting" has received 5.57 million likes.

The official screenshots of the movie "All or Nothing" and the number of people who want to watch it soars

After this video, the marketing focus of Douyin has completely shifted to the acting talent Wang Chuanjun. Obviously, this move has also won the recognition of the audience. The surge in the number of people who want to watch the movie is the best proof. Many Douyin influencers have begun to imitate Wang Chuanjun's Buddha worship clip, forming a wave of spontaneous traffic on Douyin.

With the release of the film, many official media have also begun to use the film to promote anti-fraud. The relationship between the film "All or Nothing" and major official media can be said to be complementary. It has changed its marketing focus from "adapted from a real fraud case" to "one more person watching the film, one less person being deceived", and has also played the role of educating the public about the law.

Movies and official media collaboration

In fact, judging from the marketing strategy of "All or Nothing", it is not difficult to find the benefits of online short video marketing: movie marketing ideas can change with user feedback. This flexibility is more conducive to the film company communicating with users and ultimately achieving the effect of making the movie a hit.

Compared with the failed attempt to promote the Chinese fantasy masterpiece "Investiture of the Gods Part I", which later focused on marketing handsome men and beautiful women, the marketing of "All or Nothing" can be called an excellent student. Although the subject matter is different, it is the accurate insight into the topics that the audience is interested in and the marketing that arouses the audience's curiosity and resonance that can make a lot of money.

3. Movie marketing is not a one-and-done strategy

In fact, compared with science fiction and fantasy-themed movies such as "The Wandering Earth 2" and "The Legend of the Gods Part I", the marketing methods of realistic movies such as "All or Nothing" and "She's Gone" are easier to replicate and learn.

Some people say that the popularity of "All or Nothing" is just luck, but in fact, it is not the case. The right time and right place also need the right people. If anti-fraud propaganda and people's fear of the rumors of "Ga Yaozi" in northern Myanmar are the right time and right place, then the marketing of the movie is its "right people".

They do not have the exaggerated crying reactions that are often ridiculed by the public, nor the stiff poetry recitations, but they attract audiences with plot-oriented and actor-oriented marketing. What the audience really wants to see is the mystery of the plot and the appeal of the character settings.

First of all, it is about social issues. All or Nothing focuses on the story behind telecom fraud, while She Vanishes depicts the criminal psychology of wife murder. It is hard to deny the role of social issues in these films. Although the Douban scores of both films are not high, it is clear that "revealing the secret" has become the keyword of social issue films, and "rejecting love brain" has also attracted a group of fans by taking advantage of the popularity of feminism.

Choosing a topic that has a lot of discussion is a prerequisite for film marketing, and conducting down-market marketing on Douyin is the top priority for a film to be a hit. Whether it is anti-fraud propaganda or curiosity, grasping the audience's psychology is the key to box office success.

Just as All or Nothing tried many times in pre-screening promotion, it successfully found the "hidden corners" that the sinking market likes to watch and the wonderful performances of powerful actors as promotional points. It no longer relies solely on the fan effect of traffic stars, but breaks through the circle to attract people to the cinema.

The large number of secondary creative videos on Douyin is also an effective method for movies to communicate with the sinking market. Big Vs imitate "famous scenes" at a low cost and can accurately target the preferences of Douyin users.

In addition, listening to advice may be the key to successful film marketing. At the suggestion of netizens, "The First Part of the Gods" appeared in the live broadcast room of coach Liu Genghong and crazy brother Yang, using live interaction to "seduce" more fans to go to the cinema.

All these things made netizens sigh after seeing the hot searches on Weibo: Douyin still has to be the best for movie marketing.

IV. Conclusion

From the realistic themes of the early years to the rise and fall of Hollywood visual effects blockbusters, the tastes of Chinese audiences have become more sophisticated, but they have also returned to their "original intentions". Recently released films such as "I Went Through the Storm" and "Learning to Be Dad" also focus on realistic themes, but the publicity effect is average at present. How to market themselves is more worthy of consideration by the film producers.

Most domestic films on the market today try to tell stories based on a long-term hot topic. After all, opportunities are hard to come by. The opportunistic film theme is paired with a poor shooting method. The box office that should have disappeared has been turned around by film marketing. By taking advantage of social issues and sinking the market, they have made a lot of money. This time, Bad Monkey Pictures has won completely. Who can't say that they admire it?

Author: Top Jun, Source: WeChat Official Account: "TopMarketing"