--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2001 National Public Radio (R) -- National Public Radio (NPR) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- May 18, 2001, Friday SHOW: ALL THINGS CONSIDERED (8:00 PM ET) VIRAL MARKETING FOR MOVIES ANCHOR: SCOTT SIMON SCOTT SIMON, host: Now whether a movie succeeds or not at the box office often has little to do with what we identify as quality. It can come up or down to word-of-mouth recommendation, what one friend tells another. Buzz might be the other word. Most famous example in recent years is probably "The Blair Witch Project." That was a small-budget project which became a hit based largely on the traffic of its Web site. Now that kind of publicity has a name. It's called viral marketing, and it's most successful, as you may expect, with the 18- to 24-year-old age group. Viral marketing works by drawing people in by creating a cyberworld that is related to the film but not explicitly so. It's advertising but not obviously so. Amorette Jones is executive vice president of worldwide marketing for Artisan Entertainment, a pioneer of viral marketing. She insists that viral marketing is immensely successful. Ms. AMORETTE JONES (Executive Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Artisan Entertainment): It absolutely works. A lot of people have talked about "The Blair Witch Project" Web site. SIMON: Mm-hmm. Ms. JONES: And I think what was so fantastic about that is that we really recognized the power of the Web, how wide-reaching things happen and how quickly you get the word out. You build that urgency and build the buzz and enormous traffic. Since we had the experience with "Blair Witch Project," we've followed up with several other Web sites that have had that viral component... SIMON: Mm-hmm. Ms. JONES: ...that is all important in a campaign. SIMON: Question of the day in these economic times: How do you get people to visit a Web site? Ms. JONES: Our first goal is to work with the filmmakers in a collaborative effort to put together something incredibly creative and original online. And we start out with that, and we then develop a campaign that specifically targets users to develop that traffic. So in the same way that we develop an overall marketing campaign for a theatrical release, we also develop a campaign for the Web site launch. What our goal is, is with these Web sites that don't necessarily have the banner across the top, 'The movie's coming to your market on this date; go buy your ticket,' we try and develop a site that's going to feel authentic to the film, so it's going to feel that they worked together in complement, although it's not necessarily a straightforward promotional push. SIMON: Mm-hmm. What were you trying to do with the "Center of the World" Web site? Ms. JONES: We have a film that was shot entirely on digital, picture directed by Wayne Wang, and Wayne had decided within the body of this film that he was really going to push the envelope and to develop a picture that spoke to a lot of what's happening today in society. What our goal was with the Web site is to work with Wayne and again... SIMON: Let me interrupt you. You get to put some naughty pictures in this, don't you? Ms. JONES: Yeah, absolutely. We did. It wasn't for the sake of putting naughty pictures up on the Web. What we attempted to do with the sites, and I think what we successfully did, is we were able to develop a provocative piece of advertising, of promotion. SIMON: Mm-hmm. Ms. JONES: You know, in this site, as you go into the site, you go through the rules, you go into a strip club, you participate in a striptease. You then, as the user, can choose to have a lap dance. You then take the next step and you go behind the scenes and have this very voyeuristic experience in a dressing room with the dancer. And then, at the end of the site, you have a one-on-one interaction with the dancer in a very intimate setting, and there is a chat function in which the user is able to communicate with this dancer. As the user, you're in this very intimate setting and you're in this very provocative arrangement, yet it's so not intimate. And that was one of the points that Wayne was trying to make in the picture, and that's one of the points that we were making with this Web site. SIMON: Ms. Jones, thanks very much for speaking with us. Ms. JONES: Absolutely. Thank you. SIMON: Amorette Jones is executive vice president of worldwide marketing for Artisan Entertainment. And this is NPR, National Public Radio. May 19, 2001 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2001 National Public Radio (R) -- National Public Radio (NPR) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------