Case Study: WUSS the Movie

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Independent films are largely dependent on word-of-mouth promotion to be successful in the film festival circuit – and independent filmmakers know they need the biggest bang for their marketing buck. When it became apparent that WUSS, the Movie was going to happen, the producers enlisted the help of DiveBomb Media to build grassroots support and buzz about the film well before it hit the big screen.

CHALLENGE:

Create grassroots support and buzz about the film well before the premier – and after the premier.

SOLUTION:

Social media community management and real-time promotions
DiveBomb Media optimized existing social media profiles for WUSS, adding search-engine-friendly descriptions and people-friendly images.  We then launched an aggressive campaign that included:

• strategy and brand identity definition;
• training to the cast and crew on “social media promotion 101″ at the start of the campaign;
• live-tweets and real-time posts from on-set during filming (with images and video to encourage audience engagement);
• link-building through online and paper news and culture publications;
• networking where it matters to get the word out; and
• training to cast and crew on how to continue to effectively implement the strategy without DiveBomb Media’s help.

RESULTS:

WUSS the Movie made its world premier at South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival 2011. Awards won by WUSS have largely been audience-choice awards, including an Audience Choice award at AFI Fest in L.A. and a Special Jury Prize at the Dallas Independent Film Festival. WUSS visited film festivals all over the U.S. and even the world, including SXSW Film Festival in Austin Texas, Cucalorus Film Festival in North Carolina, BUT Film Festival in Amsterdam, AFI Film Festival in Los Angeles, Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham, and the Wild, Wild CineFest in Philadelphia, to name just a few. WUSS is also available for purchase on iTunes. At the time of WUSS’ winning of an award at AFI, the Facebook page had 1,629 likes. @wussmovie on Twitter had 210 followers.

Testimonial:

We have officially entered into a new world of social computing. This ain’t your parent’s “interwebs” or “American Online” (both terms actually used in my home growing up). What we have now is a world of folks who are tech savvy, media savvy and smart. As such, you can’t use tricks or games to engage with them – from a marketing perspective, you need to meet them with savvy and intelligence. I had a chance to work with Divebomb Media recently on a feature film I produced called “Wuss”. I was genuinely blown away by DBM’s understanding of how to engage with and empower customers (or, in our case, an audience). They don’t just understand the fundamentals of a strong social media campaign (interactivity, engagement, empowerment, building a groundswell) they LIVE them. By the time we wrapped principal photography on “Wuss” we already had a solid fanbase through twitter and facebook and a website that was tied to both – our various viral campaigns were also kick started with a common theme and brand. I look forward to working with Divebomb Media on all of my projects moving forward. – Eric Steele, WUSS producer

More information can be found on WUSS at their website, www.wussmovie.com, or on IMDB.