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"Hot Tub Time Machine"...A Sign Of The Times.

by Josh T.
8 replies
I was watching TV the other day when I saw a trailer for this new movie coming out called "The Hot Tub Time Machine". To me, it looks like an utterly dreadful movie that would only be funny after throwing back a minimum of 6 frosted barley pops, and only after 3am on a Monday morning.

But I noticed one thing that really stuck out to me. Right at the end, the announcer says, "Become a fan on Facebook and follow us on Twitter". At the time of this posting, they have 27,000+ fans on Facebook. The Twitter account is for MGM studios and has 12,000 followers.

What's more incredible is that everyone who's talking about it on Twitter is totally STOKED about it. I can't help but wonder what a flop this movie would be if it weren't marketed in this manner. Me personally, watching 4 grown men get in a hot tub alone is puke worthy, let alone the fact that it teleports them back to 1986. Truth be told, I'll probably end up seeing it against my will and like it, but I don't want to.

Here's my point...

MGM has taken somewhat of a bold step in using Social Networks as their primary "buzz" generator. The trailer alone apparently wasn't enough, so they slapped on a Facebook and Twitter logo at the end and....buzzworthy. Basically, they gave everyone a forum to talk about the campy stupidity and by allowing this open discussion, turned some skeptics into believers. Some arch rivals into fans. Who knows how many extra tickets they will sell for deploying this tiny, free marketing effort. But, in this marketer's opinion, it's going to be their golden goose.

Did I mention that this was a MAJOR corporation that has a multi-million dollar advertising budget? And that they used a free resource which took all of 5 minutes to set up as their centerpiece?

It reminds me a little of "Borat", most people who saw that movie did so because other people saw it and started talking about how outrageous it was. Only Borat didn't have the luxury of a huge social networking platform at the time.

So, my question to you is...

How might we harness Social Networking as a "spinster" to sway our critics into buyers? How can we generate buzz for OUR "Hot Tub Time Machine" or other whacky invention?

Looking forward to this.
#hot tub time machinea #sign #times
  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    I think it's a whole lot easier to generate Buzz on Twitter and Facebook for a whacky movie than an Internet Marketing product. I see those stream endlessly by me on Twitter and just say ... yawn. Boring ....
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  • Profile picture of the author Josh T.
    I'm definitely in agreement with you on that point. There is certainly less appeal for our stuff than 4 dudes re-visiting everyone's favorite decade (the 80s) via a celestial spa.

    So, let me pose the question in a different way...

    Would it be worthwhile to try and promote something like said "whacky movie" only in our own niche for the sake of buzz? If our stuff is boring, how should we make it noteworthy to other people and get them talking?

    Without outrageous income claims, of course.
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Josh T. View Post

      I'm definitely in agreement with you on that point. There is certainly less appeal for our stuff than 4 dudes re-visiting everyone's favorite decade (the 80s) via a celestial spa.

      So, let me pose the question in a different way...

      Would it be worthwhile to try and promote something like said "whacky movie" only in our own niche for the sake of buzz? If our stuff is boring, how should we make it noteworthy to other people and get them talking?

      Without outrageous income claims, of course.
      You might take a look at "The King of Buzz's" site ... Dean Hunt. deanhunt.com. I've gotten a lot of great buzz ideas from his material and if anyone can make this niche buzz worthy, he can. But basically, if you could create a title that generates buzz and then deliver the content that people actually want to read ... that's a good start. I tried some of his "title" tricks and they worked fantastically for getting people to the blog post. A whacky type video would work too ... but would take some know how to create. People like viral quizzes and things of that nature as well ...
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  • Profile picture of the author Mr. Enthusiastic
    Well as I type this, HotTubMoneyMachine.com is available. Make a parody with the middle-aged folks discovering that the hot tub doesn't just blow air bubbles, it blows money!

    You can use this idea with no payment needed, other than sending me back to 1986 for a second chance at life knowing what I know now.

    Chris
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    • Profile picture of the author Josh T.
      Originally Posted by Mr. Enthusiastic View Post

      Well as I type this, HotTubMoneyMachine.com is available. Make a parody with the middle-aged folks discovering that the hot tub doesn't just blow air bubbles, it blows money!

      You can use this idea with no payment needed, other than sending me back to 1986 for a second chance at life knowing what I know now.

      Chris
      @Chris, let's JV on that, LOL. Now THAT's what I'm talking about. Who wants to put this together?

      @Deu12000,
      Right on. They're using the SN as a viral reinforcement. And as I reluctantly admitted, I'll probably see it too.

      @ernie, That's two votes for going back to 1986 (which I actually wouldn't mind either, so 3). Hmmm, seems like MGM did some market research and picked the year that would appeal to the most people.
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  • Profile picture of the author deu12000
    A lot of major and minor companies and promotional organizations use sites like Facebook, Twitter, even MySpace, as well as others, but the secret is I saw the trailer for that movie the other day and I want to see it and I've never visited those pages. It just seems like a movie I'd find funny. Everyone has a different sense of humor and movie preferences so a movie you'd like I might not like and vise versa.

    Now the fans (on the social networking sites) they have probably are into that type of comedy or that type of movie. So it's basically a free/cheap way of keeping the hype up until the launch. Remember just because I said I l thought the movie looked funny and it was something I'd like to watch doesn't mean I'm going to spend money on going to the movie theater to watch it. The social networking sites actually create reinforcement and the more people hype each other up about the movie the more likely they are to watch the movie.

    It's like a bad or so-so WSO where 5 people say, "over deliver" and everyone else after that buys it, then they say the same thing (although they are only saying it to sound cool and follow with the mainstream), and the WSO sells more. It's viral....and at the end of the day it's cheap publicity...and it works (a lot of the times).
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  • Profile picture of the author Ernie Lo
    pfft whats wrong with that! Id go back to 1986 If I could:p Beats living in this world we live in today.


    Originally Posted by Josh T. View Post

    let alone the fact that it teleports them back to 1986.

    Looking forward to this.
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    • Profile picture of the author 1960Texan
      Originally Posted by Ernie Lonardo View Post

      pfft whats wrong with that! Id go back to 1986 If I could:p Beats living in this world we live in today.
      I'll say this about 1986: I had a nice head of dark hair back then, instead of the thinning white tangle I'm stuck with now.

      Back to the topic at hand...This type of marketing isn't anything new. Movies have had Myspace pages practically since there was a Myspace, and the studios have been even quicker to jump on the Facebook and Twitter bandwagons. The next big thing, whatever it may be, will also be used by businesses of all kinds to reach the masses. That's just good marketing.

      Will
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