How Digital Marketing Helped Avatar Break the Box

Office
By Nick Mendoza
February 8, 2010
Moviegoers in more than 100 IMAX 3-D theaters worldwide watched 16 minutes of footage
from a new James Cameron movie. That same day, Ubisoft debuted a trailer for a videogame
based on the film, and Mattel unveiled action figures inspired by the films characters. A day
earlier, the teaser for the very same film broke a record on Apple.com after beng streamed
more than four million times on its first day.
August 21 was celebrated as Avatar Day. Today, it should be remembered as the dawn of
the most comprehensive digital marketing campaign ever developed to support a film. Below
are the details of four key components of the campaign, each of which are represented by
important characters and creatures within Avatar.

The Tree of Souls: Social Media

In the film, the Navi believe that the Tree of Souls, a place where the souls and voices of
their ancestors rest, was the heart of what connected them to each other. This is also a core
idea with social networks, which are often built from relationships rooted in our past.
Social networks are frequently tapped for film marketing, and Avatar successfully built
connections and conversation on Facebook (close to 1.3 million fans), MySpace (close to
800,000 friends) and Twitter (over 25,000 followers). According to Sysomos, a social media
analytics firm, Avatar was the most talked about film on Twitter in January 2010. Some of
those tweets resulted from a Tweet to Listen promo that required fans to send a message on
Twitter in order to listen to music from the film. Avatars social media strategy also
branched out to YouTube (close to 11 million video views), Flickr (over 1 million photo
views) and a TypePad blogging community (close to 4,000 members).

The Hometree: Avatars Website

The immensity and visual richness of the Hometree on Pandora reflects whats been
cultivated on the films official website. Visitors have access to more than the standard fare of
trailers, images and background materials. The website offers 14 side-scrolling square boxes
that showcase many of the digital initiatives that make this movie stand out. Fans have access
to the story, character bios, the music, and wallpaper downloads; but they also have
opportunities to contribute content and showcase their interest in the film including
Pandorapedia, a wiki for all things Avatar, and the previously discussed blogging
community (which includes photo caption contests and timeless topics such as Why Are
Avatar Aliens Blue?).
And just as humans destroyed the Hometree in pursuit of self-interest and wealth, the films
homepage had its own destructive moment in mid-August when fans crashed the site while
trying to secure free tickets for Avatar Day.

The Banshee: The AIR Interactive Trailer

Avatars interactive trailer soars over previous movie trailers thanks to its integration of social
media feeds, and 11 points of interaction that provide viewers with one-click access to each
character. (Viewers can simply click on a character in the trailer in order to unlock additional
content.) The trailer was built using the Adobe AIR platform, which gives developers
flexibility. The result is that fans receive a more exciting experience, similar to that offered by
Banshee jumping in the film. The trailer is a moving and frequently refreshed gateway to the
film, seemingly alive and fluid the moment it begins. The trailer also includes three options to
purchase tickets.

Hallelujah Mountains: Augmented Reality

In the film, the gravity-defying Hallelujah Mountains challenge perceptions, which is also
what augmented reality strives to do by presenting an engaging experience that floats in front
of the viewers eyes. Mattel created Avatar toys that buyers could activate and bring to
life through webcams and special product tags, while Coke Zero produced custom cans that
opened up the world of Pandora at AVTR.com.
The end result is that Avatar is now the biggest box office movie of all time (not adjusted
for inflation). The movie has eclipsed $2 billion in total ticket sales, driven largely by 3-D
revenues and international interest. Cameron has once again orchestrated a cinematic
milestone.
So did the digital initiatives, awareness drivers and glowing online conversation contribute to
this historic success?
The goal of any theatrical movie marketing campaign is to get people to head to the theater,
plunk down $10 to $15 and grab a seat for two-plus hours. On that front, the entire campaign
has been an inredible success. It all started on August 21, 2009, the day that started the
campaign and successfully moved millions of people to experience something new and
mesmerizingly blue. Since then, moviegoers have felt compelled to tell their friends to see the
film.
As millions flocked to theaters and clumsily put on their 3-D glasses, they helped bring a
now-famous Navi phrase to life: Oel ngati kameie (I see you).
Nick Mendoza is the director of digital communications at Zeno Group. He advises consumer,
entertainment and web companies on digital strategy, distribution and engagement. He
dreamstreams and is the film correspondent for MediaShift. Follow him on Twitter
@NickMendoza.