case study: promoting star trek beyond to south african internet users

Star Trek Beyond

ASP120T class exercise (chap 9): Internet promotion

Star Trek Beyond is an upcoming American science fiction action film and the sequel to Star Trek Into Darkness(2013). It is the thirteenth film in the Star Trek film franchise and the third instalment in the reboot series. Principal photography began on June 25, 2015, in Vancouver. The film is scheduled for a July 22, 2016, release.

TASK

divide in groups and indicate how you can use eight (8) Internet tools to promote the movie “Star Trek Beyond” to the South African online audience.

1.Paid search

Paid search can be defined as the practice of paying search engines and portals to place ads near relevant search results.

The movie’s marketing team should post the trailer on their YouTube channel and use the services of a search engine optimiser in order to direct Google and YouTube search to the trailer.

1.Paid search

1.Paid search

2. Display and banner ads

Display or banner ads can be defined as advertisements placed on websites that contain editorial material.

The movie’s marketers should design a banner featuring the main characters of the movie, a typography of the title and the release date. Some websites that can be considered for placement of these ads include: livemag.co.za, gq.co.za, dstv.co.za, sterkinekor.com, numetro.com.

2. Display and banner ads

2. Display and banner ads

3. SponsorshipSponsorship in the context of online promotion refers to a payment to maintain a section of a section of a website and perhaps provide content for the site in exchange for being mentioned on the site.

The movie’s marketers should sponsor the movie section of Yahoo! South Africa (Yahoo! Movies) for about one month around the release of the movie (from the 15 June up to the 30 of July 2016).

They will pay for the maintenance (or any other expense) of that section and in exchange articles on the movie will be posted as well as visuals of the movie.

3. Sponsorship

4. Pop-up and pop-under adsPop-up and pop-under ads are defined as Internet advertisement that opens a separate window while a web page is loading. An example of pop-up, splash screen (Internet ad that appears briefly on a website after a page has been requested but before it was loaded) should be placed on YouTube, Imdb.com and startrekmovie.com.

The page containing the advert (trailer in this case) appears for a few seconds before the requested page fully loads, therefore, the user is already exposed and may desire to know more about the movie.

4. Pop-up and pop-under ads

5. Permission marketingPermission marketing can be defined as sending commercial email only to Web users who have agreed to receive it.

The movie’s marketers should contact a Web advertising firm which can access electronic mailing lists of potential viewers and diffuse an email containing the trailer and other relevant documentation about the movie.

The mailing list consists of individuals who have agreed to receive such commercial e-mails and who, in theory, should not feel offended or invaded when receiving those. The ideal situation would be to make the e-mail viral i.e. forwarded to one and another and another, etc.

5. Permission marketing

6. Rich videoRich media, video and audio can be defined as the use of streaming video and audio that plays when the user’s mouse passes over an Internet ad. These forms of video will have the advantage to capture the attention of Internet users as they play instantly as the page opens.

The movie’s marketers should place rich videos of the trailer on Yahoo! South Africa homepage, on the dedicated social media accounts: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WeChat.

6. Rich video

7. Corporate home page

Corporate home page can be defined as a website where a business provides current and potential customers about information about the firm and usually its brand in great detail.

In the case of Star Trek Beyond, the producers of the movie should create a dedicated website “Startrekmovie.com” where users can find release dates per country, cast interviews, press releases, critics, behind the scenes, teasers, trailers, etc. A splash screen containing the movie trailer can be used on the website too.

7. Corporate home page

7. Corporate home page

8. Video gamesVideo game in the context of Internet promotion refers to the placement of advertisements in video games.

The science fiction enthusiasts are traditionally interested by technology among which video games.

The movie’s marketers should create Star Trek versions of popular mobile games such as “Angry birds” or “Candy crush” in order to connect with them in a fun and efficient way but also capitalise on the popularity and convenience of such games through the established notoriety of the brand Star Trek.

8. Video games