Twitter has certainly revolutionized the speed with which Internet users can communicate with each other--a phenomenon Reuters refers to as the "Twitter effect." Movie studios in particular are seeing Twitter in new eyes as they're forced to contend with the consequences of instant guerrilla film reviews.
"Has everything speeded up? The answer is yes," Universal president of marketing and distribution Adam Fogelson told Reuters. "Depending on how big your opening day audience is, word-of-mouth starts playing a factor immediately," Fogelson continued.
The "Twitter effect" comes into play for movie studios as moviegoers tweet their responses to the film--sometimes while they're still in the theater. "If people don't like the movie now on Friday it can die by Saturday," Paul Dergarabedian, the president of tracking firm Hollywood.com Box Office, told Reuters.
What's Driving This Trend
- Instant Film Reviews
- Movie studios need to focus on more targeted marketing approaches to prevent knee-jerk negative reactions appearing on Twitter.
- Social Media Impact on Word of Mouth
- New approaches to social media and influencer marketing can encourage audiences to communicate more positively about films online.
- Real-time Reputation Management
- More emphasis needs to be placed on real-time monitoring and agile response to tweets to address negative comments immediately.
Who This Affects Most
- Movie Industry
- Movie studios need to work to improve their social media strategy and adjust their approach to reputation management in response to the impact that Twitter can have on word of mouth.
- Social Media Industry
- Social media companies and consultants can offer movie studios their expertise on how to navigate social media in an effort to mitigate the damage from negative word of mouth.
- Digital Marketing Industry
- Digital marketers can help movie studios with their targeting to ensure that clickbait tweets and buzz-building techniques do not mislead audiences or prompt preconceived reactions.
